My Medi Times : Food is an essential part of our life, but how many of us know what we are consuming daily. We take carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and many other biominerals. But what about consumption perfection. There are lots of minerals and vitamins that we consume in our food daily. Among them, the most important ones which are consumed preferably from childhood are calcium and iron.
The reason behind the mineral intake:-
The minerals like calcium and iron are counted among essential minerals. The reason is iron is one of the major game players of life. It’s the carrier of the oxygen molecules in our body. Apart from that it also maintains healthy brain cells. At the same time, calcium is important for healthy bones and teeth. This also helps with normal blood clotting. So it’s important to have proper and balanced calcium and iron in our body.
Role of Iron in our body:-
As a vital mineral, iron is necessary for growth and development in our bodies. Our body cells use iron to make hemoglobin which is indeed the protein of our red blood cells. This further helps to carry oxygen from the lungs to every single part of the body and even it helps the myoglobin to provide oxygen to our muscles. Apart from these, our body requires iron to make hormones which are the most important biomolecules in our body.
Depending on our age, sex, and weight the consumption of iron matters. But it’s just that we consume plant-based minerals to help our body obtain the proper amount of required nutrition.
Foods rich in iron:-
Naturally, iron is found in many foods and is added to some the fortified food products. The foods that must be consumed regularly to maintain the perfect iron level in our body are poultry, seafood, lean meat, a good amount of cereals and bread, white beans, lettuce, kidney beans, peas, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, nuts and dry fruits, raisins, etc. these are available in nonheme iron foods which are basically plant-based and the iron-fortified food products which are other than the plant-based foods. But there are some foods which are both heme and nonheme; these are like the seafoods, meat, and poultry products.
It must also be known that our body absorbs more plant-based sources better than animal flesh. Even there are some plant-based iron-rich foods that are also rich in vitamin C. These are citrus fruits, strawberries, sweet peppers, tomatoes, and broccoli.
Role of calcium in our body:-
Calcium is necessary for body growth and building up. Rather it can be said that calcium is a must for healthy bones and is an important part of a balanced diet. It’s significant to consume calcium daily as it helps maintain strong teeth and bones. At the same time, it also helps with muscle control and maintains proper blood circulation. What makes it important is, that this is not made inside our body. So it must be absorbed from food. With the growing age, calcium starts deteriorating from the body. It’s believed that after the age of 30, most women start losing calcium from the body because of post-menopause in older women. So this further leads to osteoporosis. In this disorder the bone density gets low and it’s not possible to recover from the disorder. So intake of calcium with proper exercise and additional vitamin D intake is a must for the condition. Calcium intake varies with age and sex. With different medical guidelines, calcium intake starts when a child is born till it achieves old age.
Diet rich in calcium:-
To achieve the desired level of calcium in the blood, there is a need to consume proper calcium-rich food. These are milk, tofu, cheese, yogurt, and different dairy products. Other than that, there are sardines, salmon, and various soft bonefish, bread, pasta, and grains; calcium-fortified cereals, juices as well as beverages.
Apart from the above, there are calcium and iron supplements available which are advisable to be consumed in the desired amount as per medical practitioners.
Tags: importance of calcium in the body,important function of calcium,importance of calcium and vitamin d
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