Calcium and Vitamin D Deficiencies

Understanding Calcium and Vitamin D Deficiencies

Calcium and vitamin D deficiencies can cause serious health issues. Without adequate amounts of these two nutrients, our bodies can’t maintain proper mineral content in our bones, weaken immunity, impair nerve functioning, reduce muscle strength, and cause other problems.

Calcium is a mineral found in a variety of foods. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin synthesized through the skin’s exposure to sunlight. Together, they are essential for healthy bones, joint function, and muscle health.

Why Calcium and Vitamin D Deficiencies Are Common

Many Americans have inadequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D. This is due in part to changing dietary habits, decreased sunlight exposure, and less healthy dietary choices.

  • More people are opting for convenience foods, which tend to be lower in calcium and vitamin D.
  • People are spending less time explicitly exposing their skin to sunlight.
  • Some people adopt vegan or vegetarian diets, which can be low in these nutrients.
  • Calcium and vitamin D deficiencies can be caused by genetic disorders, medical conditions such as Crohn’s disease, and some medications.

What Your Body Needs

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium for adults aged 19-50 is 1,000 mg per day, or 1,200 mg for adults 50 or older. The RDA for vitamin D is 600 international units (IU) for most healthy adults and 800 IU for those over the age of 70.

Where to Get Calcium and Vitamin D

Fortunately, there are many ways to get enough calcium and vitamin D each day. Here are some suggestions:

  • Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, and Swiss chard. These are rich sources of both calcium and vitamin D.
  • Drink calcium-fortified plant milks or soy fortified with vitamin D.
  • Make sure to include plenty of fish such as salmon, trout, sardines, herring, and mackerel in your meals. These contain both calcium and vitamin D.
  • Take a daily multivitamin to meet your nutritional needs.
  • Spend 10-15 minutes per day in direct sunlight for vitamin D synthesis.

By following these guidelines, you can make sure that you’re getting adequate intakes of both calcium and vitamin D, which are essential for your overall health.

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Related Questions

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below.The Italian banking system became the model for those North European nations that would achieve the greatest commercial success in the coming centuries, notably the Dutch, the English, and the Swedes. It was in Amsterdam, London and Stockholm that the next decisive wave of financial or innovation occurred, as the forerunners of modern central banks made their first appearance. The seventeenth century saw the foundation of three distinctly novel institutions that, in their differen in ways, were intended to serve a public as well as a private financial function. The Amsterdam Exchange Bank, i.e. the Wisselbank, was set up in 1609 to resolve the practical problems created for merchants by the circulation of multiple currencies in the United Provinces, where there were no fewer than fourteen different mints and copious quantities of foreign coins. By allowing merchants to set up accounts denominated in a standardized currency, the Exchange Bank pioneered the system of cheques and direct debits or transfers that we take for granted today. This allowed more and more commercial transactions to take place without the need for the sums involved to materialize in actual coins. Financial historians disagree as to how far the growth of banking after the seventeenth century can be credited with the acceleration of economic growth that began in Britain in the late eighteenth 20 5 century and then spread to Western Europe, North America and Australasia. But banks played a more important role in continental European industrialization than they did in England's.a) Where did the precursors of modern central banks make their first appearance? b) What practical problem was the Wisselbank required to resolve in its initial days?c) How did the Amsterdam Exchange Bank respond to the demand of the age? d) What are the points of disagreement among the financial historians with respect to growth of banking vis-a-vis growth of economy? e) Choose a suitable title for above composition.
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