Another calcium info

Found another info about calcium-related: Quite interesting though.. what calcium does to your body and what happened of u consumed excessively. hmmm... Read on..

http://www.age-oldherbs.com/calcium.php

Calcium is the most abundant dietary mineral in the body. It is an essential nutrient that is vital to development and growth. It prevents heavy metals from accumulating in the body. It is destroyed by aspirin, coffee, stress, lack of exercise, lack of magnesium, lack of hydrochloric acid, mineral oil and oxalic acid.

Almost 99% of the body’s calcium is stored in the bones and teeth. The rest circulates in the blood. It is essential to a number of body processes, including proper muscle contraction of the heart and other muscles.

It is more than just a bone builder. There are findings that link higher levels of calcium intake with lower colon rectal cancer risk. And it may keep blood pressure low. Evidence suggests that getting at least 800 milligrams a day reduces the risk of high blood pressure.

Various foods and beverages can increase calcium loss through urinary excretion. These include high protein intake from supplements or special diets, high fiber meals, coffee containing caffeine, and alcohol.When the level of circulating calcium is low, the bones release the stored amount into the blood. It also plays several roles in maintaining health which include activating certain enzymes that convert food into energy, aiding proper nerve and muscle function, promoting blood clotting, and building bones and teeth.

Inadequate amount of this mineral over a period of time can contribute to the process of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones). As people age, their bones lose calcium, becoming brittle and porous. Osteoporosis can lead to compression fractures of the vertebrae, muscle spasms and broken bones due to minor falls. Other mineral important to the health of your bones include copper, manganese, vitamin D, and zinc.


SIGNS OF DEFICIENCY:
Signs of calcium deficiency include aching joints, brittle nails, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, muscle cramps, nervousness, numbness in the arms and legs, rickets, and tooth decay.

Excessive amounts of this mineral can increase the risk of kidney stones. High levels of calcium in the blood stream can lead to hypercalcemia, a potentially serious condition characterized by constipation, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal pain, and kidney damage. However, excessive calcium in the body is usually due to other diseases, rather than dietary factors. These diseases include certain cancers, hormonal disorders, kidney disease, or overdose of vitamin D. 

As with all dietary supplement, calcium supplements should be used in amounts typically recommended for nutritional purposes only.


FOOD SOURCES:
Food sources of calcium include cheese, milk, green leafy vegetable, salmon with bones, blackstrap molasses, almonds, broccoli, brewer's yeast, kelp, kale, tofu, yogurt and sesame seeds.

Benefits of Calcium

Found this article on the web regarding calcium intake.. Well I was being too complacent with what I took for my body but lately I became such a health freak.. I started to identify what my body requires the most and surprisingly, it was Calcium.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_1_32/ai_81391090/

Benefit #1
Calcium helps keep the weight off.
Research suggests that if you don't get enough calcium in your diet, you're likely to be overweight, Heaney says. Of course, it's possible to be overweight even if you do get plenty of calcium, but Heaney points out that an adequate supply appears to make it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
The reason has to do with your body's response to a calcium deficit. When you're low, your body thinks you're starving and enters emergency mode, releasing parathyroid hormone from four glands in your neck. This hormone stimulates your bones to release some calcium into your bloodstream. Your kidneys also deliver a dose of a hormone called calcitriol, a form of vitamin D, to increase your ability to absorb calcium.
The trouble is that parathyroid hormone and calcitriol also stimulate the production of fat and inhibit its breakdown. As a result, your body stores fat and holds on to it stubbornly, even if you're on a low-calorie diet, explains Michael B. Zemel, Ph.D., head of the department of nutrition at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. On the other hand, a high calcium intake suppresses these hormones so your body stores less fat and also breaks it down easily, he says.
In his research, Zemel found that calcium from low-fat or nonfat dairy products was more effective for weight loss than any other form.

Benefit #2
Calcium protects your heart.
If you're low on calcium, researchers say, you're more likely to have high blood pressure. Your body releases the hormone calcitriol in response to a calcium shortage, and calcitriol acts on the smooth muscle walls of your arteries, constricting them and elevating your blood pressure, says Heaney.
In fact, your calcium intake may be almost as important to blood pressure as your sodium intake, says Gene Spiller, Ph.D., the director of the Health Research and Studies Center in Los Altos, Calif., and co-author of Calcium: Nature's Versatile Mineral (Avery, 2000). He explains that an adequate supply of calcium helps muscles--including your heart muscle--do their work of contracting and relaxing. Calcium also appears to help your nervous system regulate the level of pressure in your arteries.
The benefits of calcium on heart health were confirmed in the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997. The study found that a healthy diet that included two to three servings a day of low-fat, calcium-rich dairy foods like yogurt reduced systolic blood pressure by 5.5 points more than the control diet, and reduced diastolic blood pressure by 3 points more. "We don't want to oversell the importance of calcium [for heart health], because it's only a part of the puzzle," says Heaney. "But it's a very useful part."

Benefit #3
Calcium improves premenstrual moods.
A 1998 study led by Susan Thys-Jacobs, M.D., of St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, found that getting enough calcium can ease the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). In this study of 497 women, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, half took 600 mg supplements of calcium carbonate twice a day, while half took a placebo. The women who took calcium experienced significantly fewer symptoms in two months and improved even more after three months.
The explanation comes down (again) to calcium-regulating hormones. Your body suppresses the hormones if your calcium supplies are adequate, but releases these hormones if you're not getting enough. Women who suffer from PMS appear to have elevated levels of these hormones during their menstrual cycle. Thys-Jacobs explains that it's no accident that some of the symptoms of PMS, like cramping, irritability, and depression, are similar to the symptoms of a calcium-deficient state.
The good news for PMS sufferers is that consuming calcium appears to ease most of the symptoms. "We found that calcium is effective both on the emotional and physical side," Thys-Jacobs says. "It has a major effect on irritability, cravings, mood swings, breast tenderness, and other symptoms."

Benefit #4
Calcium protects against colon cancer.
Adequate calcium intake may reduce your overall risk of colon cancer and suppress the growth of polyps that can lead to cancer. Researchers don't know exactly why this happens, but Heaney says it may be linked to the excess calcium that's left in your intestines after your body absorbs what it needs. On its way through the colon, this unabsorbed calcium is believed to bind with cancer promoters so they're excreted together from the body. Studies have shown that both food sources of calcium and calcium supplements provide this protective effect.

Benefit #5
Calcium maintains healthy teeth.
Calcium protects your teeth in an indirect way. Your teeth themselves are relatively inert, meaning that the calcium they contain usually stays there.
Your jawbone is the potential problem. Like other bones, it gradually surrenders calcium for needs elsewhere in your body if you're not consuming enough. As your jaw weakens, your teeth loosen, creating gaps where bacteria can invade, triggering infection, inflammation, and bleeding. In fact, the condition of your teeth and gums can be a window to the overall health of your bones, says Bonnie Bruce

Back for good

Hey..I'm back!!! Glad to be back.. after what I had to go through.. yeah..its good to be back.. Life and vacations were like best friends until that 9th July incident happened.

Ok.. I am not going beat around the bush.. I was away for a short getaway.. in KL.. Only this time I chose to stay somewhere different from where I am used to.. We took this brand new hotel located at Masjid Jamek called, Frenz Hotel, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman. Really Brand New!! Like fresh from the oven.. Love the showers actually!! Hahaha.. For like SGD65 per night, I think it was ok.. I used to stay at Imipiana KLCC,or Royale Bintang @ Jalan Bukit Bintang.. but we wanted to be away from the city centre but not too far off.. Well, it ought to be a good choice until it became a hot spot for the "Bersih Rally"

Gosh.. I would be lying if I say I didnt freak out.. My husband said I was being paranoid.. well who wouldnt!! Firstly, I forgot to purchase my travel insurance ( with all the busy and hectic schedule we had, no wonder we could forgot these things ) Second, the rally was held on the day we are supposed to check out.. Thirdly, we have like the whole 12 hours outside (after checking out from thr hotel) before our returning time to Singapore..

I have one phrase though.. " I am so thankful to be born in Singapore" ... well the very least I wont see these riots on the streets of Singapore..for now I think.. and hopefully my homeland wont be like that.. It was so barbaric, unlawful, cold and bad.. everything was just bad!! Even the air smells bad! Seriosuly.. I wouldnt want to go through that again.. No.. Never.... and I pray Singapore will never be like that.. even with 4 differences in culutre, language and religion..

Well for more info about the rally, I have attached the link direct source from Bloomberg.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-09/malaysian-police-make-1-667-arrests-in-kuala-lumpur-protests.html

Well, we're home now.. and I never felt any better.. Knowing Singapore is a better place to be...

TTFN - Qunci Rinjani

Another day in July

Its been a while since I last wrote.. Well, I was pretty busy lately.. with loads of things.. Firstly, we have a new addition to the family..**Yippie**... My aunt just gave birth to a healthy baby boy.. His name : Iz Irian Shah... on 01/07/2011... Yes.. its another boy and its a blessing!!


I was down with fever yesterday.. caught a bit of flu from someone at home.. haizzz.. Thanks!!! One knowing they are sick yet they still come close to me... and I was like.. "goooooo awaaaaaay!!!" " I dont need your germs!!" Been feeding on supplements lately and quite honestly I feel slightly better..


Then I got two weeks rotation to handle another branch office away from HQ. ***Sigh*** another adapting!!! Work is a lil different when you are away from HQ.. Then again, its work.. yeah.. it sucks but that pays the bill at the end month.. so speed it up! Learn to like it and NOT love it..cause it really SuckS!!


Thank Goodness I will be away from tomorrow onwards for my own personal trip.. Didnt put up in Facebook though cause I hate those unwanted attention from others.. I get it.. at times posting things in Facebook does not make any sense!! U post something and people around the globe who is listed under your friends list will start asking question or throw some stupid and lame remarks.. its like thats the only thing they know in Facebook.. Commenting on other walls!! No offence but I get really annoyed when those insecure bastards starts to say something like.. "oh what happened dear?" or something maybe something like being sympathetic when u know they arent.. of course, there are a number (very very few) who were totally genuine about it..


Ok.. I think I stop here for now.. My loads of to-do list is piling up as we speak.. TTFN - Qunci Rinjani.. Laalalalalala...

Monday

What a bugging Monday??


Dont u just hate it to wake up on Monday morning and go to work? Gosh.. I am so lagged!!!! I can fell asleep on my desk right now.. I guess thats why people called it Monday Blues.. hahaha...


Anyway I am away handling branch duties and quite honestly I can relax off a bit..


Weekend was quite busy for me.. Will be travelling this coming Thursday and will only be back on the coming Sunday so last weekend was kinda hectic for me cause I need to clear some things before I can focus on my coming trip..


And now I have like 3 working days to settle all my work load and on top of that I still have to conduct my tuitions in the evening.. Jam packed schedule eh!!!


Gosh I almost forgot I have to attend this movie premiere for Transformers @ The Cathay tomorrow.. Its those link with the youth thingy with NTUC.. Gosh there goes my evening.. hmmmm.... seriously I dont wish to go for it..


Whhoooppss.. here comes another batch of load... got to clear.. see ya.. Adios!!!