Body vs. Bones
What others are reading:
Have you seen those commercials for a calcium supplement that scare you with the warning that your body is stealing calcium from your bones? I feel like I used to hear them in the background on TV all the time, until I started writing this blog and actually listening for them. Now i can’t find one on for the life of me. (I still see the Sally Field Boniva ads constantly – and remain convinced that she looks silly dangling her legs in rolled-up jeans off a dock, like she’s still got the bone density of Gidget.)
Anyway, back to the idea that my body’s stealing my bones’ calcium. What the heck, body? I go to all this trouble to eat calcium-rich foods, and then you leach it away? Just when I think this task couldn’t get any more annoying, I get news like that.
So here’s the deal on calcium stealing (the result of some intrepid internet research): Most of my body’s calcium is in my bones and teeth, building them up. Another bit of calcium is necessary to keep my heart pumping, blood clotting, muscles moving, etc. When there isn’t enough calcium in my diet to effect those latter functions, my muscles and tissues just take what they want from my bones. After a few years of this, I get all brittle and breakable, and then need to call Sally Field for some of the Boniva she’s peddling.
All of that makes me feel good about reaching an average of 81% of my daily recommended calcium intake in week four of this experiment, and refuels my drive to find more calcium-rich food. I mean, I can’t just let my muscles keep taking whatever they want from my skeleton! For as tough as they might be now, it turns out my bones are pushovers and need a little help.
