Got Milk? Or Calcium?

By Ivana Chkoumbova

Vitamins are important parts of our diets; in fact, it is the vitamins in our food that keep us going during the day! All of our vitamins are extremely important because they all help us perform certain tasks. When we are deficient in a certain vitamin, many problems start to occur. Today, I will be talking about calcium and why calcium is important in our diets.

Whenever one would think of calcium, one would always think of milk. While milk does have calcium, it is not the best option for you. According to an article published by Harvard School of Public Health, milk is actually considered to be a substandard source of calcium. Yes, all those years of your mother saying that if you drink a lot of milk, then your bones will be strong, and while that could be the case (if you drink a lot of milk), you would actually get more calcium for less consumption if you eat dark leafy greens and dried beans (Harvard School of Public health, 2015). If one does not take the necessary amount of greens in their diet, then one would fall into a calcium deficiency.

Yet, when someone is deficient in calcium, a series of symptoms start to affect their personal and professional lives. According to an article by Healthline in 2012, it says that a person who suffers from a calcium deficiency will experience memory loss, muscle spasms, hallucinations, and depression (Khan, 2012). In an everyday life, these symptoms would cause extreme discomfort and even panic! Some people do not even know that they are having a calcium deficiency.

 

Works Cited

“Calcium and Milk.” The Nutrition Source. Harvard School of Public Health, 2015. Web. 04

June 2015. <http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/calcium-

and-milk/>.

Khan, April. “The Lesson of Calcium Deficiency Disease.”Healthline.

Healthline, 25 July 2012. Web. 04 June 2015.

<http://www.healthline.com/health/calcium-deficiency-disease#Causes2>.

 

Ivana Chkoumbova  is a sophomore at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Chicago native. In her freshman year of college, she took an eye-opening nutrition course that that made her realize how little she learned about healthy eating growing up.  Now a strong believer that nutrition education can shape a community’s overall health, Ivana came to Pilot Light because she believes that these efforts should start early and should be ingrained with children at a young age. Through her internship, she is excited to share her knowledge of and passion for nutrition with the Pilot Light program and the Chicago community it serves.

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