Calcium, we see the word on our toothpaste box, orange juice container and anywhere else manufacturers can find a place to print that word, hoping it will inspire us to buy more of their product. But do we know what calcium is and why is it so important to us? The history of calcium actually dates back to the first century, when the Romans prepared lime as calcium oxide, but it wasn't until 1808 that a man from England named Sir Humphrey Davy first isolated calcium.

Calcium is a soft, greyish, metallic element, it can be derived from calcium fluoride, with the use of electrolysis. If you were to see calcium burn, the flame would look yellowish-red and once it is exposed to the air, it would form a white nitride coating. Calcium also reacts to water, so much so that it actually takes the place of hydrogen in the water and creates something called calcium hydroxide. Calcium is very important when it comes to muscle contraction, building strong bones and teeth, helping to regulate heartbeats, blood clotting, the transmission of nerve impulses and maintaining a fluid balance within the cells. It is suggested that in the US, between 50 to 75% of adults don't get enough calcium in their normal daily eating habits. I'm sure that this is a major reason why so many manufacturers are plastering the word calcium on any product they can find, that falls within the legal limits of the FDA, of course.

Calcium is a very important ingredient in a healthy diet. The lack of calcium can cause the teeth and bones to form in a less then normal manner. Of course, too much calcium can cause kidney stones. To absorb calcium you need Vitamin D. For most people, dairy products, such as milk and cheese, are where they usually get their normal intake of calcium. However, some people are allergic to dairy products and there are others who are lactose intolerant. For these people, they have to find other ways to get calcium into their bodies and fortunately there are other sources of calcium besides dairy products. Some of these sources include, nuts, seeds, beans, oysters, shrimp, okra and broccoli.

Though we only seem to focus on calcium in terms of our health, other uses for calcium have also been discovered. Some of these uses include acting as a reducing agent while helping to extract other metals, such as uranium and thorium. Being used as a alloying agent to help produce copper, lead and aluminium and, probably the most common use of calcium, besides trying to add it to our diets is, calcium is an important ingredient in the making of cements and mortars, which we use for construction.

There is no shortage of supply of calcium on earth and it is one of the most abundant minerals in the human body. Calcium, like anything else that's good for the body, must be used in moderation. The recommended daily intake of calcium seems to vary depending on your age and with manufacturers trying to stick calcium into every conceivable product, who's to say how much calcium your body is absorbing when you purchase one of the calcium enriched products.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Calcium