During childhood and adolescence, our body is constantly growing and our bones are achieving their peak bone mass - this is the strongest our bones can be. Peak bone mass is still being acheived long after we stop growing and up until 30 years of age. It’s like building a savings account, but instead of depositing money into the bank, we’re depositing calcium into our bones. Like with any savings account, these long term calcium deposits are there to sustain us in the future, providing we don’t touch them before hand. This is why adequate dietary calcium is so important. We need enough to feed our bones and build our peak bone mass for the future, and also to satisfy the other immediate functions of calcium in our body.

After we’ve reached our peak bone mass our body still needs plenty of calcium. Every cell in our body has a life cycle and as they die they need to be replaced, the skeletal system is no exception. These new bone cells need to be strong, dense, and plentiful, and we need adequate calcium to do this. Calcium, along with other bone nutrients, like vitamin D, phosphorus and magnesium, are all required to build and maintain healthy bones throughout our life.

Besides maintaining the strength and integrity of our bones and teeth, what else does calcium do? Although 99% of the calcium in our body is found in our skeletal system, there’s a small amount that needs to circulate in our blood. This is needed for muscle contractions, blood vessel contractions, and maintaining heart health.

Calcium is also involved in nerve impulses, insulin secretion and blood sugar balance, and it works with vitamin K to clot our blood. When we cut ourselves, blood clotting helps to stop the bleeding and this relates to the consistency of our blood. Blood needs to be a certain consistency. Both thin and thick blood come with very different consequences; healthy blood lies somewhere in the middle and calcium can help to regulate it.

A calcium deficiency ultimately effects the health of our bones and teeth. This is something that is seen over time and after long periods of an inadequate calcium intake. A low calcium intake during childhood, adolescence and into our 20‘s, effects proper bone growth and development, and results in a low peak bone mass. This means the strength of our bones did not reach their full potential and our body is left with less calcium stores to use during our senior years.

Our body also needs to maintain its blood calcium levels in order to perform other functions. If we fail to provide our body with enough dietary calcium, then our body draws on the calcium in our bones. If this is a regular occurrence, then our skeletal strength is sacrificed and we’re paving our way towards weak and thinning bones.

The initial weakening and loss of bone is called osteopenia. This is a marker that shows an increased risk of fractures and is quite often a precursor to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is determined once the density of the bones have declined to a certain level. This is often accompanied by fractures, breaks and pain. It is more prevalent in postmenopausal women, but it can also develop in men and in certain people with hormone disorders or nutrient absorption disorders.

A calcium deficiency can also effect the strength of our teeth, and our heart health can also be compromised.