Calcium deficiency

Calcium is the backbone of bone. The body keeps blood calcium very steady by taking calcium from bone when food provides too little. So blood calcium almost never shows how much is in your diet. In a Ukrainian study most adults ate less calcium than recommended.

Why the questionnaire does not give calcium a level

Low dietary calcium causes nothing for years and then fragile bones. A blood test does not help, so in the result calcium is a hint about diet and bone health.

Who is at risk for bone health

• no dairy or calcium-fortified foods;
• low vitamin D, without which calcium is poorly absorbed;
• coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, stomach or bowel surgery;
• long-term steroids or anti-epileptic medicines;
• kidney disease;
• surgery on the thyroid or parathyroid glands.

When a test is needed

Truly low blood calcium is a medical problem, not a dietary one. See a doctor if you have spasms of the hands or feet with tingling around the mouth, especially after neck surgery. Then albumin-adjusted or ionised calcium, parathyroid hormone, vitamin D and magnesium are checked.

What to do

• Dairy, fortified plant drinks, beans, cabbage and kale, almonds and tinned fish with bones are ordinary sources of calcium.
• Consider vitamin D in winter with your doctor.

What not to do

Do not take high-dose calcium tablets without a reason: excess raises the risk of kidney stones. Calcium also reduces the absorption of levothyroxine, iron and some antibiotics.