Tag: Hypertension

Calcium Deficiency – Are Your Bones Ready for It?

Calcium is the kind of mineral that is most likely to be a deficient in an average human diet. Currently, calcium deficiency is a common condition to every individual. According to the official statistics gathered by the Federal government, only 21 percent of the total population in the United States is getting the required amount of calcium.

Importantly, having calcium deficiency may result to a long term thinning of the bones, osteoporosis or the softening of the bony tissue and commonly called as osteomalacia. Also, the defective metabolism of the calcium in the body during childhood may result to the condition called rickets A recent study showed that lack of the required calcium level may cause hypertension or high blood pressure and colon cancer.

Perhaps youve heard it many times that calcium deficiency may result to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis, is often diagnosed when its too late just to reverse the conditions development. In United States, close to about 10 million individuals have osteoporosis that is caused by calcium deficiency. Close to another 34 million people is experiencing low bone mass, placing them to the risk of having the disease.

Having insufficient calcium intake to the body may result to the drawing of the reserves of calcium levels in your teeth and bones. With calcium deficiency, your bones will become lighter, hollow, and be porous. In weak bones, possible fractures in spine and weakened hips can take place easily and may end to permanent disability, cruel pain, hospitalization, and even death.

Moreover, there are other calcium deficiency symptoms that can be observed by anyone. Since calcium is also present in nails and teeth, having calcium deficiency may bring brittle nails and tooth decay. In view of the fact that your body requires a small level of calcium to move through soft tissues and bodily fluids every time, inadequate calcium intake can bring these additional symptoms and these are:

Experiencing muscle cramps
Having muscle spasms in arms and legs
Leg and back cramps
Tingling and numbness, and
Joint pain

Fortunately, to prevent having calcium deficiency, you must take enough amount of calcium whether its in dietary form or in calcium supplements. On the other hand, one of the popular ways to prevent calcium deficiency is to take the calcium supplement commonly called coral calcium. However, you must consult first a health care provider for you to have the right amount of calcium.

Stevia and Saccharin- Safe Alternative Sweeteners

Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of different kinds of sweeteners. From natural to artificial, it seems that Science and commerce have made it a point to fill up a need that sucrose or the common table sugar is slowly creating.

Although sucrose is not necessarily dangerous, too much consumption has become a problem for most people. It can lead to various health problems such as hypertension, heart problems and obesity if not controlled. But who can blame people from wanting to eat sweet things as much as they can?

This is why companies have tried to create alternative sweeteners that will have the same taste but have less calories or low caloric content. Most of the sweeteners in the market, in fact, are 200 to 500 times sweeter than ordinary table sugar but contains less carbohydrate.

Before penetrating the market, all of these sweeteners are evaluated and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Despite this, there have been a lot of questions as to the safety of these sugar substitutes. There are even some that have been pulled out of the market after being approved for selling.

Two of the safest sugar substitute in the market are saccharin and stevia. Saccharin has actually been in the market since the 1970s. It is extracted from a plant in China. It was commercially distributed in packets as alternatives to sugar for beverages especially coffee. Because it is many times sweeter than ordinary table sugar, you will need a little bit more to equal the strength or effect sucrose.

Although it had already been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration years back, there was a time when it was put on the list of cancerous ingredients. The decision was based in a study that found a link between saccharin and cancer in rats.

It seems that a laboratory study on rats found that saccharin can actually cause bladder cancer. Manufacturers of products that use saccharin as ingredients were even asked to out disclaimers in their labels about the potential danger of the ingredient.

Still, after much study and debate, nothing conclusive has ever been found. It was only recently when the inclusion of saccharin in the list was repealed. Experts argue that though it has caused bladder cancer in rats, this does not mean that it can also cause cancer in humans.

Stevia, like saccharin, also comes from a plant, this time from Paraguay and Brazil. It is 200 300 times sweeter than table sugar. This is why only a small amount of stevia is enough to reach the sweetness level of sucrose. Still, one great disadvantage for this sugar substitute is the fact that it has a bitter aftertaste that turns off most consumers.