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Calcium is the most plentiful mineral found in our bodies. It is essential for the expanding motion of our blood vessels, for the contracting motion of our muscles, for facilitating nerve transmissions, for passing signals at the cellular level and secreting hormones. Even so, less than 1% of the total calcium in the body is used to support these crucial metabolic processes (1).

The calcium levels in our blood is tightly controlled and doesn’t vary with the amount of calcium we consume. 99% of calcium is stored in our bones and teeth, and the body uses ‘bone calcium’ as a holding tank, so to speak; calcium is added to and taken away from bone mass to maintain the correct blood levels of calcium. If we do not acquire enough calcium from our diet, then our bodies take the calcium it needs for other functions from our bones. If we consume sub-par levels of calcium over any period of time this will weaken our bones and lead to osteoporosis, especially in women (1).

Juicing for Calcium
When we make juicer recipes for calcium we need to focus on using the fruit and vegetables that are highest in this mineral, but before we go ahead and do that, let’s take a look at some facts about calcium absorption and elimination.

1. The first thing to note is that the percentage of calcium that we digest starts to go down as we increase the amount we take in on a per-sitting basis. 500mg and under per serving is the best way to go (1). With fresh juice, we are unlikely to go above this dose. The RDA for calcium is 1000mg.
2. Eating (and drinking!) fruits and vegetables reduces the amount of calcium loss from the body. The alkalizing effect of fruits and vegetables produce bicarbonate, which is clinically shown to limit calcium excretion (2).
3. Oxalic acid is a natural plant substance that we need to avoid if we want to focus on calcium intake. It is found in spinach, collard greens and sweet potatoes. So even if these vegetables are a fair source of calcium — which they are — they are not great option all the same. One study clearly shows that when spinach is consumed with milk it reduces the amount of calcium we absorb (3).

So we can see that we have an absorption advantage due to the fact we are using fruits and vegetables for our calcium source, providing we avoid those rich in oxalic acid. Here is a chart that shows which fruits and vegetables contain high levels of calcium.

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Calcium Juice Recipes

#1 Breakfast Blend
3 cups of orange
1 cup of grapefruit

Calcium content 275mg

#2 Apple Juice With Calcium Greens
1 apple
3 cups of kale
1 cup of celery

calcium content 321mg

#3 Beets and Carrot Juice Calcium
4 cups of carrots
1 cup of beets (flesh)
1 cup of beets greens

Calcium content 237mg

If you have any questions about calcium juicing recipes, drop a comment below.

Best Wishes
Darren Haynes

Sources:
(1) Committee to Review Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2010.

(2) Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Palermo NJ, Castaneda-Sceppa C, Rasmussen HM, Dallal GE. Treatment with potassium bicarbonate lowers calcium excretion and bone resorption in older men and women. J Clin End & Metab 2009;94:96-102.

(3) Weaver CM, Heaney RP. Isotopic exchange of ingested calcium between labeled sources: evidence that ingested calcium does not form a common absorptive pool. Calcif Tissue Int 1991;49:244-7.