Calcium Aspartate
All about Calcium Aspartate Pills
Calcium aspartate pills are one method of addressing calcium deficiencies in your diet. Aspartate, or aspartic acid, is type of amino acid that is highly stable. Most calcium aspartate pills resemble the more common calcium carbonate pills you may be familiar with.
What Role does Calcium play in the Body?
Calcium is a significant part of bodily health. As you probably already know, calcium is important for maintaining bone health and strength. This is especially true for women because they have a higher chance of having bone problems as they age. Women who are pre-menopausal or older are at higher risk for osteoporosis and other bone diseases. (It’s not just bone problems, however that calcium deficiency causes in menopausal women. Women going through this life stage are also more prone to developing blood flow problems due to inadequate levels of calcium in the body.) Medical professionals recommend that women of a certain age supplement their calcium intake as a preventive measure against such problems.
Although most people are well acquainted with the positive effects of calcium on bone health, fewer people tend to be aware of the vital benefits calcium has for other bodily processes such as brain health, for example. You might be surprised to learn that calcium also helps “grease up” your neurons so that they fire more smoothly. This is not, however, the only part of the body whose operation calcium bolsters. It also helps your body’s muscles generally and heart muscles specifically. In the heart muscles, calcium helps to maintain your system balanced at optimal levels.
Some research also shows that calcium may help prevent certain types of cancer.
The Role of Vitamin D
One problem with calcium deficiencies in the body, however, has to do with the body’s ability to metabolize calcium. Some people (especially menopausal women, again) suffer from calcium deficiency not because they are not getting enough calcium in their bodies, but because their bodies don’t metabolize calcium properly. To put this fact another way, some people have more than enough calcium in their diets but they still have a calcium deficiency because their bodies are not breaking down calcium into forms that helps their bones or that aid in the other important functions in which calcium plays vital roles.
These individuals are doubly affected because not only are their bones not getting enough calcium, but also the excess calcium in their diets is staying in their blood streams. Excess calcium in the blood creates problems for both the livers and kidneys because it forces these organs to work twice as hard in order to clean the blood. These organs expend so much energy getting rid of this calcium that it may fail to metabolize other beneficial minerals in the process.
Research shows that Vitamin D helps the body to metabolize calcium. This is the reason why most calcium supplements include Vitamin D. Anyone taking a calcium supplement should check the label to make sure that the calcium aspartate they are taking includes this necessary component.
What are other sources of Calcium and how do they compare to Calcium Aspartate Pills?
Ideally, you should get your calcium from naturally occurring sources such as milk and bananas. However, when you reach a certain age, you may find that this is no longer enough. Often, you physician will prescribe a calcium supplement. More often than not, this will be a calcium carbonate. However, calcium aspartate pills are a comparable substitute for calcium carbonate. It is always a good idea to question your physician as to why he or she has prescribed calcium in one form versus another. Sometimes there is no particular reason, but sometimes there are very important reasons for the form.
Be aware that calcium aspartate may interfere with the proper functioning of certain other types of medicines, so be sure to check with your physician before you add it to your diet.