What is food mineral?

Minerals are inorganic elements that originate in the earth and cannot be made in the body. They play important roles in various bodily functions and are necessary to sustain life and maintain optimal health, and thus are essential nutrients.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Deficiency symptoms of calcium

99% of this major mineral is found in bone and teeth but it is also important for blood clotting, muscle contraction and nerve conduction.

Diet deficient in calcium affect the human body’s functions of bone formation and maintenance, transmission of nerve impulses, muscular contraction, and abilities for blood coagulation.

The symptoms of calcium deficiency includes rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis, scurvy, tetany, parathyroid hyperplasia, stunted growth, laryngospasm.

One of the first signs of a deficiency is a nervous affliction called tetany, which is characterized by muscle cramps, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs.

While ‘rickets’ is a condition when bone is malformation due to a softening of the bones. Other symptoms include: curvature of the spine and ribs, loss appetite, and lameness.

In the case of more prolonged deficit of calcium, ‘leaching’ of this element from the bones causes increased absorption of lead from polluted environments and its incorporations into bones and teeth.

Deficiency of calcium lowers the body resistance and for the children become as easy prey to respiratory and intestinal infections.
Deficiency symptoms of calcium

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