Thursday, June 26, 2008

Calcium

Thursday, June 26, 2008
We are pretty much a dairy-free house with an occasional indulgence in cheese. We have switched from traditional cow's milk at every meal with cheese sticks and yogurt as snacks to realizing that we don't really need dairy. We physically do much better without it. Our three kids have each had trouble with dairy manifesting different ways. We didn't finger organic, hormone free dairy as the culprit at first but after taking it out of our diets, Anna's asthma is pretty much gone, Christopher's hearing is back and Parker and my stomach distress has lightened (that's a different story!).

What we can't go without though is the calcium. I am not a doctor or nutritionist, just a mom who is trying to keep my kids as healthy as possible and free from as many chemicals as I can manage. There is a great deal of literature and debate over dairy versus soy and just plain dairy-free (which is what we strive for--with two boys and a husband, the hormone-rich soy is not an alternative we entertain).


Some informative reads are....
Not Milk
Cow’s Milk – Does It Really Do A Body Good?
Skinny Bitch
Dr Oz


Since we realistically only eat about 250 milligrams of calcium daily with fortified foods and the recommended daily dose is 1,200 milligrams of calcium and somewhere between 600 and 800 milligrams of magnesium we have turned to supplements. For calcium magnesium, I recommend Lifetyme or BlueBonnet's Calcium Magnesium Citrate Flavor Liquid. While Christopher can take a regular calcium/magnesium supplement(you need to take the combination so the calcium alone doesn't block your system and allows for maximum absorption), Anna and Parker still prefer the liquid form. Their favorite is the blueberry flavor and it goes down like a treat right before bed (nighttime is the best time to dispense since it coats, soothes and relaxes the muscles).

In addition to just giving your family the proper dosage of calcium to build strong bones, it calms nerves, improves sleep, regulates your heartbeat and is a natural pain killer. So whether you drink goat's milk, cow's milk, soy milk, rice milk or almond milk or....you may consider offering some extra calcium tonight.


If you live in South Orange County, we get ours at Farm to Market (32382 Del Obispo St San Juan Capistrano).

You can also get it online at places like:
House of Nutrition
iHerb
or my favorite...Amazon

2 comments:

PoetryGirl_2008 said...

Hi Sarah,

I was just sifting through internet sites, and I came across this tidbit of information:

"COUMARIN is contained in:

apple, banana, barley, beef, beer, beet, beet-sugar, celery, cheese, cottage cheese, chicken, cocoa, chocolate, corn, egg, lemon, lettuce, lime, cow’s and goat’s milk, mutton, oats, pea, peanut, peppercorn, sweet potato, rice, tomato, tuna, turkey, wheat, yeast

Coumarin is one of the most common to cause problems and is, unfortunately, one of the most widespread phenolics. It is often associated with respiratory conditions. "

.. I'm not sure if this includes asthma?

Link: http://www.wholisticresearch.com/info/artshow.php3?artid=432

- Emily

Unknown said...

Hey Pittsy,
Love your blog. Can't wait to see what's brewing in the BJ family pot next.
Just wanted to let you know that you can get the kido's calcium at Henry's. My kids like the blueberry best too.