Support Your Heart: Improve Calcium Absorption
I think many of us are unaware of the importance of calcium absorption as opposed to intake, which is why I’m dedicating a whole blog post to it in my series on the Fire Element and its corresponding organs. Consuming products with calcium does not always mean we metabolize it well, and in fact many of us in the U.S. do not—resulting in chronic, degenerative issues like heart disease.
Why?
For most of us Americans, having enough calcium means drinking milk and consuming other dairy products—many of them low fat or no fat, and poor in quality. This strips the dairy products of necessary components for proper calcium absorption. On top of that, many of us eat diets high in protein and refined foods, which can also be inhibitors.
As Paul Pitchford writes in Healing with Whole Foods,
Numerous nutritional studies indicate that heart and nervous system problems are related to calcium metabolism. Coffee, alcohol, tobacco, refined salt, sugar, refined flour, aluminum, pesticides, marijuana, and other intoxicants all interfere with calcium absorption. Equally damaging is excess protein in the diet. Cultures with high-protein diets have elevated levels of heart disease and osteoporosis.
So what can we do differently? In addition to limiting the above inhibitors, here are ways to improve calcium absorption.
Lifestyle
Get plenty of sunshine. To be precise, 20% of your skin should be exposed for 30 minutes a day at sea level. Longer if it’s cloudy. For those of us in colder climates, we expose only about 5% of our skin (faces and hands) for much of the year. Many of us also work indoors. If this is the case for you, use a light indoors that closely mimics natural light. In the warmer months, try to make up for this time on your days off by spending several hours outdoors (avoiding lengthy exposure at midday).
Exercise regularly and moderately.
Practice tai chi or qigong. The “dump the trash” exercise in particular is good to stimulate the parathyroid, which helps absorb calcium more effectively.
Diet
If you don’t get enough sunshine, eat plenty of greens and chlorophyll foods, like microalgae and cereal grasses:
Wheatgrass
Kale
Sprouts
Cabbage
Watercress
Collard greens
Arugula
Basil
Spirulina
Chlorella
And more!
In general, eat whole grains, legumes, green vegetables & leafy greens, and seaweeds. Pre-soak grains and legumes before cooking. Note: spinach, chard, and beet greens (unless steamed or boiled) are high in oxalic acid, which tends to counteract their ability to supply calcium.
Whole grains like whole wheat, brown rice, millet, and oats
Legumes like alfalfa, peas, green beans
Vegetables like asparagus, broccoli
If eating dairy, fermented kinds digest most easily. Goat’s milk is a better option than cow’s milk. Avoid skim milk or fat-free dairy products; they lack the fat and enzymes necessary for calcium absorption.
If you take a calcium supplement, eat plenty of green vegetables and high-mineral food like alfalfa or kelp.
This post concludes my exploration of the Heart & Small Intestine! (Check out the earlier posts here). Next week, I’ll share about other “organs” of the Fire Element, the Pericardium and Triple Burner.
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