Natasha,Got Milk? Because Yes the Studies Are Right; Milk Actually is Good For Your Bones!

This excerpt, explains how Calcium, or Ca2+, is a vital mineral to the human body. Around 99% of calcium can be found in the bones of the human body. Your body needs an alternate source of calcium, or else the calcium in your bones will be depleted, which may lead to osteoporosis. Much of this has to do with the type of food eaten, although it also may be because of not enough Vitamin D. Usually postmenopausal women are more likely to get osteoporosis (meaning bones thin out so they are more susceptible to rupture), so they are aided by “estrogen hormone replacement therapy,” or are just told by a professional to exercise and intake more calcium. Adolescents need 1200 milligrams of RDA calcium daily. Milk acts as a great source, because it also has Vitamin D to aid in the absorption of the calcium. Although vegetables too also have calcium, such as dark green leafy ones, but unfortunately are harder for the body to intake the calcium because of the oxalic acid present in the vegetables. Along with calcium, magnesium is also an important mineral that the body needs, for the configuration of bones and some enzymes. Male and female adults need magnesium, where males need .35 gram, and females need .28. Along with eating certain vegetables and nuts, a type of water that has much calcium and magnesium ions is can be drunk. This water is called “hard” water, and is much more sufficient in magnesium than “soft” water.

This excerpt was pretty easy to understand, so I don’t really have any difficult concepts.

This article was interesting, especially for me as a vegetarian, because I took a class called vegetarianisms, where we actually discussed whether it would be healthy to be a vegan. The articles I read were actually contrary to this, in that they discussed how you can still get a healthy amount of calcium from only vegetables (and maybe multivitamins). So it is interesting for me to see different viewpoints and explanations on the same topic. I actually do drink milk, because I am not vegan although I do not drink it that often (I prefer soy or rice milk). Another concept that this article made me think about, was how in the media, there are always advertisements showing famous celebrities with milk mustaches. I would always wonder whether milk actually does have calcium to help your bones. I thought that maybe it might have been something made up by the milk industry, because they want more money, so they would just pay a celebrity to advertise with the milk. The only thing that really bothers me with milk though, is the fact that we humans are the only animals/beings that still drink milk after our teeth have grown in our mouths. Is milk meant for us adult animal/beings? Also, is it really healthy to drink milk, even though Vitamin D and other nutrients that were not naturally in it were added to it? Oh yes, and also, I actually have heard of “hard” water, but did not know that it is actually good for you, so that surprised me as well.

So maybe more people should drink milk, to get their daily calcium, especially women susceptible to osteoporosis. Although what I would really like to see, are more tests run to see the difference between people who drink milk and those who do not. I would also like to see more research on other possible calcium sources for vegans.

Baird, Colin. Chemistry in Your Life. Second Edition. Calcium and Magnesium Are Important For Bones And Teeth. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York. 2006.