Calcium and Sports Water

With all the talk about the benefits of calcium, manufacturers are adding calcium to numerous products. Sometimes these combinations leave the calcium unavailable to the body, and in other cases it can create serious problems.

Recently I have seen commercials for a new sports water with added calcium. At first this may sound like a great idea. After all calcium does play a role in bone strength, and exercise is needed to get the calcium in to the bone. Although, the addition of calcium to sports waters actually pose an unintended problem for athletes. Calcium contracts muscles, which can lead to muscle cramping. In fact, the most common reason for muscle cramping in most people is excess calcium levels, not potassium deficiency as is often believed. In order to prevent muscle contraction, and potential muscle cramping, the calcium must be balanced out with sufficient levels of magnesium, which relaxes muscles.

Chocolate and Calcium Supplements

A new trend is the addition of calcium with chocolate for calcium supplements, such as chewable calcium supplements. From a marketing standpoint this may sound like a great idea. From a practical standpoint though, it is real stupidity. Cocoa, used to make chocolate, is a rich source of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid has a high affinity for calcium, binding with it, and rendering it unusable by the body. In addition, the formation of calcium oxalate crystals may increase the risk of kidney stones in some individuals.

Coffee and teas (black, oolong, and green), are also sources of oxalic acid. For this reason calcium supplements should not be taken with these beverages. Nor should green tea be added to supplements with calcium, or be taken with calcium supplements.