Do you suffer from low calcium?

You may eat healthily, exercise regularly and generally look after yourself, however, you may not be getting the right levels of vitamins and minerals that your body needs day to day. If you are suffering from low calcium, you may not even know about it. However, there are a range of symptoms below, that you may recognise.

Calcium deficiency affects the majority of the population, the average person living in the west consumes around 60% of what the recommended amount of calcium is. Calcium deficiency has varying degrees of severity – from the mild to the life-threatening. Some of the symptoms only a appear later on in life – in weakened bones for example. Either way low calcium levels can easily be rectified – the sooner the better.

We’ll list the various symptoms below. If you recognise any of them, consider the amount of calcium in your diet. Is it too low? Do you imagine that you are getting close to 1000mg of the mineral day? If not, it might be time to change a few things.

Suffering from calcium deficiency can lead to the following symptoms:

• Fainting
• Heart failure
• Chest pains
• Numbness and tingling sensations around the mouth or in the fingers and toes
• Muscle cramps, particularly in the back and legs; may progress to muscle spasm (tetany)
• Wheezing
• Difficulty swallowing
• Voice changes due to spasm of the larynx
• Irritability, impaired intellectual capacity, depression, and personality changes
• Fatigue
• Seizures
• Coarse hair
• Brittle nails
• Psoriasis
• Dry skin
• Chronic itching
• Tooth decay
• Numbness or tingling in the extremities
• Muscle weakness
• Cataracts
• Osteoporosis symptoms (backache; a gradual loss of height and an accompanying stooped posture; fractures of the spine, wrist, or hip)

If you’re concerned with any of these symptoms – speak to your doctor or GP. Low calcium is extremely easy to sort out – calcium supplements are widely available – and a calcium-rich diet is easy to sort out.

Your body will require good calcium stores as it gets older, so now is a perfect time to start.