Calcium is arguably the most important nutrient in your body and more than 99% of them are stored in your bones and teeth. Calcium is essential for many body functions. It helps regulate heartbeat, muscle contraction and nerve conduction, as well as building and maintaining a healthy skeleton.

Applications:
Food and Healthcare
Biomedical
Facts & Data:
AceNano Calcium

Your body loses calcium every day through shed skin, nails, hair, sweat, as well as through urine and faeces. Calcium will be withdrawn from bones if daily intake is insufficient to perform these activities. When this happens over many years, the bones thin out, resulting in OSTEOPOROSIS.

Bones are living tissues and continue to change throughout life. During childhood and adolescence, bones increase in size and mass. Bones continue to add more mass until around age 30, when peak bone mass is reached. Peak bone mass is the point when the maximum amount of bone is achieved. Because bone loss, like bone growth, is a gradual process, the stronger your bones are at age 30, the more your bone loss will be delayed as you age.

Osteoporosis, which literally means "porous bone", is a disease in which the density and quality of bone are reduced. As the bones become more porous and fragile, the risk of fracture is greatly increased. The loss of bone occurs "silently" and progressively. Often there are no symptoms until the first fracture occurs.

The most common fractures associated with osteoporosis occur at the hip, spine and wrist. The incidence of these fractures, particularly at the hip and spine, increases with age in both women and men. International Osteoporosis Foundation has identified the following risk factors of osteoporosis.

According to the report ¡°the Surgeon General's Workshop on Osteoporosis and Bone Health¡±, in US alone, more than one in 10 Americans either has or is at risk of developing a bone disease. However, the vast majority of these individuals remain undiagnosed and untreated. As a result, bone disease exacts a huge toll on the nation. Osteoporosis, by far the most common bone disease, is responsible for approximately 1.5 million fractures each year. As many as 300,000 individuals who suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture die as a result of complications from the injury. The direct care costs for osteoporotic fractures alone are already up to $18 billion each year. That number is expected to increase if action to prevent osteoporosis is not taken now.

Another estimation shows that osteoporosis and low bone mass (osteopenia) are major public health threats affects about 75m people in Europe, the USA and Japan. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, the total direct cost of osteoporotic fractures is €31.7bn in Europe, and 18bn in the US (2002 figure). The total annual cost of osteoporosis in the UK alone is over £1.7bn (€2.5bn), equivalent to £5m (€7.3m) each day.

Osteoporosis and osteopenia are historically underdiagnosed and undertreated conditions, even among those already experiencing a fracture. Therefore, just because a person does not have a diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia does not mean that the person is not at risk.

In particular, adolescents in many developing countries do not consume sufficient calcium in their diet to protect bones against the common condition osteoporosis. In US for example, according to the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals, the following percentage of Americans are not meeting their recommended intake for calcium:

  • 44% boys and 58% girls ages 6-11

  • 64% boys and 87% girls ages 12-19

  • 55% men and 78% of women ages 20+

In the UK, the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey revealed that 19 per cent of girls and 9 per cent of boys aged between 15-18 years are not getting enough calcium from their diets, increasing their risk of failing to achieve their peak bone mass (at age 20-25) and consequently, of developing osteoporosis later in life.

According to NOF (National Osteoporosis Fundation of US) recommendations,

  • Adults under age 50 need 1,000 mg of calcium daily,

  • adults age 50 and over need 1,200 mg of calcium daily.

According to experts, food is the best source of calcium; however, most Americans do not have enough calcium in their diets. Fortunately, calcium-fortified foods and calcium supplements can fill the gap, ensuring that the daily calcium requirement is met. The amount needed from a supplement depends on how much calcium is consumed from food sources.

Other Benefits of calcium supplement intake:

Calcium is essential for many body functions, including regulation of the heartbeat, conduction of nerve impulses, stimulation of hormone secretions and clotting of blood, as well as for building and maintaining a healthy skeleton.

Calcium and High Blood Pressure

The combination "DASH" diet,Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)", was reported by the National Institutes of Health, with increased calcium, decreased blood pressure.

Calcium and Weight Management

Several studies have linked higher calcium intakes to lower body weights or less weight gain over time. It seems calcium plays a contributing role.

Overweight pre-menopausal women do not lose bone with moderate weight loss when consuming the recommended intake for calcium, a study shows.

Calcium and Cardiovascular disease

Universit¨¦ Laval Faculty of Medicine researchers have discovered that taking calcium and vitamin D supplements while on a weight loss program lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Calcium and cancer

Some studies suggest that increased intakes of dietary and supplemental calcium are associated with a decreased risk of colon cancer. Calcium supplementation is reported to lead to reduced risk of adenomas (nonmalignant tumors) in the colon, a precursor to colon cancer.

Study also showed that increasing calcium intake was associated with a 50 per cent reduction in breast cancer risk for the whole population, and a 74 per cent reduction for pre-menopausal women.


Nano Calcium as Healthcare Supplement

AceNano Calcium is made from Oyster shell which is a biomineral, a combination of organic molecules and mineral components. AceNano Calcium is produced by using 3D Dry Nano Pulverizer technology which controls and maintains temperature in the course of pulverizing process. Therefore, the ground material (Calcium) remains "as-is" ingredients.

All of these comes to the conclusion that AceNano Calcium, as a supplement, is the most effectiveness of calcium absorption. AceNano Calcium is just the right solution to all unconcealed problems of calcium intake from differenct forms of products, such as capsule, tablet, drink, bakery, and more.


Nano Calcium as Fortifying

We shall remember that a calcium-rich diet is only one part of an osteoporosis prevention or treatment program. Like exercise, getting enough calcium is a strategy that helps strengthen bones at any age. But these approaches may not be enough to stop bone loss caused by lifestyle, medications or menopause. Many forms of calcium fortified products which include AceNano Calcium shall be largely enhanced in value.

For example, consumption of soft drinks has been hypothesized to be negatively associated with calcium intake. However, fortification of some foods and beverages may have affected calcium intake.