Calcium Absorption, Vitamin D, Cholesterol, Fiber and the Sun.

Note:  Below is information pertaining to the heading above.  This note was inserted after initially constructing this feature with a great deal of research and discovering that the absorption of vitamins and minerals into the body is a complex process and if there is anyone looking for perfection they are whistling in the dark.  You can only hope for conducting your diet regimen in a way where the body will take over and establish a natural balance and "take what it needs and gets rid of the rest"  Of course as in anything especially where the human body comes into the picture it can only stand so much abuse.  This is where all the whites come into the picture, refined sugar,  pasta, salt, white potatoes etc. and adulterated fats as in hydrogenated along with other flagrant abuses, tobacco and alcohol will catch up to you, to name a few.

I did come to one basic conclusion though and that was the natural versus synthetic and a mined dietary regimen and from what I have learned the synergy of natural foods, we are talking the complimentary components in natural foods are critical factors.  I have written how critical magnesium/calcium was in having a balanced contingent of it in our agricultural practices as it related to its role in optimizing the primary role of calcium and absorption in the soils molecule structure.  The human body works in a similar fashion.  In many supplements and in fact some foods synergy is disregarded and this is why it behooves us to engage in a balanced diet of the right foods and minimize the bad foods.

Lets get started with the original feature

There are two key processes that take place in the absorption of foods in the human being.  First is the  initial process of mastication, saliva and the mechanical/chemical action in the stomach preparing the foods to be ingested into the blood stream.  The initial process in preparing the foods is as important as the transfer to the  blood stream and how well the body distributes the nutrients to the vital parts of the body.  Calcium absorption into the bone matrix is one very important process but there are many.  You will read below the vital aspects of fiber in the diet and vitamin D3.

My Dad had a saying "That fellow hasn't the brains of a squirrel"  I think he was referring to the fact that even a squirrel has the brains to put a few nuts away for the winter.  In the image below is our beloved pooch Angie who has an instinct to obtain a daily dose of the sun and believe me it has nothing to do with us prompting her.  When she has an opportunity she bolts to a location on the blacktop driveway or to a lawn chair in the back yard to get her sun dosage as there is something that tells her she needs it.  In the middle of the summer with the blacktop at a toasty 100 degrees plus this does not deter her.  She usually lasts for about 20 minutes and then heads for the shade.  

This feature keys in on three very important factors that are ignored by most and they are the quality of the vitamins and minerals you are ingesting, the Fiber as it applies to traffic time and absorption and last the  Sun as it applies to Vitamin D3 and  in the critical role it plays into the vital internal workings of the body including the bone matrix.  We believe that Angie has the instinct to obtain enough sun to produce enough Vitamin D3  to obtain the maximum amount of calcium etc. absorption from the food we give her.  You can obtain the right food balance with the key minerals needed for absorption but if you do not have  an adequate amount of vitamin D3 in your blood system you are nullifying the process to one degree or another.

We have written a ton on the above heading,  but quite honestly it hasn't been since recently where our  research has taken us to a much higher level of understanding.  The fact of the matter is that what you will read below is not a compilation of our theories.  These theories are being reported regularly on the Internet, by people who are a lot smarter than I am, but unfortunately not adhered to by most of the general public.  Our view is that for the most part people have become astute at using the powers of the Internet for foolish practices, when they won't take the effort to improve the quality of their lives searching for life saving information when it is only a few keystrokes away.

Fiber  

We are continually bombarded with fiber, fiber, fiber.  I have recently embarked on a fiber study via the Internet.  You talk about a zoo of information.  Honestly I thought when I started that we were going to have a piece of cake until we got into the variables involved especially when you become exposed to the complexity of absorption let alone soluble and insoluble fibers.  I wish that I could present this feature with some confidence and understanding as it relates to fiber but I can't.  My only advice when you hear the phrase "balanced diet"  and from as many natural foods as you can ingest is take it seriously because that is the only way you can come close to the challenges of eating enough and the right fiber foods.  When you hear "fruits and vegetables" take it seriously because they are one of the major keys to fiber foods.  Last is fatty fish and my favorite sardines.  You will read that sardines provide the needed protein in your diet, but the characteristics of sardines as to how it relates to fiber and calcium absorption is unequalled.  So in conclusion raw fruits and vegetables and sardines for a good part of your diet regimen  is all you need to know without any guessing.

The medical community and the few that understand it and appreciate the role fiber plays fail to publicize the two most important functions that fiber provides.  If you take a survey regarding fiber I believe most will relate to the "roughage" aspects and its role in removing wastes from the body.  No question fiber plays a vital role in keeping your colon healthy.  There is no question that soluble and insoluble fiber plays an important role in waste removal.  If you study the better fiber foods you will discover that they have properties that enhance the absorption process.  Fruits (berries in particular) and vegetables receive the most merits because of the "traffic time" and special nutrients and anti-oxidants they provide.  Interestingly we have been aware that dried fruits, prunes, apricots, raisins and cranberries have a very beneficial effect.  Honestly we have not had an understanding of the reason these particular "dried" foods were as beneficial until our recent research regarding calcium and other mineral absorption issues surfaced. This is when we discovered that the dried fruits had a great deal to do with traffic time and hence the absorbability of their nutrients were increased by the slowing of the traffic time issue.  In fact there is a great deal written on soluble and insoluble foods and their affect on absorption.  

Keep in mind that as we age and more so in women, the body doesn't receive enough minerals in the diet or at least the efficiency factor is not there versus a young body that can glean what they  need out of a rock, figuratively speaking.  When you age bone loss becomes an issue and on a net basis for some there is a shortfall between how much minerals you are receiving and how much the body is tapping into your bones in a cannibalizing fashion.  When the body encounters this shortfall this is when the skeletal breaks down and consequences take place that could be entirely unrelated to the original source of your problems.

We have read recently one of the best fiber foods is actually meat and in particular fish with special electrolytes on board (calcium and magnesium) to name a couple of the more prominent ones.  Our feature keys  on Calcium Absorption  and relates to bone loss and the problems associated with the human skeletal that is closely tied to the fiber issue.  

Beware of some of the fiber foods not receiving top billing because of their low calcium levels.  It is not a question of how much calcium and nutrients there are in a food,  it is a question of absorbability.  You take a whole orange that has about 7% (aprox 71 mg) of your daily needs of calcium and lets say an item like a dose of Tums that has a large amount of calcium, you get the impression that the Tums wins out in the calcium department.  This can be disputed very easily when it comes to absorbability as the orange has all the properties to optimize absorption (soluble and insoluble fiber)   when there are many foods and supplements high in calcium content that have almost zero amount of availability.  I hate to use the vulgar term associated with the principles above but in the case of many calcium and nutrient foods they go through your system like S--t through a tin horn.  The optimum scenario to optimize  the digestion process is making available as many nutrients as possible as in  Calcium absorption, removing the waste products and sending them on their way for disposal.

One of our favorite fiber foods is Sardines based on first their fiber properties.   We believe that chicken is also an excellent fiber food.    If you take a close look at sardines and indulge in them as I do, you will shortly come to the conclusion that the texture and the complimentary aspects of Sardines, Vitamin D3 and Omega three fatty acids  in particular is to aid in the transportation of these miracle components.   We believe that the fact that in the case of sardines that the effectiveness of all of these critical elements in one neat package creates a perfect scenario to accomplish the goal of optimum absorption versus depending on the combination of receiving these elements separately.   Whether you engage in depending on these elements from dietary sources that have all the ingredients on board, whether you depend on receiving these elements from separate sources that could include supplements it is written they should all be taken with food and the only explanation we have come up with is that the minerals in the foods you would take are critical to the absorption process.  To us this supports our leaning to foods that have all the compliments on board and there are very few that have.

The body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Without enough vitamin D, one can’t form enough of the hormone calcitriol (known as the “active vitamin D”). This in turn leads to insufficient calcium absorption from the diet. In this situation, the body must take calcium from its stores in the skeleton, which weakens existing bone and prevents the formation of strong, new bone.

Although we have attached this feature to calcium absorption and bone health we have posted a link to the very complicated subject of calcium assimilation that covers the many many roles that calcium plays in the health of the human body.  We suggest that this material be read and based on the support to obtain your calcium and for that matter all of your mineral and vitamin needs from natural foods.  In the case of calcium  again the bones of animals and fish seem to be the superstars.  My understanding of this phenomena is simply based on the complimentary role natural foods have on board with the key mineral such as Calcium.  There is a reason why medical science recommends that calcium consumed via the line of least resistance method (pill form) is taken with food so that hopefully the food taken has some of the elements necessary to compliment the calcium in nutrient uptake  via absorption.  As the old saying goes, it is better than nothing.  It certainly is not better than natural foods with natural compliments.   Excellent feature on calcium  Calcium feature  check it  out.

Keep in mind you can assure yourself an adequate amount of vitamin D3 when you combine foods such as sardines that not only have a generous amount of Calcium and complimentary minerals but also a nice contingent of Vitamin D3.  This would be in addition to Vitamin D3 acquired from sunlight and cholesterol.  We also ingest a modest amount of Vitamin D3 supplements, approximately 3000 mg a day.  We feel that by mixing the 3 sources we have all of our bases covered.

Below is the facts regarding the  integration of........

Calcium Absorption, Vitamin D, Cholesterol, Fiber and the Sun

Again the information is readily available on line if people can tear themselves away from what I refer to as "Girlie Stuff".  I am not being critical of family and friend interaction as this is important to.  It is a question of apportioning their time where you can have both, let alone those that are applying the technology to their business and making a living from it.  There is an argument that folks doing "Girlie stuff" only could be preparing themselves for a career in technology.  I would pray to God that this is the case.  Unfortunately the internet has fostered a world full of putterers that can't see the trees from the forest.  There are utter morons that are making millions of dollars on the Internet while most sit in front of a screen and go no where.

The first issue with Calcium is the quality of the calcium ingested.  You could swallow a whole bottle of Tums (calcium carbonate)  but in the process create a dangerous condition with the waste product produced by this particular form of calcium if taken in excess.

Below is a short definition of biological assimilation......

Biological assimilation, is the combination of two processes to supply cells with nutrients. The first is the process of absorbing vitamins, minerals, and other chemicals from food within the gastrointestinal tract.  This link goes into a very scientific explanation in what happens in the gastrointestinal tract.  It is complicated and for most very difficult to understand and try to apply it to an intelligent regimen.  All I can say is good luck and hopefully following the basics will help and as the old saying goes "The more you know, the more luck you will have".

The link below will  provide you the key foods with a high quality calcium content.

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/foods-high-in-calcium.php 

The optimum production of Vitamin D  has a great deal to do with Calcium absorption and assimilation depends on two factors, Cholesterol and Sun exposure although there are other means of obtaining Vitamin D3.  There are Vitamin D3 supplements and Vitamin D3 is recommended over the  ergo Vitamin D2 products on the market.

How well your body deals with Calcium will determine the degree of your health.  Calcium works best with Natural Magnesium intake and pumpkin and squash seeds are the magnesium superstars.  It took me over 50 years to understand why a professor at Cornell instructed me to obtain my lime needs for our orchards from a special mine in Lee Mass.  He said that the calcium in the lime from that mine also had a generous amount of magnesium.  We discovered just the other day when researching  calcium absorption that magnesium plays a huge role in all types of calcium absorption because of the chemical synergy involved.  To repeat all of the above including the pumpkin seeds that have a generous amount of calcium and magnesium depends on their fiber properties and seeds are some of the finest fiber sources.  We just learned that magnesium especially if it is in a natural form makes the calcium more soluble.  50 years ago we just did what we were told to do in our farm culture.  50 years later it makes sense and we are applying it to our personal health and to anyone that will listen.

Although supplements have the ability to pump up your blood levels and test results we still have a problem with this means of acquiring these numbers versus going the natural food route.  Sardines are our vitamin D3 choice because of its super complimentary minerals that we believe greatly optimize the process.  We do rely on other calcium foods as well as vitamin D3 supplements as a backup to the natural route.  Interestingly with our diversified array of Vitamin D3 sources my 25 hydroxy blood levels remain at around the 50 ng/mg level.  My guess is the 50 level is the perfect equilibrium for me.  I could pump up the test numbers with a higher  amount of supplements but that to me would be dangerously excessive.

We have an excellent feature on Sardines....http://blueeyedcurse.com/sardines.htm check it out.

Of course maintaining an adequate amount of  cholesterol by not allowing an unnecessary drug treatment to artificially reduce the test results is important.  Now this adequate amount  must be monitored by a physician if the Cholesterol and other factors, HDL numbers for one are at low levels.  We believe that lowering cholesterol with Statins can be dangerous when an adequate amount of Cholesterol is not integrating sufficiently with sun exposure.  We believe that the sun provides what is considered to be the best way to manufacture the needed Vitamin D3 levels and especially how it relates to Calcium absorption.

You need to protect your skeletal now and not wait until the horse is out of the barn when spinal stenosis and all the other bone issue can really make your golden years black as the ace of spades.

Bottom line summary

There are basically two schools of thought regarding how well the body can gain needed nutrients.  You have one school that believes we can acquire what we need from most foods and supplements, there is the natural school that believes the only way to achieve optimum absorption and maximum benefits is through natural foods that have complimentary minerals that create a synergy that is essential.  Now whether the general food and supplement route provides enough to do the job is really up in the air.

We stand on the side of natural and our full feature will reflect that.

Calcium and other minerals especially in tandem along with vitamin D3, cholesterol and omega 3 fatty acids play a critical role in how effective the entire process plays out.  Calcium absorption as well as all absorption processes start with enough vitamin D 3 that on the natural side is created by sun exposure and cholesterol.  The quality of the food such as calcium in sardines has a lot to do with how well it is absorbed and utilized by the  blood network.  This is where natural foods enter the picture versus the other general food intake school of thought.

Ironically there are few foods that have all of these attributes except one and it stands out head and shoulders over taking these components separately.  We firmly believe that again sardines have all of these critical components on board and on board working in tandem  with the synergy that produces superior results.

First the quality of these components are critical and one of them is their fiber properties.  Sardines as in most meats are the epitome of fiber foods and when you incorporate all of the on board properties, they are unequaled if you subscribe to the theory of on board versus separate contributions.

With on board Vitamin D3 in sardines you are receiving the key to mineral absorption as this is the role Vitamin D3 plays.  This role brings in the treatment of all of our ills, cancer, heart disease etc. etc.  Add to that the role omega 3 fatty acids play in the transportation department again places sardines head and shoulders over everything else as they have a nice contingent of omega three fatty acids. 

If I had a calcium and mineral absorption concern (which I do)  sardines would be a regular part of my daily regimen and why 5 days a week my lunch consists of over 4 ounces of sardines, soaked in olive oil, and with additional virgin olive oil added.  I might add that the sardines I eat are incorporated into a salad that have nuts, seed, green vegetables, beans and many foods that contribute to the synergy role sardines play in the process.