It is possible to live healthy and fit throughout your life. You need to take care of your body from a young age only. Healthy lifestyle with a nutritious diet is the key to this dream. The main problem of old people which restricts them to live a happy and healthy life is their ‘bones’. We often ignore our minor bone problems at our young age and do not give the important nutrients that our body requires to maintain bone’s health. Which leads to various bone problems at our old age like osteoporosis, arthritis, etc.

Calcium and Vitamin D plays an important role to maintain our bone health. Not only bone health but also these two minerals help the body to carry out various functions efficiently.

Importance of calcium for the human beings: –

• It is very important for strong bones and teeth. Our body has maximum calcium in our bones and teeth. When the body does not get enough calcium, then it takes calcium from bones. This is the reason why our bones start to get weak and develop osteoporosis, arthritis like diseases.
• It helps in squeezing and relaxing muscles.
• Calcium plays an important role in sending and receiving nerve signals.
• It also helps the body in releasing hormones and other chemicals.
• Calcium deficiency also affects blood clotting.
• It helps the body in keeping a normal heartbeat.
• Calcium is an important nutrient during pregnancy for various health benefits. Also, several studies and experiments show that calcium is even more important for women.

Our body cannot produce calcium. So, we have to rely on our diet only to get the required amount of calcium.

Here is some calcium rich food list: –

• Dairy products like milk, yogurt, paneer, cheese.
• White beans.
• dry fruits like fig, raisins.
• Fish like sardines, salmon.
• Seeds like sesame seeds, chia seeds.
• Dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, turnip leaves, moringa leaves.
• Fortified foods like breads, cereals, soy products.

Importance of vitamin D for the human beings: –

• Vitamin D plays an important role in maintaining healthy bones and teeth. It helps the body to absorb and retain the calcium, with the deficiency of vitamin D, intake of calcium is of no use. So, for healthy body growth, development and maintenance, vitamin D is equally important to calcium.
• It also helps the body in absorbing and retaining phosphorus
• Vitamin D also helps to regulate inflammation of the body.
• It also supports a healthy immune system and even reduces the risk of autoimmune diseases.
• It helps to fight many heart diseases.
• Vitamin D also helps to reduce depression.
• It can boost one’s weight loss.

Our body can produce vitamin D under the exposure of sunlight. However, in today’s busy life one does not get enough time for sun bath. So it is always better to include a vitamin D supplement with doctor’s consent. Also, some food list that can help to get the required vitamin D are: –

• Fatty fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel.
• Egg yolks.
• Cod liver oil.
• Fortified foods like cereal, milk, orange juice, yogurt.