Milk

Everybody starts off in life drinking milk!  When you get older you begin to eat milk (or dairy) products like cheese and yoghurts but all for the same reason – milk is packed with nutrients!

One of the most important nutrients in milk is calcium.  Calcium is a mineral that your body uses to make your bones and teeth strong & healthy.  It also makes sure that your muscles and nerves are in tip-top order.  Your body isn’t great at getting the best from calcium when its on its own.  Calcium needs vitamin D to help it to get into your blood.  Lots of milk is now fortified with vitamin D – it is just added to the milk by the dairy – but you can also get vitamin D from sunlight (just remember your sunscreen!).

Where can you get calcium if you don’t like milk?  Calcium is found in lots of other foods like dark green leafy vegetables, some nuts or dried fruits and fish like sardines.  Nothing beats milk and dairy products through for calcium!  And remember, low fat milk and dairy products have as full fat milk and dairy products so you don’t have to worry about the fat you are eating!

What happens if you don’t have enough calcium in your diet?  The calcium you eat or drink when you are young helps your bones to grow very strong.  Your bones are still growing up until you are an adult, till you are about 35 years of age (ancient!).  Your bones don’t grow any longer but their density increases – they get thicker so they are stronger.  After this age, your bones start to get just a little bit thinner every year.  Your job as you grow up is to make sure your bones have plenty of calcium so that they are as strong and as dense as possible before you get to be 35 years old.  If your bones aren’t very strong at this age, they get weak quite quickly and they can break easily.  This is a condition called osteoporosis and it can cause a serious problem for older people.

Did you know…?
99% of all the calcium in your body is stored in your bones and teeth. The rest (1%) is in your blood and tissues!