Calcium and Healthy Bones Why bother with calcium? Imagine your
bones as your calcium bank. Over the years, you can develop
quite an extensive savings account by taking in plenty of
calcium-rich foods and supplementing your diet with calcium
pills. Keep up the good work as an adult and your bones stay
calcium-rich! On the other hand, regularly skimp on this
mineral, and you'll wind up calcium-broke! Your body fluids
still need calcium to regulate normal body functions. What these
fluids don't get from food must be borrowed from the calcium-
bone bank. Borrowing day after day, year after year, will
deplete the savings account and leave you with osteoporosis
(brittle bones that break easily). Calcium is by far the most
abundant mineral in your body, with about 99 percent of the
stuff stored in your bones. The other 1 percent is located in
your body fluids, where it helps to regulate functions such as
blood pressure, nerve transmission, muscle contraction
(including the heartbeat), clotting of blood, and the secr