It’s not sexy but it is one of my favourite deficiencies. Favourite because it’s incredibly common…make no bones about it (tee hee)!  Favourite because a deficiency is actually reasonably easy to recognise once you know how (watch increasing phosphate levels especially over 1.2 mmol/L in particular in adults) rather than wait for a recognisable clinical deficiency picture because if you wait for this your patient will have probably had osteopenia if not osteoporosis for a decade already! Favourite lastly, but most importantly, because correction of a calcium deficiency has led to some of the most diverse but impressive improvements in people’s health that I have seen – from better menstrual regularity and less luteal phase symptoms (see the fascinating research on this also by Thys-Jacobs 2007 https://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jc.2006-2726) to improved pain control in fibromyalgia.

My clinical experience with correcting this deficiency has lead me to believe (almost) anything is possible…what I mean is…if the pathology results together with the clients’ diet etc. point to a reasonable suspicion of calcium deficiency, then addressing it either through diet or supplementation is almost always worthwhile, regardless of the presentation.

This shouldn’t be surprising of course, although perhaps not as quick to come to mind as other minerals, calcium is an incredibly powerful nutrient, particularly as a result of being a key second messenger system (the bit that actually takes the message from the hormonal or neurotransmitter receptor into the cell to activate the appropriate response).  This means it plays a pivotal role in processes as diverse as digestion, nerve conduction, hormone and neurotransmitter release, immunity and haemodynamics.

While I don’t have a blanket ban on dairy in my practice, there are plenty of clients who can’t eat dairy products or need to restrict their intake.  I don’t think this is a problem in general but it‘s very common to find that without adequate substitution, they often present with all the signs of calcium deficiency.

Anyway…not sexy…but a real gem in practice 🙂

 Rachel recorded a great Update in Under 30 called What’s New in K2? This recording is available for purchase & download & relates to the important topic of calcium supplementation & deficiency correction