—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 2, 1973 42 How our bodies use calcium is a fascinating topic. At one time we assumed that the adult skele ton was full grown and did not need new calcium from our diet to sustain itself. Then, some years ago, we discovered through re search that bone is constantly in a process of exchange—of giving up some of its calcium and taking in new calcium. When we learned this, we knew that bone is body tissue, depend ent upon nutrients in our daily meals as a source of material for rejuvenation. Precise Knowledge The subject of calcium becomes even more interesting when one realizes how precise is our knowl edge. For example, calcium and phosphorus (present in milk, in cidentally, in ideal ratio) travel to bone via our blood stream. At the bone, tiny crystals of these minerals deposit themselves around a framework of protein. As a bone grows or sustains it self, new bone material deposits itself on the outside of the bone. But at the same time, bone ma terial on the inside of the bone shaft is absorbed into our blood stream by the body for other functions. When calcium in the blood stream drops below a cer tain level mechanisms are trig gered to take calcium from the bone. So, our bones need new cal cium regularly from our food. Another fascinating aspect of bone is confirmed by research— that bone strengthens itself in re lation to the stress put on it. For instance, when astronauts exper ience weightlessness for any NUTRITION A LA CARTE • Calories measure how much energy the food we eat will give us. Thus, a calorie is not, in itself, a nutrient. But since you need en ergy you need calories, but not too many. If you are fat it means you are storing too much future energy, or that you are lugging aroung energy in the form of fat that you’ll never use. P. L ROHRER & BRO., INC. SMOKETOWN, PA. Doctor in the Kitchen 0 by Laurence M. Hursh, M.D. Consultant, National Dairy Council HOW WE USE CALCIUM length of time, they lose calcium from their bones. This also hap pens to people who by reason of illness experience extensive bed rest As a physician I must wonder if one of the reason older people suffer less bone strength may be due in part to their putting less stress on their systems. We know that many older people have prob lems such as osteoporosis (bone thinning) due to inadequate in takes of calcium in their daily meals I recommend that they start getting at least two 8-ounce glas ses of milk per day, or its equi valent in other dairy foods such as cheese This will give them about three-fourths of the Recom mended Dietary Allowance for calcium. Two 8-ounce glasses of fluid whole milk and one ounce of cheddar cheese will give you 782 mg of those 800 mg of cal cium that are recommended for an adult each day. If you think this isn’t good ad vice, just look at these amounts of other foods you would have to eat if you were to get enough calcium without milk or milk products: Canned salmon (with bones) is a good source of calcium. Still, it would take almost 2% cups to equal two glasses of milk. Dry beans are a good source, too. But to get enough calcium you’d need almost 6 cups daily. Or 38 slices of enriched bread, or 30 eggs, or 16 oranges, or 13 cups of squash. It gets ridiculous. You need milk. • Do you live alone and find -cooking for one a problem? There are ways to get more variety in your meals. Take ground beef. You don’t have to use it all on successive days. Wrap ground beef into separate small portions and store in your freezer. Meat loaf or spaghetti sauce doesn’t have to be eaten all at once. Calcium Comparisons Phone Lane. 397-3539 • Adults, too, could improve their snacks. The typical morning coffee break is a case in point. And for some people, it’s not just a break, but their breakfast and a poor one at that. Coffee break snacks would be improved if they included items such as cheese wedges, oranges, fruit juices, milk, cottage cheese with fruit, or ready-to-eat cereals. • How far back in history is but ter mentioned? Well, butter dates back as far as recorded history and undoubtedly beyond. There’s a Biblical reference in Genesis, Chapter 18, the Bth verse—about Abraham providing butter as part of a meal. It seems that all through the ages, people have loved butter and regarded it as one of the great delicacies. • Everybody talks about losing weight. But some people need to gain weight. How can they do it? Under-weight people should eat more, and more often! they should eat more of the foods that fur nish more calories in small bulk —meat, eggs, sweets, chocolate, fats, and oils. Ask your doctor about physical activity and more rest. • People ask me so here’s my answer: There Is a difference be tween chocolate milk and choco late dairy drink. Chocolate milk is made from whole milk and chocolate dairy drink is made from skim or partially sldm milk. Otherwise, the two milk drinks are made with similar ingredi ents. • From the simple one-celled plant to highly complex human beings, all living things need sHm Take home a pound of nrmfilllk Pound for pound milk packs more nutritional value than meat, fish, fruit or fowl. Yet it costs only per pound. Why the low cost? Milk is a natural nutrition source. It stands to reason that the less you have to put into a food, the lower the cost to the consumer. With milk there’s no special processing required. It already contains more calcium and vitamins A, B 2 and C than ground beef and most other foods. And because milk is still sold in its natural liquid form, it has escaped the skyrocketing costs of today’s “heat and serve” foods. We don’t suggest that you make milk your only source of nutrition, but, at a pound, it should be an important part of it. Put a couple extra pounds of milk in your shopping cart this week. This message represents the thinking of 9,000 dairy farmers belonging to the low cost cooperative association. 1 EASTERN - MILK PRODUCERS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION. INC. Kinne Road, Syracuse, New York 13214 food. Food is necessary to sup port growth, to repair tissues, which constantly are wearing out, and to supply energy for physical activity. If your meals do not fur nish all the dements you need your body will not operate at peak efficiency for very long. TRY A CLASSIFIED AD PHONE 626-2191 or 394-304 • Corn Seed Treatment • Special Price on Baymix Cattle Warmers • Shovels, forks, rakes, hoes • Rohrer's Garden Seeds AARON S. GROFF Farm & Dairy Store R.D :!. Ephrata, Pa. 17342 (Hinkletown) Phone3s4-0744 Store Hours 7 A.M. to 9 P.M. Closed Tues. & Sat. at 5:30 P.M. s> mm STEAK 5 s * "B • 15. -* : N ■sw> jgg