Ninety-five percent of your body’s calcium is present in your bones. However, calcium is critical not only for healthy bones but also for every system and process in the body, including muscle contraction, blood clotting, brain function, heart rhythm, and kidney function. Because calcium is so important, the body has developed an elaborate system of hormones to keep the calcium level constant in the blood.

The most important of these substances are parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, and calcitonin.
Parathyroid hormone is made in the four tiny parathyroid glands
tucked in behind the neck and attached to the thyroid gland. Parathyroid
hormone controls the calcium level in the blood. If this level falls
below a certain point, this hormone is released into the bloodstream
and increases the calcium level in the blood in a number of ways.
Since calcium is critical to brain and cell health, bone mass may be
sacrificed to ensure that an adequate level of calcium is maintained
in the bloodstream.
Vitamin D is obtained primarily from the sun, where it is produced
by the ultraviolet irradiation of an inactive form of the vitamin in the
skin. It is also found in small amounts in eggs, milk, and fish. Vitamin
D is stored in the liver in a partially activated form and is transported
to the kidney, where it is converted into its final, active form. Once
activated, vitamin D increases the absorption of calcium from the
intestines and stimulates the kidney to reabsorb calcium from the
urine back into the bloodstream. Vitamin D, like parathyroid hormone,
is responsible for maintaining a specified level of calcium in
the blood. So, the correct amount of vitamin D is important to maintain calcium balance.
Several substances can affect vitamin D levels in the body. Anticonvulsant drugs stimulate the production of liver enzymes that break down vitamin D, which can lead to a vitamin deficiency. Patients on anticonvulsants can develop osteomalacia from the vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis from the resulting calcium deficiency. This
bone loss can be avoided if the doctor regularly monitors the calcium
and vitamin D levels in these patients.
Calcitonin, another hormone, is made in the thyroid gland. It appears
to protect bone from the resorption effects of parathyroid hormone.
As we will discuss in later chapters, calcitonin is used for
treatment of osteoporosis.

Water makes up 98% percent of our body, and without this life-giving fluid, you and I would not survive. The human body can survive for up to 3 weeks on water alone. Try surviving without the water and you might make it 4 to 5 days. It’s a truly amazing and health sustaining fluid, and it’s just water!

What really do we get from water, that our body must have, and can’t live without? It’s the benefit of the fluidity of water, and what it does for our bodies that is the most important part. All of our bodily functions rely on the cells in our bloodstream to supply them the nutrients and minerals that they need to carry out those vital functions. How do our cells achieve that end? They absorb the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients we take in during our digestive process. But they also absorb water, or liquid fluids that are a product in direct water intake or the digestive process, but either way, water must be a part of the formula. Since cells are also made of mostly water or fluid, it’s necessary to keep lots of water coming, and make sure that we include at least 64 ounces in our daily intake.

Ask any health and fitness instructor, and they will tell you that you must consume plenty of water during your exercise routine, weight lifting, and physical activity requires us to take in water or some sort of sports drink. Most of the instructors will recommend just plain water. Why must we keep our bodies so hydrated? In order for the metabolic and muscle burn to occur, there must be plenty of water and plenty of oxygen. Oh, wait a minute, there’s another benefit of water. It contains oxygen, a substance our body cannot get enough of. Water also helps to flush the lactose acid that accumulates in our muscles when we work out, or use the excessively. The lactose acid can build up and cause soreness, stiffness, and muscle pain.

So, if you look at the benefits that water supplies, and you are trying to maintain health and fitness, you can not ignore the fact that water needs to be a part of your daily intake. But how much water do we need to adequately supply our bodies, and help fuel our metabolic processes? The most often recommended quantity is 8 eight ounce glasses each day. Personally, I believe that amount should be closer to 10 eight ounce glasses each day.

What other benefits can water provide, other than the obvious ones of adding fluid to our bodies? Water helps keep our skin healthy and glowing. It helps in the reduction of wrinkling, and aids in our ability to flush fat, toxins, and any other unwanted or foreign substance from our bodies. Flushing our intestines with plenty of water allows us to maintain stable and safe quantities of yeast and bacteria. Plenty of water keeps our thought processes and brain function at optimal levels, and prevents headaches that are caused from not enough hydration. It’s pretty amazing what that one little glass of water can do!

The body’s metabolism is a unique process for each individual person. No two people metabolize food at the same rate therefore no two people have the metabolism. We all use our calories at different rates, with different results. Our metabolism, like our fingerprints is unique to each of us. But the need to understand and accommodate this metabolism is an issue that we all face.

The dictionary defines metabolism as the sum of all biochemical processes involved in life, or the sustaining of life. In application concerning our health, metabolism is related to the intake and use of food. In reference to the case in point it is our ability to utilize our food to the fullest extent.

Right now, the greatest results in raising our metabolism come from exercise and building our muscle mass, while reducing our body fat. Adding more muscle to the body, in turn causes us to burn more calories, and this helps to elevate our metabolic rate.

Our metabolism functions also depend on how well we have taken care of our nutritional needs. Some people have really high rates of metabolism. In other words, when they consume food, their bodies burn it up almost as fast as then consume it. Then there are those of use who use our food intake so slowly, as to not even notice that we’re burning calories. These people who burn quickly are often slim and trim, the people who burn more slowly are the people with a tendency toward obesity.

For years, people have sought ways to raise the metabolic rate. If you can raise someone’s metabolic rate, you are then better able to control the burn of calories, especially for overweight or obese people. This would make the goal of better or improved health a much easier reality for those people. Efforts to date have produced very little results. There are foods that we can consume that naturally raise our metabolic rate, but not to a great extent. What we need is a way to directly alter the rate. We need to be able to raise our metabolism to a point where we can actually see a benefit.

This is where the effort to stay physically fit and active provides tremendous payoff. Over the course of your life, if you stay active, exercise, and maintain optimal health for your muscles, you will see a tremendous difference in the rate that your body metabolizes food. As people age, their metabolism quite naturally slows down. The greatest way to prevent this from happening is through exercise and staying fit.

The best way to date to control our metabolic process is through proper nutrition, daily exercise, eating the foods known to have an effect on our metabolic rate, and plenty of rest. The metabolic process can be indirectly controlled by the methods we just discussed. Direct control is not available, to date.

I believe through careful analysis, exercise, and attention to each person’s unique needs, we could bring about a more natural balance of the metabolic burn vs. the calorie intake. To a level where optimal health and weight control are in equilibrium.