Sep 11, 2022
**COMPETITION TIME** - listen to the first 10 minutes of the episode to hear about the competition in more detail - or head straight to this link to enter!
00:00
Hello, you are listening to Katy Bradbury nutritional therapist and registered nurse. Today's podcast episode is called The Micronutrients Series, Macro Minerals, Part 2.
00:15
So hello, and welcome to this week's episode, I really hope that you're doing well, I can't believe that we are now in September already. And I don't know about you, but it really feels like the season is changing already. I'm really noticing here in the UK anyway that the nights are starting to draw around now. We've seen a shift in the weather and you know, it's broken, finally. The drought has lifted a bit and we've seen some rain over the last week or so. So it really feels like there's quite a lot of change on the cards at the moment. So I'm feeling quite excited about that actually.
01:14
I'm continuing the episode today with the Micronutrient Series. So if you're a regular listener, then you will know that over the last few weeks with one or two things, intermittently, punctuating it, I've been doing a Mini series or not, not so mini series because there's a lot to cover on micronutrients. So I've covered the different vitamins so far from the fat soluble vitamins to the water soluble vitamins. And now I'm gradually working my way through the minerals. So i've been starting with what we call the macro minerals because there are four minerals that are just of upmost importance for the body when it comes to maintaining homeostasis and really needing to have tight levels, serum levels in the bloodstream of those vitamins so that so that we can stay alive actually so and we measure the macro. The reason I'm referring to them as the macro minerals is because we refer, we measure them in milligrammes or sometimes even grammes rather than micrograms. So we thought that those four would be a good place to start. Now, last week, I covered actually it wasn't last week, which I'll cut I'll come back to in just a moment. But last episode, I covered magnesium. Today, I am going to talk about calcium. And in the next episode, I will talk about the other two together in all likelihood, rather than doing an episode each on potassium, and sodium. So it might not feel like particularly exciting, but actually, feeding your knowledge with information on these micronutrients, and the role that they have to play in the body. Sometimes directly related to fertility and sometimes indirectly related, then it is really important to just help empower you. And to help you understand why some of the principles I talk about are so important. So when I talk about things like the Mediterranean diet, when I talk about things like including a range of, you know, multicoloured, eating the rainbow, and all the different range of plant foods and eating enough protein, and all of these kinds of things i'm not just telling you those things for the fun of it. Part of that is because of the macronutrient content. And part of it is because eating a nutrient dense diet, like the covering the principles that I've just mentioned, will enable your body to get enough of the micronutrients that it's so needs in order to improve your fertility and make a baby ultimately.
04:13
So I wanted to before I actually get started on talking to you about calcium today, because I've got a few things that I wanted to share with you on calcium. I did just want to cover what I touched on very briefly there, which was that I didn't do an episode last week. And indeed, if you are a regular listener, you might have noticed that over the summer. These episodes have been a little bit sparse. They've been a little bit few and far between. Now, I'm going to be perfectly honest with you about this because, you know hopefully, if you have been listening for a little while then we've got to know each other and you know, you know that a lot of what I talk about is around being congruent and being true to yourself. And so I've been sort of making excuses over the summer of you know, or well, you know, it's the summer we going away, we've got this on, and we've got that on. And that's why I'm not recording a podcast episode this week. Actually, if I'm going to be really, really true to myself, a part of the reason that I haven't been recording the episodes as regularly as I have previously, is because in some ways, I feel like I've started falling out of love with the podcast. Now, that's not because I don't enjoy coming to talk to you, I really, really do, I guess I feel in some ways that I might have lost my mojo with it a little bit and run out of steam. And so when I was thinking about that, because I actually feel sad about that. When I, you know, I've toyed with the idea of maybe stopping doing the podcast. But actually, I do think that would be a real shame, because the feedback that I have had from people is that most of my regular listeners do really love it. I guess how it feels, sometimes, if I'm going to completely put myself in a vulnerable position here is sometimes it feels when you're recording a podcast that you're just speaking to nobody. And I know that I've got some of my regular listeners. And that's great. Most of the people that I know, are my regular listeners are people who are already in other parts of my world. So there are people that I interact and engage with, either in my Facebook group fertility in the first 1000 days, or through working with them directly. So in my group work, like through my previous group programmes, or through my membership, which is also called fertility in the first 1000 days, all through direct one to one work. So I do connect with those people directly. And I'm so grateful to have them in my life, because you know that this is who I do it for right? I do it for you and to connect with you. Because I know exactly how difficult this journey can be. But I guess where it feels a little bit ungratifying is that I know there are lots of people out there that do listen, that I've never spoken to me that have never reached out. And it feels a bit like I'm talking to thin air sometimes in that respect. So what I would, what I was thinking about is, how can I get my mojo back with the podcast? And how can I get your mojo back as well, because you might even be feeling like, oh, you know, you know, it could be better, or, you know, I'd love to get a bit more on board with it or a bit more engaged with it, or even, you know, reach out to me to chat to me for the first time if you haven't before. So what I thought I would do, and I'm going to be running this over the next few weeks is, is do a little competition. And what the competition is going to involve, it's actually very exciting for you, because I'm giving away a huge amount of value in prizes. And is do a do a prize draw. So I'm going to be doing a prize draw. And in order to enter that prize draw, which is going to have hundreds of pounds worth of prizes to give out. In order to enter the prize draw, what I'd like you to do is fill in a feedback form for me. So I've created a Google form. And it's something like 10 questions, they're all pretty straightforward. There's nothing crazy in there, you can really put as much or as little as you want in them, obviously, the more the better. But you know, it shouldn't take you too long to complete. So it's 10 questions, and I'm going to pop the link to it in the episode description. So whatever platform you listen to the podcast on, you should be able to click on the episode to look at the description. And I will add the link there's a few links in there as well of like ways you can work with me and this kind of thing. But I will add in there the link to the competition and to the to the feedback form in order to enter the competition. And what that feedback form is gonna give me is a little bit of a contact with you with my listenership so that I can start to feel a bit more connected to you. Because my aim for this podcast and I hope that this is true and certainly the feedback I have had so far. This is the case for, is I want it to feel like I am sitting in your living room having a chat with you and having a heart to heart that's that is my goal for this podcast. It's also to provide information and empower you and all of the other stuff but you know the reason why I just do it is me talking to you is because I want you to feel connected to me because this is a field that I have committed years of my life too, and I want you to know that I see you and that you are not alone in your journey. So I'm hoping that if you are a regular listener, then you do feel connected to the podcast, you do feel connected to me in some way. And what I will get out of this feedback form is I get to then feel a bit more connected to you and understand you, my listeners a bit better. Now, I do also recognise that not all of my listeners are going to be people that are struggling with their fertility. Some of my listeners might be other practitioners, or might be just people who are interested or just like listening to podcasts or, you know, have a have a passion for women's health. So I really, really want to get a sense of what proportion of my listeners are other practitioners, what proportion are people that are just interested and enjoy listening to health podcasts, and what proportion of my listeners are actually people who are going through this fertility journey, and are benefiting from a bit more directly from the content of the episode. So whatever your status is, in terms of who you are, and why you listen, I really want to hear from you. So as I say, I'll send out the the form, the google form with the questions. And at the bottom of the form, you can enter your email address in order to win one of the three prizes. So the three prizes are, drumroll drrrrrrrrr, I need a little, I need a little pad, don't know which sounds but that's, that's my version number drumroll. So professional. So the three prizes are a one to one consultation with me. And that is actually worth £279. So that is huge value. And that is a 90 Minute initial consultation with me, one to one. And that what that will involve is me looking at you in more detail looking at all of the systems in your body, chatting through things in more detail with you. And at the end of that conversation, I can then give you some of my, my recommendations in terms of things that you could be doing to improve your circumstances, whatever they may be, probably helping with your fertility. So really helping to understand where some of the root causes might be and helping you to understand whether any additional testing might be helpful. I can also then give you a personalised supplement plan, and just really personalised recommendations on the things that I think based on my extensive clinical experience, you should be focusing on next in terms of improving your fertility. So that's worth £279. The second prize is my fundamentals for fertility online course. Now this is a DIY Do It Yourself course it consists of six modules designed to be undertaken over a 12 week period. And they cover gut health which is at the start, its got to be the foundation of all things with related to fertility. So it starts with gut health. It goes through fertility, like the nutrition for fertility, it goes through egg health and vaginal health goes through sperm health, it goes through discusses stress in great detail. And it also discusses lifestyle. So it's it's really comprehensive, it covers the six fundamental things that you need to be addressing in order to improve your fertility. So that is worth £149, you will get that for free. If you are one of the lucky three winners, or you if you if you, Yeah, so one of the prizes, not, Oh my goodness me I'm tripping over my words now. Not all of the winners will get all three prizes. Of course one one winner will get one prize each. And so and then third and final prize is one month free trial in my fertility and the first 1000 days membership now that at the moment is still on the low cost offering of £50, the price will be going up soon because that is it's insane value for money, the £50 a month, but the one month free trial will be given to you absolutely free. And that is to come in to our membership, join our weekly support calls and get access to an online library of really practical resources of things that you can be doing to support your fertility. We also have a monthly guest expert coming in. And so we've got we've had a we've had a session on movement for fertility, we've had an amazing breathwork session, and we've got someone coming in to talk to us and help us do an audit of our sleep. Coming soon, we've also got a hypnotherapist coming in soon. So there's lots of exciting people coming in to talk to my members. So that's a really, really great offer as well. So those are the three prizes that you can win, I will put the link in both the show notes. So if you do have a look at the show notes on my website, then there'll be there and also in the description for the show.
15:22
So without further ado, I can now go ahead to actually talk to you about calcium. So I'm going to just have a little cheeky sip of water, I'm not going to bother pausing because you know me. Okay, so I have been talking really fast there because that was a lot of information that I wanted to cover without wasting too much of the episode. So what I want to talk to you about, I'm going to just slow down my pace a little bit now and slow down my thinking, and just consult with my notes here. So I've already mentioned at the very start of the episode that I am continuing now, with the macro minerals, which are magnesium, which I covered in the last episode, calcium, sodium and potassium. So calcium today I guess calcium, I wouldn't say it gets a bad rap because it doesn't get a bad rap. But it's not the most sexy of minerals. Put it that way. Like I think I mentioned last week or last episode, rather when I was talking about magnesium. That magnesium, if you ask any nutritionist what their favourite mineral is 90% of them are gonna say magnesium, because it's just so it's such an important one. And it helps so many people. And it's responsible for so many things. Now, calcium is so so important. But there are I don't know that there are many nutritionists out there where if you ask them what their favourite mineral was, and yes, that is a question that a nutritionist might ask each other. I doubt that anyone would say calcium. So it's not a sexy mineral, it's not like, it doesn't get a lot of attention these days. And so it's often then overlooked.
17:17
Now, although calcium status or calcium is a is a nutrient might not directly relate to fertility, it's really important to know that a growing baby and a nursing baby need it in abundance. So in order to grow a baby, you know, you need calcium. Now, the good thing is your body does have a lot of calcium, you know every body contains calcium in abundance. But that doesn't mean that it's available calcium flowing through the bloodstream, it means that the majority of the calcium in your body is locked up in the hard tissue so it's locked up in your bones and your teeth. And that's where it should be like your bones and your teeth need calcium in order to stay strong and dense. But what will happen if you're if you're if your blood levels if your serum levels of calcium are not high enough, and this is monitored very carefully and feedback loops in the body, if your body senses that there is not enough calcium in the bloodstream, it will leach calcium out of those hard tissues in order to bring the the serum levels of calcium up. And that's because as I said at the start of the episode, calcium is such an important mineral in terms of it's a life or death mineral right we need enough calcium in our bodies to stay alive. So it's as I say it's required for homeostasis. So what I mean by homeostasis is things like your blood pH volumes, your blood pressure, your heart conduction and so your blood levels as I say need to be the right range and if it's not if it gets low, then it will bleach the calcium from the bones if required. So whilst I don't worry that you, whilst it's not a matter of life or death for a grown baby in utero because the fact of the matter is if you're you know your baby will leach calcium from from your bones in order to grow in during pregnancy. And the same for nursing as well. You know breastfeeding can, requires calcium because you are probably aware that dairy milk is one of the biggest sources of calcium. So breast milk requires a lot of calcium too so whilst your breast milk is not going to be calcium deficient if you if you end up breastfeeding, and whilst you're, your baby is not going to not grow bones properly, if you don't have enough calcium in your blood, because it but it will take from you. So what it means is that you will become depleted, your bones will become less dense. And then what that does is put you at risk for a number of health conditions later in life. And especially for women, especially for people who menstruate later in life in those postmenopausal years, that is when you are at higher risk for osteoporosis and other conditions anyway. So this is something that we really need to be thinking about.
20:45
Now, I know that for a lot of my clients, and a lot of, probably a lot of people who listen to the podcast, you're not, you're so fixated on, you know this, this outcome of getting them so pregnant, that that is dominating a lot of your thoughts and your priorities. But I ask you to just when we're thinking about calcium is just to zoom out and take a bit of a macro view of the situation in terms of you as a person and your lifespan and health risks for the future. So as I say it doesn't directly relate to fertility as such. But what it does do and, I'll give an example, shortly of some of the things that, to just help it make a little bit more sense and a little bit to click into place for you as my listener and as to why this might be important. So although it doesn't directly relate to fertility, there are reasons why it is still important. So as I say, really important nutrient for things like cell signalling. So this is involved in like, blood vessel dilation and constriction. So in terms of your blood pressure, as I say, your heart conduction, muscle contraction, and nerve cell conduction as well. So the nervous system, calcium plays a really important role. So really, really important nutrient.
22:08
Now, some of the things that can impact calcium status, as well as what we're actually eating is vitamin D status. So vitamin D is required for calcium absorption. Now, I did cover vitamin D in, in an earlier episode as part of this micronutrient series. So if you're interested in vitamin D, because vitamin D is a super important nutrient for fertility, and for pregnancy, do go back and listen to that one, it was covered just a few episodes ago. And the optimal vitamin D levels, of course, for where we thinking about fertility are between 100 and 150 Nano moles per litre. Now that unit of measurement might differ, depending on where you are in the world. So you know, you know for example, if you're looking at the American units, then that's going to be a very different number. So what else impacts calcium absorption, sodium, so I'm going to be talking about sodium next time. But just important to be aware in the context of calcium, that sodium is associated with increased calcium loss in the urine. And that's because it competes with sodium. So people who have a really high salt intake, that may mean that they are excreting more calcium in their urine and losing it that way. Another factor that impacts calcium status is low protein. So low protein in the diet or not getting enough protein in the diet is also associated with reduced calcium absorption. And also reduced magnesium status, as I spoke about last episode is often associated with low calcium status as well because the too often go hand in hand. So in terms of risk factors, and things that low calcium levels can be linked to is having hypertension, so high blood pressure. So if you have a family history of high blood pressure, that might be something that you need to be mindful of. PMS, so this definitely relates to a lot of my clients in terms of hormonal disruptions. Pre-eclampsia as well. So again, a risk factor for pregnancy, osteoporosis, which I've already mentioned, kidney stones, the relationship between calcium status and kidney stones is quite a complicated one. I'm not going to go into that in detail here and the literature is a bit mixed on this but it's It's just something to note is that the association between calcium status and kidney stones, and also colorectal. So risk, there is a risk factor in terms of calcium status and colorectal cancer as well. So come really practical examples of some of the situations that a lot of my clients might find themselves in. And things that I see a lot in my clients are things such as people who come to me on a plant based diet or a vegan diet. So, as you're probably aware, dairy is one of the highest or most abundant sources of calcium. Now, there are other sources as well, which I'm going to mention in just a moment. But people who avoid dairy either because they are vegan, or because they avoid dairy, because dairy causes some issues. Now, I have done a podcast just on dairy, I will link to that in the show notes. Dairy is a bit of a complicated ones. And for some people, I do recommend that they actually give up dairy. That doesn't necessarily mean everyone trying to conceive should be giving up dairy. But lots and lots of people don't tolerate dairy very well. And lots of people that don't tolerate dairy very well don't realise that they don't tolerate dairy well. So that is definitely one to experiment with. And you know, to come and chat to me about directly if you do want additional support on that.
26:31
But if you are avoiding dairy for whatever reason, then that could mean that your calcium intake is suboptimal. Low vitamin D as I say, like, I routinely blood test vitamin D for everyone that comes through my doors as a new client in terms of one to one work. And I see it suboptimal a lot. So low vitamin D status could be impacting calcium status as well. So high salt diet as well, like lots of people who are struggling with their fertility and you know, have complex relationships with food because that, you know, it's such an emotional journey. And then there can be emotional eating. In my experience, emotional eating tends to either look like sweets, or sugary foods are the go to or like the salty like crisps and those kinds of foods. So if you do have a high intake of refined salt in your diet, then that could be impacting your calcium absorption as well. And then another kind of possible picture in terms of risk factors for osteoporosis in the future, as I say, which is something that I worry about for anyone who might be depleted in calcium is also people who have hypothalamic amenorrhea. So lots of people that come through my doors as clients or who are in my world through various means, do not have a menstrual cycle, because of hypothalamic amenorrhea. Now, if you don't have a menstrual cycle, because of hypothalamic amenorrhea, then you may be or who for people who have premature ovarian insufficiency and you know, who have like go through the menopause early, it may mean that your sex hormones, so low oestrogen and low progesterone also are impacting that bone density. So it may be putting you at even higher risk of osteoporosis. And then if we team possible not enough calcium in the diet as well, then that is an additional risk. So it's kind of to two risk factors playing in together. So you know, these are all reasons. These are all examples practical examples of people that I often see in my practice, where I might be thinking, actually, we do need to make sure that they've got enough calcium in their diet. Now calcium is best consumed via food. It's very, very rare that I would recommend a standalone calcium supplement. So it is, it is best consumed by food. So I wanted to give you a list of some of the foods dairy not included. That are nice rich sources of calcium. So generally speaking an adult. The adult kind of daily recommendation is about a gramme to. A gramme is 1000 milligrammes so 1000 to 1200 milligrammes of calcium a day. So, just to give you a rough idea, it is actually really quite easy to get enough calcium in your diet if you are having a really nice nutrient dense diet. So, so, this again, this, this first example is a bit of a controversial one as well. So, tofu. Tofu is actually really, really rich in calcium. Now, again, tofu is a bit of a complicated one. I don't know recommend everyone go in and start having tofu every day. Lots of people do struggle with with soy products for various reasons. But for the sake of talking about calcium, then 115 grammes of tofu equals 775 milligrammes of calcium, so you're getting like, you know, three quarters of your daily intake from 150 grammes of tofu. Nought point, so a quarter of a cup of sesame seeds is 350 milligrammes and the nice thing about sesame seeds is you don't have to go and eat a whole load of sesame seeds but one of the big, really great source of sesame seeds is tahini. So adding in tahini, to your smoothies or your spreads or like into your hummus or, or just having a spoonful of it, you know is is a really nice way to increase your calcium and sardines. So eating sardines, the types of sardines that have the bones in them because as we know, calcium is in the bones. So 90 grammes of sardines is about 346 milligrammes of calcium, and then we're looking at the greens so dark green, leafy veg, so, one cup of collard greens is about 268 milligrammes, a cup of spinach is about 245. A cup of bok choy is about 160 A cup of swiss chard is just over 100 A cup of kale is about 100. So there's, you know, eating a diet rich in dark green leafy veg is going to keep your calcium levels nice and high too, as well as your magnesium and then cinnamon, so, two teaspoons of cinnamon, which again can be added, you know, into like your pancakes or your smoothies or, you know, sprinkled on top of food, and two teaspoons of cinnamon is 52 milligrammes of calcium, and then back to the Greens again, so, a cup of cabbage is 63 milligrammes, a cup of broccoli is 62, a cup of green beans is 55, an orange is just over 50, a cup of fennel is almost 50, half a cup of parsley is almost 50, a cup of asparagus is almost 50. So you can see that those green veg are really the way to go. And if you do have an abundance of green veggies in your diet, then you will be getting a nice amount of calcium.
32:41
So that's all from me today. As I said at the start, please, please do go and fill in the Google Form to A, give me some feedback and B, enter into the amazing competition where in which there are hundreds of pounds worth of prizes for you up for grabs. So I will link to that in the show notes. And in the description of the episode today. So you can easily just go and click that form takes about five minutes or so to complete so I really cannot wait to hear from you, my listeners about where your at and just get a little bit more interaction going on with you. So take care really, really great to chat to you today. And I will be back again next week to talk about potassium and sodium. Take care. Bye
WAYS THAT YOU CAN GET KATY'S HELP:
Fertility and the First 1,000 Days Membership:
Fertility and the First 1,000 Days Membership
Fundamentals for Fertility online course:
12-Week Fundamentals for Fertility Course with Katy Bradbury
(evergreen)
Book a discovery call to talk through your needs for working
together 1:1:
Practice Better
More info can be found about Katy on her website:
https://katybradbury.com/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/katybradburyhealth
Email:
support@katybradbury.com
Love the show? Don't forget to leave a star rating and a review to share the love and help it reach others who need to hear this!