This inorganic mineral, according to Sherman, constitutes about 2% of the entire body weight; and of this total amount, about 99% is in the bones. The remaining per cent, though small, being an essential constituent of the soft tissues and the body fluids, is absolutely necessary to the normal action of the heart muscle, and to the coagulation of the blood. Experiments on birds showed that when the birds were fed for a length of time on a calcium-poor food, there was a marked wasting of calcium salts from various bones; when the birds were killed and dissected, some of the bones were found to have been perforated in order to supply needed lime for the body’s metabolism.
This may serve to explain the cause of the hollow teeth and bone deformity among children fed largely on white breads, sugars, candies, and flesh meats, all of which are very poor in calcium. May we not conclude that when they are fed on such a diet, the body will retaliate, as it were, and draw upon the bones and the teeth for that which is lacking in the food?
Almonds, milk, egg yolk, oranges, prunes, carrots, parsnips, and entire ground cereals are rich in calcium. As set forth by Sherman, the entire wheat products contain more than twice the amount of calcium found in white flour.