Calcium Levels Parallel Ovarian Hormone Fluctuations in Menopause and PMS – A Clue to Irritability and Insomnia

Research journals and nutritionists continue to clarify the relationship between declining levels of estrogen and lowered calcium levels in women. Adelle Davis, the first nutritionist to base her recommendations on science-based studies says, “The amount of calcium in a woman’s blood parallels the activity of the ovaries. The blood calcium falls to such an extent during the week prior to menstruation that PMS, nervous tension, irritability, and perhaps mental depression result. During the menopause, the lack of ovarian hormones (estrogen and progesterone) can cause severe calcium deficiency and menopause symptoms such as irritability, hot flashes, night sweats, leg cramps and insomnia.” In light of this, sleep problems in women caused by a lack of calcium, can be helped by taking natural sleep aids containing this important mineral.

Helen Bishop MacDonald concurs with this in her article from the journal “Nursing British Columbia”. She says that, “Aging, combined with the estrogen reduction that occurs at menopause, results in an estimated 20 to 25% deterioration in calcium absorption in women from 40 to 60 years of age.”

The National Institutes of Health fact sheet on calcium discusses several factors that can affect calcium absorption. Vitamin D helps improve calcium absorption. Your body can obtain vitamin D from food and it can also make vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Dietary sodium (salt) and protein increase calcium excretion in ratio to the amount their intake is increased. Increasing dietary potassium intake (such as with 7-8 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and with blackstrap molasses) may help decrease calcium excretion, particularly in postmenopausal women. Alcohol can affect calcium status by reducing the intestinal absorption of calcium.

We think of calcium as food for our bones, but it’s also a natural sedative and sleep aid that releases the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan. Calcium is directly related to our cycles of sleep. In one study, published in the European Neurology Journal, researchers found that calcium levels in the body are higher during some of the deepest levels of sleep, such as the rapid eye movement (REM) phase. The study concluded that sleep problems and disturbances, especially the absence of deep sleep or interference with REM sleep, are related to a calcium deficiency. Restoration to the normal course of sleep was achieved following the normalization of the blood calcium levels.

Regarding the relationship between calcium, insomnia, and the use of sleep aids, Adelle Davis says, "A calcium deficiency often shows itself by sleeplessness and insomnia, another form of an inability to relax. The harm done by sleeping tablets, to say nothing of the thousands of dollars spent on them, could largely be avoided if the calcium intake were adequate.”

To find help for sleep problems, look for natural sleep aids containing highly absorbable forms of calcium, as well as magnesium and Vitamin D. For the best absorption, the ingredients should be formulated with carrier oils such as evening primrose. This oil that has been shown to increase mineral absorption, reduce calcium excretion, and increase bone density.

Adelle Davis recommends calcium is best taken by balancing it with about half as much magnesium, and complementing it with Vitamin D. Davis says, “Because calcium is less well absorbed and the urinary losses are greater when the output of estrogen decreases, such calcium-deficiency symptoms as nervousness, irritability, sleeplessness, headaches, and depression are also the most common menopause symptoms. These problems can be easily overcome if the intakes of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D are all generously increased and are well absorbed.”