Calcium and Phosphorus are like Batman and Robin--you need them both!

Since calcium is necessary for muscle contraction, I decided to search for the importance of phosphorus to calcium absorption/metabolism. I came across this excerpt on the HubPages and found it very interesting:

Calcium and Phosphorus and why the human body needs them
by: Susan Zheng

Phosphorus is of paramount importance in the development of skeletal tissues which are the store of 85% of the total body phosphorus. In the bone, phosphorus exists as compound, calcium phosphate and the crystal, hydroxyapatite which are involved with the bone formation process. Other phosphorus is in intracellular and extracellular fluid. In cells, phosphorus is of vital importance in intermediary metabolism of the energy nutrients, contributing to the metabolic potential in the form of high -energy phosphate bonds, and through phosphorylation of substrates.

Phosphorus is also an important component of the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, which are responsible for the storage and transmission of genetic information. Combined with lipids, phosphorus is an important structural component of cell membranes. Phosphorus also functions in maintaining acid-base balance by acting as one of the body's important buffers.

From the above discussion, it's very obvious why human body needs Ca++ and P. If one of them or both is insufficient for normal molecular and biological processes taking place in our body, our health will be jeopardized. For example, insufficient blood Ca++ leads to tetany, a symptom manifested by intermittent muscle contractions, muscle pain, muscle spasm. Deficient in calcium in adult can cause osteoporosis - loss of bone mass. Although P deficiency is rare, due to some special occasion, P deficiency may develop, which may lead to myopathy, weakness, and cardiomyopathy. Certainly, if anyone of them is in excess of body need, it is not good either, because all the nutrients in the body work together cooperatively to maintain normal body functions. Both calcium and phosphorus have to be in the right amount and proper relation to each other to maintain normal health.