Along with the B vitamins, phosphorus is needed to extract energy from food, particularly fats and starches. It is a component of healthy bones, teeth, gums and many other tissues. Phosphorus also helps with kidney functioning and heart regularity. It lessens arthritis pain. But none of this would be possible without proper levels of vitamin D and calcium, which phosphorus needs to function properly.

Other Benefits:

• Speeds up the healing process and puts a stop to calcium loss from injury.
• Helps prevent and treat osteoporosis.
• Helps treat or forestall bone diseases like rickets.
• Prevents stunted growth in children.
• Helps break up and carry away fats and fatty acids in your blood, as well as keeping your blood balanced.
• Works to keep your nerves from feeling frazzled, and your mind alert and sharp.
• Helps stimulate your glands to secrete hormones.
• Keeps your muscles, including your heart, contracting regularly and smoothly.
• Lets you digest two members of the B-vitamin family, riboflavin and niacin.
• Assures transmission of impulses from one nerve to another.
• Keeps your kidneys effectively excreting wastes.
• Gives you stable and plentiful energy.
• Forms the proteins that help all of us reproduce.
• May help block cancer.

Good for These Symptoms:

• Muscle weakness
• Susceptibility to infections

Signs of Deficiency:

• Weakness
• Appetite loss
• Malaise
• Pain in bones

Those at Risk for Low Phosphorus:

• Those on weight-loss diets of 1,000 calories a day or less
• Pregnant and nursing women
• Those who drink heavily
• Those who consume large amounts of antacids that deplete the bones' phosphorus supply.

Sources:

• Dairy products
• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Whole grains including flour and cereals
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Eggs
• Dried beans
• Peas
• In order not to disturb your phosphorus-calcium balance, stay away from soft drinks, meat, and foods that contain phosphorus additives (phosphates).

RDA: 1,200 mg

Optimal Level: From dietary sources

Maximum: 800 mg

Signs of Toxicity: Too much can upset the balance, creating a serious muscular condition called hypocalcemic tetany.