The Best Calcium Supplement:
Guidelines on Types, Dosage, and Vitamin D

What is the best calcium supplement?

Many people, especially women, do not get enough calcium to maintain strong bones. With the help of my children and the seemingly endless supply of milk in my home, I consider myself a world class consumer of dairy products.

I recently made a bet with my doctor that my calcium levels were just fine. After all, what could my intelligent, experienced physician know about my intimate relationship with all things dairy? Evidently, more than I do.

I lost the bet.

Yes, You Really Need a Calcium Supplement

As women age and move into their 40’s, their bodies lose the ability to absorb vitamin D from the sun through their skin. It’s the vitamin D3 that helps us absorb the calcium. D3 is the “good D” and is the type of vitamin D found in milk.

Your body must have vitamin D3 to absorb the calcium.

I may have increased my dairy product consumption, but I still needed a calcium supplement.

How Much Calcium Do You Need?

What Are the Different Types of Calcium?

• Other kinds, such as calcium gluconate and calcium lactate, have very low amounts of elemental calcium and are not recommended.

• Coral calcium and oyster-shell calcium products also are best avoided because they may contain lead.

What Is the Best Calcium Supplement?

How do you know how much elemental calcium is in your supplement?

A quick way to determine the amount of elemental calcium in a supplement is to look at the percentage of RDA of calcium in that supplement. For example, if a bottle says the calcium pill has 30% of the RDA of calcium, then it has 300 mg of elemental calcium.

Sadly, the very tasty and convenient Viactiv calcium supplements contain high fructose corn syrup. I chose to vote with my wallet and found a brand of calcium chew without high fructose corn syrup.

Calcium chews were great. For the first month. They had a little bit of sugar in them, which was no big deal. But I began to wonder if chewing them provided more calcium because I was actually mimicking a cow chewing its cud. Was there a placebo effect to the calcium chews and that’s why they worked?

I switched to a pill supplement that I took twice daily. I am not a good pill taker and have returned to the chews.

Find what calcium supplements works for you and stick with it. You’ll be happy you did when are standing tall at 80 years old, chasing those grandchildren or great grandchildren around the yard.

Here's few brands that we have tried and liked. They are reasonably priced and can be bought inexpensively through the internet. Click on the products below to purchase them at a 25% discount!

Calcium Soft Chews Fruit 75 Chews Calcium Soft ChewsA quick, easy and delicious way to get your daily Calcium. 500 mg of Calcium in each soft chew plus Vitamins D & K to aid in absorption and utilization. Great for women, men and children. Delicious fruit flavored chews are Vegetarian approved.

Calcium Soft Chews Chocolate 75 Chews

Super Calcium 1200 MG 60 Caps Super CalciumThis formula combines both calcium and vitamin D in order to promote bone and teeth health. Calcium is vital for building strong bones and teeth. Calcium is also needed for muscle function, nerve function, release of hormones and to help the function of many enzymes. Vitamin D regulates the absorption of calcium. Regular exercise and healthy diet with enough calcium helps lean and young adult women, who are at risk of osteoporosis later in life, maintain good bone health and may reduce their risk of osteoporosis (white and Asian women are particularly at risk for osteoporosis)..

What are the Best Foods with Calcium?

Here’s a list of foods with calcium.

Source: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp

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