Health Issues
Choosing a Calcium Supplement
Adding a calcium supplement into your diet helps ensure that you are meeting your daily intake requirements. There are so many different options and formulations of calcium available on the market; choosing the right one may be difficult. Osteoporosis Canada has developed some helpful suggestions on what to look for when choosing a calcium supplement.
•Check the product label to find out how much elemental calcium is in each tablet. Elemental calcium tells you how much calcium is available for your body to absorb.
•Add up the amount of elemental calcium to know if you are meeting your daily requirement.
•Elemental calcium dose is often identified in brackets on a product description label (ex: calcium carbonate 1250 mg; (500 mg of elemental calcium).
Price
•Prices will vary depending on if the supplement is a brand name product; or generic brand.
•Price may also depend on the amount of elemental calcium in the product.
•Remember to shop and compare prices and brands.
Tolerance
•Some people who take calcium supplements may experience discomforts such as constipation, upset stomach or nausea.
•Some possible solutions include trying a different brand of calcium supplement or in a different form such as chewable or liquid form, or water dissolving tablets.
Safety
Adding a calcium supplement into your diet helps ensure that you are meeting your daily intake requirements. There are so many different options and formulations of calcium available on the market; choosing the right one may be difficult. Osteoporosis Canada has developed some helpful suggestions on what to look for when choosing a calcium supplement.
Amount of Calcium per Dose
•Check the product label to find out how much elemental calcium is in each tablet. Elemental calcium tells you how much calcium is available for your body to absorb.
•Add up the amount of elemental calcium to know if you are meeting your daily requirement.
•Elemental calcium dose is often identified in brackets on a product description label (ex: calcium carbonate 1250 mg; (500 mg of elemental calcium).
Price
•Prices will vary depending on if the supplement is a brand name product; or generic brand.
•Price may also depend on the amount of elemental calcium in the product.
•Remember to shop and compare prices and brands.
Tolerance
•Some people who take calcium supplements may experience discomforts such as constipation, upset stomach or nausea.
•Some possible solutions include trying a different brand of calcium supplement or in a different form such as chewable or liquid form, or water dissolving tablets.
Safety
•Avoid supplements made from ingredients such as unrefined oyster shell, dolomite, or bone meal. These ingredients have contaminants such as toxic metals and high levels of lead.
•Instead choose calcium formulations such as calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, calcium lactate or calcium gluconate.
•Choose a product that has met specific Canadian or American safety standards regarding lead content, quality, and disintegration.
•The product will be stamped with either the initials D.I.N (Drug Identification Number); or G.P (General Product). American products will have the
•Choose a product that has met specific Canadian or American safety standards regarding lead content, quality, and disintegration.
•The product will be stamped with either the initials D.I.N (Drug Identification Number); or G.P (General Product). American products will have the
initials U.S.P (United States Pharmacopoeia) as a safety regulation.
Tablet Size
• Calcium supplement tablets can be very large and hard to swallow.
• Some possible solutions include trying liquid, chewable, or dissolving forms of calcium. - 1200 mg of calcium is the recommended daily need of a person age 50 and over.
- Depending on the multi-vitamin tablet it may contain very little calcium!
- Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium. It is recommended to take between 800IU-1000IU of vitamin D daily.
- Not all calcium supplements are formulated with added vitamin D; be sure to check the label. Created by Mia Kubrak for The Women’s Midlife Health Centre of Saskatchewan Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan January 2010
Reference:
National Institute of Health Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases’ National Resource Center (2009) Calcium Supplements: What to look for. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/bone/Bone_Health/Nutrition/calcium_supp.asp#a
National Osteoporosis Foundation (2008). Calcium Recommendation. Retrieved January 6, 2010 from http://www.nof.org/prevention/calcium2.htm
Osteoporosis Canada (2009). How to choose a supplement. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.osteoporosis.ca/index.php/ci_id/5534/la_id/1.htm
www.osteoporosis.ca/index.php/ci_id/5534/la_id/1.htm
• Some possible solutions include trying liquid, chewable, or dissolving forms of calcium. - 1200 mg of calcium is the recommended daily need of a person age 50 and over.
- Depending on the multi-vitamin tablet it may contain very little calcium!
- Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium. It is recommended to take between 800IU-1000IU of vitamin D daily.
- Not all calcium supplements are formulated with added vitamin D; be sure to check the label. Created by Mia Kubrak for The Women’s Midlife Health Centre of Saskatchewan Nursing Education Program of Saskatchewan January 2010
Reference:
National Institute of Health Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases’ National Resource Center (2009) Calcium Supplements: What to look for. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/bone/Bone_Health/Nutrition/calcium_supp.asp#a
National Osteoporosis Foundation (2008). Calcium Recommendation. Retrieved January 6, 2010 from http://www.nof.org/prevention/calcium2.htm
Osteoporosis Canada (2009). How to choose a supplement. Retrieved January 11, 2010 from http://www.osteoporosis.ca/index.php/ci_id/5534/la_id/1.htm
www.osteoporosis.ca/index.php/ci_id/5534/la_id/1.htm
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