|
Arguably, calcium is one of the most important minerals you
should take in order to maintain good health and ensure you remain
healthy in the future. As one of the most abundant minerals in the
body, the majority is located in the bones and the teeth. Calcium is
an essential mineral that is required to build bones and teeth and
is also needed for proper blood clotting, nerve function, and muscle
contraction. But most of us recognize calcium for the role it plays
in possibly preventing the onset of osteoporosis.
The amount
of calcium in your blood is regulated by PTH (parathyroid hormone).
When not receiving enough calcium, your levels of PTH increase
whereby causing the body to experience hypertension. High levels of
calcium in the body have been associated with a lower risk of
cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women and lower cholesterol
levels.
Studies also indicate that calcium may help to
prevent colon cancer, a killer of many older men. However, this
finding has not been substantiated.
Which Form of
Calcium Should I Take?
One of the largest factors to
consider when choosing which calcium is best is the percentage of
elemental calcium present. A greater percentage of elemental calcium
means that fewer tablets are needed to achieve the desired calcium
intake. For instance, in the calcium carbonate form, calcium
accounts for 40% of the compound, while the calcium citrate form
provides 24% elemental calcium.
For people concerned about
cost and only willing to swallow two to three calcium pills per day,
calcium carbonate is a great choice. Even for these people, however,
low-quality calcium carbonate supplements are less than ideal.
Depending on how the tablet is manufactured, some calcium carbonate
pills have been found to disintegrate and dissolve improperly, which
could interfere with absorption. The disintegration of calcium
carbonate pills can be easily evaluated by putting a tablet in a
half cup of vinegar and stirring occasionally. After half an hour,
no un-dissolved chunks of tablet should remain at the
bottom.
Calcium carbonate may not always show optimal
absorption, but it clearly has positive effects. For example,
calcium carbonate appears to be absorbed as well as the calcium
found in milk. In fact, some studies indicate that calcium carbonate
is absorbed as well as most other forms besides calcium
citrate/malate (CCM).
For people willing to take more pills
to achieve a given amount of calcium, typically 800-1,000 mg,
calcium carbonate does not appear to be the optimal choice because
other forms have been reported to be absorbed better; however, they
do require more pills per day because each pill contains less
calcium. For this reason, some doctors recommend other forms of
calcium, particularly CCM. However, CCM is not the only form of
calcium that might be absorbed better than
carbonate.
Microcrystalline hydroxyapatite (MCHC) has
attracted attention of many medical practitioners and supplement
users because of studies reporting increases in bone mass in people
with certain conditions and better effects on bone than calcium
carbonate. However, unlike CCM, MCHC has only in very few instances
been compared with other forms of calcium.
Recently, coral
calcium has been claimed to be a vastly superior form of calcium
even though its calcium content is primarily calcium carbonate. One
small, controlled human study reported that coral calcium was better
absorbed than ordinary calcium carbonate. There is little scientific
evidence at this time supporting that coral calcium is superior to
other forms of calcium.
Whatever form of calcium
supplementation you select, calcium typically is absorbed better
when eaten with food. Research also indicates that taking calcium
with meals may reduce the risk of kidney stones, and supplementing
with calcium between meals might actually increase the
risk.
Dosage
The National Academy of
Sciences has established guidelines for calcium that are 25-50%
higher than previous recommendations. For ages 20 to 50, calcium
consumption is recommended to be 1,000 mg daily; for adults over age
51, the recommendation is 1,200 mg daily. The most common
supplemental amount for adults is 800 to 1,000 mg per
day.
Precautions
Calcium supplements
should be avoided by prostate cancer patients.
|
