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Has your doctor told you to take calcium?  Did you know that there are six different kinds of calcium out there.   Don’t get me wrong here, it is all the same Ca2+ elemental molecule, but calcium has to be complexed in a “salt” form to be made in to tablets or capsules or other delivery forms.

The following is a listing of the types of calcium you might find on any calcium ingredient label:

• Calcium Hydroxyapetite (24% Elemental Calcium)
• Calcium Citrate (22% Elemental Calcium)
• Calcium Lactate (18% Elemental Calcium)
• Calcium Ascorbate (10% Elemental Calcium)
• Calcium Phosphate (29% Elemental Calcium)
• Calcium Carbonate (40% Elemental Calcium)

So where do you start?  What is best for you?  The answer is – it depends on you, your needs, and how well your digestive system works.

The cheapest, most widely available version of calcium is calcium carbonate.   Most natural forms of calcium carbonate comes from sea shells. The problem is that carbonate is the most poorly absorbed because it requires stomach acid for absorption, a lot of stomach acid.  Read this as: if you are taking Prilosec or Prevacid – Calcium Carbonate is NOT for you.  What would happen?  Most likely you would have significant constipation and cramping, and very little calcium would be absorbed.  Wasted money.

Calcium Phospate is often used as an antacid and it is absorbed better than calcium carbonate, but not that well.  The other drawback of phosphate salts is that the majority of kidney stones are caused by  calcium phosphate (and oxalate) stones.   Probably best to avoid this form.  If your doctor has told you to chew antacids as a method to get calcium in your system, think twice!  This form of calcium can do damage to your tooth enamel over long term use.

A buffered form is the calcium ascorbate.  It is well absorbed and usually seen in combination with carbonate and lactate salts in calcium products.

Calcium Lactate is absorbed well and is made by fermentation of molasses, sugar, whey, or starch.  This salt form is complexed with calcium carbonate.

Calcium citrate is very well taken up in the digestive system and the next cheapest alternative for cost effective calcium supplementation.  It can be taken on an empty stomach and requires less stomach acid and a good choice for patients with poor digestion.

The best of the best is calcium hydroxyapatite.  It is the best absorbed and is the exact ratio of calcium to phosphorous that occurs in our bodies.   Sources for this form are often veal bone.  There are studies to support supplemenation with hydroxyapatite will arrest bone loss and increase bone density.   Of course, as you may have guessed, extracting from veal bone is the most expensive method to optain calcium supplementation.

It is important to choose a calcium for you that works for you, if you can afford the best, start with the best.  If you can not, start with calcium carbonate first and take it with a meal (stomach acid is higher then), the go to calcium citrate, then to the complexes of carbonate/lactate/phosphate.

So what do you think?  Hit the comment cloud and tell me if you take a supplement and how much.  Tomorrow we will cover how much calcium our foods contain.

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