The Truth About Calcium Supplements

I started some research and the answer (like always) is not an easy yes or no. Here are the facts:

If you are on a healthy and balanced diet, you do not need any additional Calcium. But chances are, you aren’t eating as healthy and balanced as you should.

Surveys showed that most of us don't get enough calcium in our diet. The daily allowance recommended by scientists is for adults and children over four at least 1,000 mg of calcium every day. Older persons, pregnant and nursing women have even higher requirements.

Ok. Suppose you DO get enough Calcium with your diet, does it mean your body absorbs enough of it?

Not necessarily. In fact, the studies show that we typically only absorb about 30% of the dietary calcium we eat!

Why does this happen?

Your body needs basically two few things to absorb Calcium in sufficient quantity.

1. Stomach acids

2. Vitamin D

This gives you the possibility to enhance Calcium absorption of you body without taking Calcium supplements.

Your stomach fills with strong acids to break down the foods when you eat. Therefore it is recommendable to eat Calcium rich foods towards the end of your meal. For example you could always drink a glass of milk or eat some cheese when you finish your meal.

Vitamin D is especially important to calcium absorption. Studies show that 80% of women are deficient in Vitamin D! This means to eat a lot of Vitamin D rich foods like milk (especially the one fortified with Vitamin D and Vitamin A), fish and cod liver oil.

By the way, your body does manufacture Vitamin D when it gets sunlight. I always knew it was healthy to be in the sun ;-)

Ok, now you know what to do, in order to help your body to absorb enough calcium. But what happens, if you just hate milk? Or the sun doesn’t shine for month? Or you’re pregnant and need more calcium than usual? Or you are on a diet?

Well, in these cases, you should turn to calcium supplements. Off course, you can always use the Calcium supplements, because the generally won’t do any harm. But make sure you follow the directions on the package, use your common sense, and always consult your doctor or pharmacist before you start taking any supplement.

I for myself decided to take calcium supplements only during winter time and found Coral Calcium the one with the best quality and a good price.

If you decide to take calcium supplements you can check out Coral Calcium for yourself. And I’d be happy to know if you liked the Calcium supplement or not.