I'm trying to find the best calcium supplement. I bought one that advertised: Calcium (citrate elemental) 600mg. I thought this meant I was getting 600 mg of elemental calcium. After further discussion with friends I realize that the label probably means 600 mg of Calcium citrate. If this is the case how much elemental calcium is in 600 mg of calcium citrate? Does anyone know?

hey debessbee, you've asked an excellent question. i thought gloria wrote about this in one of her articles but i couldn't find it. she did mention about different forms of calcium here http://www.healthcastle.com/calciumpill.shtml

anyway, most calcium supplements sold here (at least in north america) list the amount of elemental calcium on the side of the label. if your bottle doesn't have such info, u can quickly calculate it yourself and it's very easy to remember: 20% for citrate and 40% of carbonate.

cheers

Hi there

Different supplements contain different amounts of calcium and calcium citrate is the one that is best absorbed by most people, so that is a good choice to take.

I am not sure about the supplements in other countries, but in Australia whenever a supplement is listed, usually next to it is the amount of the element is shown too, which is a lot less than the listing for the supplement. Maybe you should contact the manufacturer - are there email or web or phone details on the packaging? Ask them how much elemental calcium is in the supplement.

The other thing you should note is that if you have thyroid or kidney disease, or are taking any type of medication, you need to talk to your doctor prior to taking calcium (or other) supplements.

Hope that helps.

Vitalhealth

Thanks for the info. It was very helpful. I did email the company it will be interesting to hear what the have to say. - Deb

good thread! i'm surprised that there are still brands of calcium not listing elemental calcium on their labels!! anyway annie is correct with the 20/40% rule. so if your bottle contains 600mg of calcium citrate, it has ~120 mg of elemental calcium (600 x 20%).

I am also surprised they didnt list the elemental calcium too...

debeesbee - do let us know what they say about how much elemental calcium is in the supplement....

Out of curiosity - what brand was it?

Hi,

I just though I'd point out that calcium needs to be in balance with other minerals, especially magnesium. You can create problems just supplementing the one thing. It is probably best to always take a complete range when supplementing anything. Also note that general supplements do not contain potassium.

But, supplementation is not a substitute for a good healthy diet.

There is some useful info here:

http://www.ithyroid.com/ca_and_mg.htm

In normal circumstances a supplement should be Ca/Mg 2:1

It is always worth having a chelated supplement as these are supposedly more readily absorbed by the body.

Rgds

i'm glad that magnesium is brought up. magnesium is important in calcium absorption; however magnesium insuffiency is rare. since we are talking about calcium co-factors, i must mention vitamin D. vitamin D insuffiency is very common - particulary among pregnant women and older adults. for those who live in the northern hemisphere (like me) or those who wear sun-screen 24/7 (like me again ), look out for vitamin D fortified food products. http://www.healthcastle.com/vitamin-d-bone.shtml

more and more studies look at the possible role of vitamin D in cancer prevention and it's very exciting to see some promising results. http://www.healthcastle.com/vitamin-d-cancer.shtml

Here is a link to the Canadian Health Drug Product Data Base outlining the product information of Natually Sourced Calcium
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/drugs-dpd/product/p67363.html
It contains magnesium and Vitamin D.
This product is the only one of it's kind in Canada.
(check the "Similar Product" link)
The company has what is the closest to natural bone that is available.
http://www.immunotec.biz/files/IMMUNOTEC/a...ineral_comp.pdf

I hope this will help you learn of a product that works.

Randy