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People in the United States consume more dairy products and other foods high in calcium per capita than the citizens of any other two nations on earth put together. We even have orange juice and antacids that are fortified with calcium. Yet we eat far less total food, take in less calcium, and get less exercise that stimulates bone growth than our grandparents did. At the same time, we consume more animal protein and phosphate-containing foods such as soft drinks. Perhaps not surprisingly, we also have the world's highest rates of osteoporosis and bone fractures among elderly people. It is obvious that we need to eat more of the right foods and take high-quality supplements in some form as well.
Health food stores and drugstores carry a confusing array of vitamin and mineral supplements in a variety of brands and forms. While it is now easy to find a high-quality calcium supplement, it was not always this way. As recent as 1987, the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy tested eighty brands of calcium tablets and more than half of these supplements failed to meet the dissolution criteria set by the U.S. Pharmacopoeial Convention (USP). Fortunately for consumers, formulations have changed since then. Consumer Reports conducted a study in 1995 in which they tested twenty-one supplements using the USP dissolution test, and found that all brands and all types - calcium carbonate, calcium lactate, calcium citrate, and calcium gluconate - dissolve well. No form of calcium was found to dissolve more reliably than another.
There are still significant nutritional differences between the various supplements which are available. Where calcium is concerned, the number on the label does not necessarily reflect the amount of calcium you can expect to absorb from the product. An example would be - if a label says "calcium lactate 600 milligrams (mg)," this may mean that each tablet weighs 600 mg - but out of 600 mg of calcium lactate, only 60 mg are actually calcium that is available for absorption. The is because minerals cannot be turned into tablets in their pure state; they must be combined with some other substance or substances to make a stable compound. In the case of calcium lactate, the compound consists of calcium plus lactic acid. The important information to look for is the amount of elemental calcium that is present in the supplement. Calcium carbonate contains a higher percentage of elemental calcium than do the other forms.
If you are in doubt about your calcium tablets, you can do a home test to determine whether the supplement will dissolve readily in your body. Place a tablet in a cup of vinegar and stir it every few minutes. The tablet should be completely dissolved within half an hour. If it isn't, it will not completely dissolve in your stomach, either, and you should choose another supplement.
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Osteoporosis Information