Just a reminder about calcium..

carbonate == bad
dicalcium phosphate == bad
tricalcium phosphate == bad
oyster shell === VERY VERY bad
citrate == good!
malate == very very good


Optisource, OsCal, Viactiv, and Caltrate are calcium carbonate.

I like this way to get the info. Quick and to the point. I had not heard of Calcium Malate though. Where do you get it?

It's kinda expensive.. some places are starting to mix it in with citrate.

I just googled it and now I understand why its so much better. I will find a source for it soon and get back to you on it.

I just thought I would let you know where I got mine.  OF course online.  NSI had a mix of vitamin D and magnesium (Dr. Oz states we all need the magnesium)  I got mine not sure which website I want to think vita cost  but it was 9.99  I bought 4 of them since the first one I bought was the same mailing.  They are very easy to swallow and capsules which you can pull apart if you can't swallow them.  Take care Patty B

Yeah I'm so glad malate is good!...My vitamins state Cal citrate and cal maleate...I wondered what the heck that was.  So thank you Andrea so much.

Patty B

hey andrea - i actually meant to ask you this at the meetup, but i knwo you had your hands full...

can i ask you specifically which citamins you take every day? I know you are the expert :) i didn't really have a program with my surgery, so i'm kinda taking what i think i should, you know?

Well, I'm battling an iron deficiency, and I'm working out of a vite D deficiency.  So giving you the amounts of what I take doesn't help you much.

However, I will tell you I take centrum pill-form vitamins, carbonyl iron that my Target special orders for me, whichever vites C and B-12 are on sale (and no, I don't take sublingual B-12), a super B-complex by NatureMade (liquid softgel), magnesium oxide (scripted, but it's available OTC), vitamins A and D by vitalady.com, copper from either vitamin shoppe or GNC, and zinc from wherever it's cheapest.

can i tell you what i'm taking and you let me know if it sounds about right?

women's one a day
calcium 500 mg
flax seed oil 1000mg
b-12 (what is sublingual?)
calcium/magnesium/zinc combo
potassium (i cannot stop getting charlie horses!!!)

my mom had gastric back in 2001 and is now battling iron as well, is that pretty common? do you think i should maybe start taking a suppliment now as a precautionary measure kinda thing?

is copper a good idea? I've never heard about taking it as a supplement, i just did a little googling and it seems worth while....

Without looking at labs, this is what is recommended by the American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeons:

2 adult multivites
1500-2000mg calcium citrate
300-500 mcg of B-12 if taken orally
18-27mg elemental iron (27mg if you have a history of anemia and / or having periods)
1 super B-complex

Additionally, I recommend at least 2000 iu of vite D in addition to what's in calcium.


The key is to know what is going on with your labs.  Get your labs in your hands if they have been drawn.  All of them.  Look at the numbers -- are the key things going up, going down, or staying the same?  


Zinc in with calcium is stupid.  (NOt you, the company that does this.)  When paired with calcium, zinc is negated.  Think of zinc as iron.