calcium carbonate or calcium citrate

Hello All ~Hugs~ I have been researching about calcium carbonate or calcium citrate, (Thanks to Linda and Joanne ~hugs~ ) which is better and all. Can you tell me what you know of these 2 forms of calcium. Below is what I read and now I am more confusted! Calcium citrate: provides 21% elemental calcium. This means that you need to take more of it to get the same dose of elemental calcium. Studies have shown that it is a more easily absorbed form of calcium. Info here: http://www.surgery.wisc.edu/general/patients/obesitysurgery/faq_supp.shtml Calcium carbonate: Calcium carbonate has been found to be safe and has been used to supplement daily calcium intake in men and women of all ages up to 2,000 mg per day. It is also the most concentrated calcium supplement and has about twice as much elemental calcium by weight as calcium citrate. Therefore, it requires fewer or smaller tablets to achieve a given dose of elemental calcium, the calcium your body actually uses. Info here: http://www.calciuminfo.com/about/supplements.aspx OK so they both look good to me Any info would be great...~hugs~ Debra P 285/207/125??

I'm glad you posted this on the main board also. Information about vitamins and minerals is very confusing to begin with, but is a little more complicated for us. It's even tough to figure out what to take with what and when to take it. Never take your iron supplement at the same time as your calcium, etc. etc. It's enough to make us It seems that calcium carbonate would be fine if we had a normal digestive tract. I'm using CVS brand calcium citrate 630 mg. I buy them when they're on sale. It's usually buy one, get one free, so it's $9.99 for two bottles and I think there's 120 caplets in each bottle. Joanne

Joanne, Yeah it can drive ya nuts because you want to do the right thing but sometimes you just don't know. Thanks for the info and do you take 2 a day? Right now I am taking 4 Viactiv per day as per my surgeon and they might cut that down by now but I will not know until next month when I go. How big are the pills? I am so nervous to swallow anything that is that big because I took a bariatric vitamin not to long ago and I think it got stuck because I was sick for 2 hrs. Thanks for the info hun ~hugs~ Debra P

Deb, They are about as big as a Centrum and yes I take 2 a day. If they are too big, I guess you could try cutting them in half. I also think you can find chewables also. Joanne

How it was explained to me pre-op was that the body requires more acid to break down the calcium carbonate (ie TUMS). For the RNY'ers, since the pouch produces "theoretically" no acid (or very little, and again, I say theoretically), the calcium carbonate wouldn't even start to break down until it gets to the "Y" part where the old stomach meets the small intestine, which is where the acid produced from the old stomach meets the digestive tract, and then it's breaking down both food AND Tums/Cal Carbonate). The calcium citrate, from again what I was told, starts to break down sooner or doesn't require as much acid to break down, so we have more opportunity to absorb it.... (ie: "calcium citrate is more easily absorbed"). There are also liquid forms of calcium citrate out there that supposedly would be even BETTER or more quickly absorbed, but it would seem that they would need to do some kind of study to validate that. BTW, on the calcium front, saw an ad for a new Mentadent version that supposedly helps lay new calcium/enamel on the teeth (also whitens), not sure if that's true or an 'ad claim', but might be of interest/help, since calcium absorption is one of the big things we get warned about. More later - & interested to see what others have to say on this too. ...Nick

Nick, Thanks hun for posting.... also thanks for all the info you gave...I also posted on the main board and have some posts back so take a look there as well. Now what I am taking is Viactiv which is chewable so doesn't that break down in my mouth and then absorbed easily??? So hard to know but I guess I might try the Citrate..... Thanks again ~Hugs~ Good to see you and not just lurking. Debra P

By the way, yall, I was at the grocery store yesterday and I see that Twinlabs now makes a chewable Calcium Citrate. Also, guys, remember when you are buying yours to get the capsules. Hard pills don't stay in the tiny tummy long enough to give us much benefit. have a wonderful day!

Angel, Hun thank you so much for the chewables.....~Hugs~ I see them online so I will try those once I need more, I have more Viactive for now and when they get close I will try the chewables Citrate.... Thanks hun ~Hugs~ Have a great weekend... Debra P 285/207/125??

Hi Debra - Yes, my nutritionist advises me to take Calcium Citrate for the reasons noted above. Easier to absorb and more readily absorbed by bariatric patients. They do come in chewables. It also comes in a liquid form as well. So if taking the huge horse pills (i.e. Caltrate) bothers you, there are other options. The liquid is not as bad as I thought it would be. I think the company that puts it out is called Tropical Oasis (I purchased it online). I opted for this when I was earlier out because I was already taking so many other vitamins and medications in pill form. The taste is a little like lemon yogurt. Not as bad as it could be. Good luck. -Renee H. 387/217/-170 lbs.

Hi Debra, My nutritionist says CITRATE only. Says it is more readibly absorbed so that is what I take. Mary