Reminder about calcium

Just wanted to post a little reminder about calcium.  The ASMBS says we need 1500-2000 mg calcium per day and recommends calcium citrate.  The two most common kinds of calcium found in supplements are calcium citrate and calcium carbonate.  Tums, Viactiv and Caltrate are all calcium carbonate and we don’t absorb that well at all.  We absorb about 4% of the calcium in it so you’d need to take about 60 Viactivs every day to get enough calcium.  No, that’s not a typo.  Optisource also contains calcium carbonate and Bariatric Fusion has a mixture of calcium carbonate and calcium citrate.

Citracal and generic forms of Citracal contain calcium citrate, which is what we need.  It’s hard to find chewable calcium citrate in stores but Celebrate and Bariatric Advantage both make them and you can order online.  Upcal D, which is a powder you can mix in a drink, is also calcium citrate.  You can find liquid forms as well.

Tricalcium phosphate is another kind of calcium found in some supplements and it is also not absorbed well at all.  That’s what’s in Flintstones.  Wellesse, a liquid calcium supplement, contains a mixture of tricalcium phosphate and calcium citrate, so you’ll only absorb some of the calcium in there.

Make sure you take your calcium in doses of 500-600 mg and take them at least two hours apart.  Read the label carefully to see what the serving size is.  Like, Citrical petites have 400 mg per serving but a serving is TWO pills.

Take them two hours away from your iron.

Thank you for this info...
I was thinking about switching to Citracal.  So for a serving, do you need to take(crushed) 4 pills?  And then that's a total of 800mg?  Am I getting this right? And is this ok?
Thank you for the post!  :)

Usually a serving is two pills.  And you need three or four servings a day.  At least two hours apart.

Thanks Kelly!

This is what I found for Upcal D, I wanna order it, but I dont understand if 1 packet is 5grams, how many packates would I need for 1 serving?? 

IDK if Im reading that right, that would mean you need like pretty much the whole box for 1 serving, I am assuming I am not understanding that, becasue that just seems crazy, please help me understand how many packets I would need for 1 serving, Thanks

No, no. 

One packet IS one serving.  One packet is 500 mg.  Yould need three to four packets a day, at least two hours apart.

I think the "5 grams" probably refers to weight, not dosage.  And how much a package weighs doesn't really matter, as far as I know.

Thank you so much!! That really does help.

I'm still learning, my surgery is July 11th.  When we first come home from the hospital can we swallow pills and how do you know what pills can be crushed and what capsules can be emptied.  Thank you for all your information.  I find that you are very informative.

Lynni

Different docs have different recommendations about swallowing pills.

I was swallowing them in the hospital. 

Some docs recommend crushing them, though.  Ask your pharmacist about which of your pills can be crushed.  If you're on any pills that can't be crushed and your doc says you need to crush them, ask your doc for a prescription for something different.

I love your reminder postings,.. I read them each and every time! Thanks so much!