Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia

Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia. What you need to know in choosing a supplement

If your health care provider has suggested a specific number of mg. for your daily intake, that is the number you should use. If your health care provider has not made a specific recommendation, you might take the recommendations published at Iowa State University:

Age 1 - 3 - 500mg.
Age 4 - 8 - 800mg
Age 9 - 18 - 1300mg
Age 19 -50 - 1,000mg >/li>
Age 51 -70 - 1,200mg
Age 71+ - 1,200mg

If you are trying to increase your bone density, your health care practitioner many recommend higher amounts. Of course, you would follow such recommendations.

Now if you are considering buying a supplement to aid you in building stronger bones, there are 4 important thingsyou should do before settling on the supplement to buy. These same four items would apply to you when you are re-evaluating your current supplement for Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia.

I realizes that this page about Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia is long. But it is well worth taking the time to read and act on all parts of it. In the end you may save money AND get better results from your intake of this important mineral.

When evaluating a product for Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia:

You want to find out how effective the supplement will be:

Has the maker of this supplement, subjected the product to scientific review. Are there any studies published in scientific or medical journals that show how effective this supplement is all by itself for building stronger bones.
The 'all by itself is important' since if it is used in combination with some other therapy, you have no way of knowing if improvements in bone density are due to the supplement or the other item included in the study. For example: supplement X + weight lifting, could show improvements BUT the improvement is really due to the weight lifting. The only way that supplement + some other therapycould show that a supplement is effective would be if two different supplements were used and bothwere coupled with the same 'other therapy'. In such a study, it would point to the supplement making a differencewhen combined with the other therapy.

If there are no published scientific studies about a supplement's effectiveness, you want to see if there are anypublished studies about the supplement's ABSORBABILITY. Why is this important? Many calcium supplements can not be absorbed in your intestinal tract. They simply pass through your body and are eliminated and so this is not useful for Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia use.
If there is no published scientific studies about your supplement's absorbability, then you want to buy a smallpackage and perform the vinegar text in your own kitchen.

You need to find out if the supplement includes everything that science has found you need to turn your Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia intake into bone?
Vitamin D3, Magnesium, Vitamin K trace minerals such as boron, silica. If the supplement does not contain these things, then you need to figure out how you will get the correct amounts so you are able to use the calcium you are taking to build bone.
If you do not have all the necessary elements for bone building,it could be that your taking a supplement will simply waste your money since your body does not have the other elements needed to use the calcium for bone building. In some cases, it may be that you will need to buy a second or third supplement. In other cases, you may be making up the difference through your daily nutrition. But if you do not want to waste your money, you do want to be sure that you are getting what you need.
I know that in my own experience I discovered, that I was spending more money for several supplements than I would have been doing if I bought a supplement which at first glance seemed too expensive.

You want to consider just how much of the supplement you will need. If you have been advised to have 1200 mg of calcium a day, you may be filling your need for some of that through your daily nutrition.
It is worth looking at a list of calcium rich foods and building that into your equation of how much calcium to takeeach day. Go to: Foods for Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia
You may ask why bother? What difference will it make if I get extra supplementation? There are two thingsto consider.
1. Your body can only absorb so much calcium at one time. 500mg is the limit. So if you are eating some calcium rich foods AND taking a supplement at the same time, you may be wasting money since you body can not absorb more than 500 mg at a time.
  A few months ago, I realized is that the manufacturer of the supplement I use, suggested taking 2 - 3 capsulestwice a day. But each capsule contains 500 mg. of calcium. I was wasting money following that recommendation.
2. There has been a recent study that showed women taking extra Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia, were at greaterrisk for cardiovascular events. The study is small and the researchers themselves note that it is not definitiveBUT it may well be an indication that more is not better .
Certain foods interfere with the absorption of calcium.
Consider:
1. A diet high in phytic acid, which is found in the bran of whole grains,is likely to interfere with calcium absorption.
2. A diet high in sodium may also interfere with calcium absorption - increased sodium intake can resultin increased calcium excretion
3. Sugar may upset to the calcium/phosphorus balance. Soda pop, carbonated drinks have also been said to interfere with calcium absorption
4. Caffeine increases the excretion of calcium
5. Oxalates can interfere with calcium absorbtion.

If you want to check out any particular calcium supplements, here is the peer reviewed research on some popular brands.

Some general comments about Calcium supplements

If your brand is not on the above list, you may want to use the form below to send me the NAME and THE COMPLETE LIST OF INGREDIENTS.

Note: It takes a good deal of time to do the research so do not expect an instant answer. You might do the vinegar text on your own "for starters". But I do want this site to be as useful as possible, so I am willing to research individual brands and list them on the site when readers submit a brand name.

If you are interested in supplements that have been shown to be effective in building stronger bones, do read the material about Strontium building 'bones of steel'

Calcium Osteoporosis Osteopenia

Use this form to send the information about a calcium supplement you would like included on this site