A visitor to the epic4health web site recently asked: “Why are you recommending calcium carbonate?” This visitor went on to say in the email inquiry: “Calcium carbonate is nothing but chalk and is not the choice you should be recommending to people. Calcium citrate and malate are the best ones you should be recommending. Do the homework before!”
Here is the answer we received from one of the senior scientists at Tishcon Corp. in response to this “Calcium carbonate: Why are you recommending it?” inquiry.
We indeed did our homework. One can look down upon calcium carbonate because it is inexpensive and found in large abundance in nature. It is, however, the richest source of dietary supplement calcium and several peer reviewed studies conducted in human subjects have shown little if any difference between the bioavailability of calcium from calcium carbonate versus the bioavailability of calcium from its glamorous, (widely touted and expensive), cousins – namely the citrate and malate. FYI, both citrate and malate are man made calcium salts manufactured by reacting calcium carbonate (limestone) or calcium Hydroxide (slaked lime) with either Citric Acid or Malic Acid.
It can be said that the citrate and malate salts of calcium are derived from the naturally occurring Calcium Carbonate, often referred to in a derisive manner as chalk, limestone or marble. Cheap and abundant does not necessarily make it bad.
The bioavailability of calcium is largely affected by:
1. The disintegration / dissolution of the calcium supplement pills.
2. The amount of calcium ingested at one time. (It should never exceed 500mg of elemental calcium – preferably 250mg to 334mg with each meal.)
3. The presence of vitamin D in the supplement and other factors too numerous to detail here.
Note: Elderly persons who have a deficiency of gastric acid (poor secretion) will be better able to absorb calcium as the citrate and malate form. For them the calcium fortified orange juice is not a bad idea. So, for those who cannot absorb sufficient calcium from the calcium supplements here is an alternative: MinuteMaid and Tropicana – both companies have introduced orange juices with calcium and Vitamin D.