Calcium from food or should I take supplements?

PrairieRoseNE
PrairieRoseNE Posts: 265 Member
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
Hi, I've been tracking my calcium, along with everything else and I'm usually below my MFP allowance.

I HAVE to track my Sodium, due to my High Blood Pressure - which creates a problem because alot of the dairy products high in calcium are also high in sodium. So for heart health reasons I'm trying to cut sodium, but my bone health is important too......

Should I take a calcium supplement - I hate having to take a bunch of pills, but I dislike jeopardizing my sodium numbers.

Any advice??

Replies

  • khrys1
    khrys1 Posts: 444 Member
    I try to do half and half- I take a chewy chocolate Viactiv Calcium+D each day, which says it has 50% of your daily need, then try to have half a yogurt and some milk to make sure I get it all in!
  • Naomi91
    Naomi91 Posts: 892 Member
    I take a gnc calcium chew :] very yummy and has like 60% RDA i think

    Its better to get it from food sources, but realistically not everyone can fit it in i think, like myself, very sensitive to dairy so it is just 17832605423 times more convienient to take the yummy chewy :]
  • Endershadow
    Endershadow Posts: 52 Member
    I asked a doctor friend the same thing about calcium, potassium, and vitamin D...he made it sound like the risks outweigh the reward, something about heart conditions lol. He recommended just adding more milk to my regular diet to get my daily values. So I wouldn't add any supplements unless a doctor told you you had to.
  • jillerin457
    jillerin457 Posts: 70
    It's always better to get nutrients from actual foods. The body absorbs them better, so it's far more efficient. You can get calcium from non-dairy sources, even though it's tough!
  • loseit4good52
    loseit4good52 Posts: 127
    As a Natural Health Consultant, I suggest you do take a Calcium supplement along with Magnesium. Our foods no matter how healthy do not give us all the vitamins our body needs. I have a website that talks about the importance of supplements. If you want it, send me an email on here. Thanks! :smile:
  • sjd2010
    sjd2010 Posts: 106
    I do take a calcium supplement (I'm 49) and a D with it because they work well together. If you do decide to take the calcium, don't take it with regular vitamins because the calcium will not be absorbed. I take my multi in the morning and my calcium & D at lunch. Good Luck. :flowerforyou:
  • Enigmatica
    Enigmatica Posts: 879 Member
    At my most recent checkup my doctor handed me a paper with a health alert that's been issued based on recent studies showing that people in the US are developing calcium deposits in their blood vessels (way bad!) because of TOO much calcium. She said the new recommendation is NOT TO EXCEED 1200 mg per day of calcium from any combination of supplements or dietary sources. In tracking my calcium intake I quickly found that I frequently get more than that just from foods, never mind supplements. I've dropped a couple of supplements that had calcium in them and changed stuff around to back the calcium down as a result.
  • jillerin457
    jillerin457 Posts: 70
    As a Natural Health Consultant, I suggest you do take a Calcium supplement along with Magnesium. Our foods no matter how healthy do not give us all the vitamins our body needs. I have a website that talks about the importance of supplements. If you want it, send me an email on here. Thanks! :smile:

    This cannot possibly be true, or the human race would not have survived and thrived for millennia before the invention of "natural health consultants."
  • PrairieRoseNE
    PrairieRoseNE Posts: 265 Member
    Thank You all for your responses - I know that currently I do not get near enough calcium from food, so I'll check out those calcium chews. I just get tired of taking actual pills - a chew might not seem so bad. Hmmm
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I keep the caramel Viactiv Chews on hand. If I'm pretty low on my calcium then I grab one of those. They're 20 calories each though, so make sure that they fit in your calorie plan. But I love 'em becuase they just taste like chewy caramel candy. I'd eat 'em even if they weren't supplements. lol (actually, the hubby does occasionally munch one as a sweet snack *facepalm*)

    I was also lactose intolerant for almost nine years. Changing my eating habits awhile back, even before MFP helped to regulate it a bit and nowdays if I want to enjoy a full dairy treat, I can without any serious negative side effects. But after going so long avoiding dairy almost 100% it's still not a normal part of my daily eating so I've just always been used to using a calcium supplement and a multivitamin (not taken at the same time, as a poster above said) to make sure I'm getting the right stuff each day.
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