Get advice on taking calcium supplements

DEAR DR. GOTT: Is calcium citrate better than calcium carbonate?

DEAR READER: For most people, no. Both types of calcium are absorbed similarly by healthy people. Calcium carbonate is more commonly available and is usually less expensive. It is more readily absorbed when taken with food. Calcium citrate is generally more expensive but is often more easily absorbed by those with lower levels of stomach acid. It is readily absorbed by the body with or without food. The supplements also contain different amounts of elemental calcium. Carbonate is 40 percent by weight, and citrate is 21 percent.

Calcium absorption decreases as the amount of elemental calcium per dose increases. In order to get the most out of your calcium supplements, you should take several smaller doses. If you are taking 1,000 milligrams per day, for example, try taking 500 milligrams twice a day. Your body will use more of the calcium, thus providing greater benefits.

Calcium is also added regularly to certain foods. It is common to find calcium-fortified breads, orange juice, cereals and tofu.

Dairy products are naturally high in calcium, so consuming three servings of low-fat milk, cheese or yogurt can provide significant amounts.

Calcium supplements are most often recommended for people who have osteoporosis or are at risk for it.

It is important to take supplemental vitamin D to aid absorption. Supplements are also important for vegans, strict vegetarians and those with lactose intolerance.

Speak with your primary-care physician regarding which treatment is best for you.

If you are simply looking for information, visit the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements Web site at dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/index.aspx.

I am sending you my Health Reports, “Osteoporosis†and “Vitamins and Minerals.†Others should send a self-addressed stamped No. 10 envelope and a $2 check or money order for each report to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44902. Or go to AskDrGottMD.com.

Dr. Gott practiced in Lakeville for 40 years.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less