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How to get your calcium?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Posted 10/5/2005 8:17 PM (GMT 0)
Well, a woman my age is supposed to get 1000 mg of calcium a day.  I hate milk etc. so have taken calcium citrate supplements in the past.  When I take a daily dose of just 300 mg, I end up constipated for days.  What can I do to get my calcium intake?
Posted 10/5/2005 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Calcium citrate doesn't normally cause constipation like calcium carbonate does. Chances are your supplement has citrate and carbonate even though the front will just say citrate. You should look at the label (on the back) and see if it contains carbonate as well. Citracal is a good one that is total citrate. If you still have problems, you can look for calcium phosphate which is not supposed to constipate you either. I hope you find success with these. Have you asked your doctor for suggestions?
Posted 10/5/2005 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
Green leafy vegetables have alot of calcium in them.
Also.......try taking 250-500mg of magnesium with your calcium. We all usually are a bit defificent in magnesium, and lots of people get diarrhea when they take it.......but if you balance it with calcium, it may keep you from getting constipated. Also, how about something like flaxseed oil, olive oil, etc?
Posted 10/5/2005 10:02 PM (GMT 0)
I take a Metamucil calcium/fiber combination tablet. I take 2 every night. Seems to work OK for me. Get a some regiment like what I am on that keeps your BMs stable, and go to your Doc and get your calcium level checked (with a blood test). If it is within the normal "good" range then you know you are taking enough.
Posted 10/6/2005 9:52 PM (GMT 0)
If you eat a lot of vegetables already--especially those green leafy ones Cathy mentioned--you may not need much if anything in the way of supplements.

As one anti-milk website says: "Where do you think cows get their calcium from? Grass!"

There are some studies that suggest that we don't absorb much if any of the calcium from milk products; the best way to get calcium is from grass... er... spinach and the like. So don't feel bad about not consuming dairy products; they probably wouldn't help you anyways.

Some foods have calcium added, so you might want to try them. I know a lot of orange juices come "calcium fortified" and some breakfast cerals do too. I think Total cereal has 100% of your daily calcium allowance. At the very least it has a lot more than regular cereals. If you do like lactose intolerant people and put calcium fortified OJ on your Total, then you should be set, lol.
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