Bone-Building 101: Taking Calcium the RIGHT Way

Time passes. It’s mid-morning; breakfast was 3 hours ago. Now’s the time for that carton of yogurt; a 6-ounce carton offers about 150-250mg calcium. Make yourself a yogurt parfait with some more of that crunchy-good cereal. Whichever yogurt/cereal combination you choose, figure out a combination that’ll yield about 500mg calcium. Bingo! You’ve just ingested your next 500mg—about 3 hours after your first dose. This is good.

You’re 2/3 of the way to your daily calcium goal, and you haven’t even reached lunch yet. You’re busy; work is hectic, or the kids need you, you miss lunch… It’s not OK to miss lunch for a variety of reasons, but calcium intake’s not one of them. Forget about calcium for the time being, OK? We’ll worry about that final 500mg later.

Now it’s suppertime. You’re home; or not. Sometimes you prepare a healthy sit-down dinner; sometimes it’s takeout sandwiches at the basketball game. No prob. You still don’t need to think about that calcium… till you’re ready for bed.

Ah-HA! Remember those supplements, the ones you didn’t take first thing this morning? Now’s the time for the 600mg calcium/400IU vitamin D tablet. A little bit of carbs just before bed help you sleep (I learned that in a sleep study I participated in); and calcium is absorbed more readily when taken with food. So grab a few crackers, an apple (sugar is a simple carb), or something equally light. Take your supplement, and head to bed. Your body will have all night to absorb that final 500mg.

Ensuring you get the right amount of calcium at the right time each day can be a bit of a balancing act. The program above works for me; but it may not work for you, especially if you’re lactose intolerant. Bottom line, you need to spread your calcium intake out over the course of the entire day. Because if you don’t, you’re not getting the benefit you (and your bones) need and deserve from this critical mineral.

Next time: Is that 1500mg of calcium working as hard as it can for you?