Update and a question for you

Remember Zaimah and her upcoming trip to Pakistan? She wrote in to update us all:

"Dear Moxie and Readers,

We just got back from our trip to Pakistan and I wanted to let you all know that your the tips from your comments and suggestions were very helpful and we used them. We also realized that there were just
certain things you can not anticipate and so you have to be a lot more flexible than usual. SInce we were staying with family the whole time we had a few days of growing pains but by the end we had all reached a
happy middle ground. Anyhow, it was a good trip overall and I am happy to say we survived it with minimal scarring.

Thanks once again."

Well, that's a relief. I always feel bad for the readers who are dreading some future event, because you really just never know how it's going to go for them. Updates are comforting, so if anyone else wants to update us, feel free.

Now a question from me to you: I know that when a woman weans a baby, her body stores up calcium really easily (I'd find a research link, but I've been doing my taxes and am fried). My younger son is slowing down on nursing (although he went from once a day to twice a day when I went to work), so I'm thinking I should be actively supplementing with calcium to catch the window when he does wean completely. So what's the best form of calcium supplementation to be taking? The one that's most easily/completely absorbed, I mean.

(This is also useful info for women who experience a dip in milk supply at the beginning of their mentrual period each month. Extra calcium supplementation for those few days helps even out supply.)

Thanks!

 

Comments

[Dani]

I take a calcium supplement to keep my supply level during the latter half of my cycle. As per KellyMom I take a cal/mag/zinc combination with 1000 mg calcium, 400 mg magnesium, and 25 mg zinc. I've found it to help tremendously.

[ValleyGal]

I don't remember much from my last trimester, but I do remember that iron supplements and calcium supplements don't play well together. I remember my MD telling me to take my extra iron separately from my prenatal and, after pregnancy, telling me to spread my extra calcium from my other vitamins (which also contain calcium). I guess there's only so much calcium you can absorb at one time and calcium can interfere with iron absorbtion...

[carmie]

Your best bet is to take calcium supplements throughout the day, with meals, instead of all at once. ValleyGal is right in that your body only absorbs so much at once. You absorb the most from calcium carbonate supplements.

[Cat, Galloping]

i've always heard tums are easily absorbed. i think there is a risk in too much calcium, though.

[Cecily]

I believe that calcium citrate is the better form for easier absorption. That's found in the brand Citrical. The other type, calcium carbonate, requires stomach acid to be broken down, and should be taken with food. It is also related to some GI side effects. This type is found in Tums and most other calcium supplements.

[Cecily]

Sorry to double-post. Here's a short article about the forms of calcium from Babyfit.com:

http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/ask-the-experts-answers.asp?inID=64

[Hilary]

The key with good calcium supplementation isn't necessarily the form that it is in (i.e. carbonate vs. citrate). Calcium is a macronutrient, practically, because it is needed in such large amounts. Women are supposed to get more than a gram a day. To get that into pills means many things. You either have to take one or two huge ones, with nothing else in it, or take smaller amounts throughout the day with important co nutrients, but then you end up taking 6 pills or so at various times of the day. It is preferable to take smaller amounts with meals with important cofactors, like magnesiums, vitamin, D, boron, zinc, vitamin K, and the like, but then we are talking about several pills and remembering to take them.

If you do find that resource about calcium absorption and weaning, I would love to read it.

[Lily]

For what its worth, the Viactivs taste great and don't typically result in the same stomach ailments that other calciums might. Just don't let your husband at them - many men start popping them like candy, with disasterous effects.

[Strugi]

I had not heard about calcium and weaning, cool!

Obviously (?) food with calcium is your best bet. This is followed by cacium citrate. The previous posters are correct vitamin D helps with bioavailability and calcium does block iron absorption. Calcium carbonate can contain heavy metals-so be careful of the source. Also continue with weight bearing exercise to help maintain/build bone mass.

[hedra]

Yay for that rebound in calcium levels.

However, the research I've read suggests that boosting your calcium above normal levels isn't going to have any effect, at least not with supplements. It is a function of the change in digestive processing that comes with the decline in nursing and then the end of nursing. Just like the amount of calcium in your diet doesn't need to go up significantly with pregnancy, because your digestion changes to enable your body to absorb more from your current sources. Think about it - evolutionarily, we're going to eat what we can eat, nursing, pregnant, or none of the above. It is our body's function that changes to meet the changes in demand, not the other way around. (For example, there was a study that looked at overall bone calcium loss during lactation, and found that no matter how much women supplemented with calcium during lactation, the bone loss was the same, about 5%. And the amount of calcium needed for a twins pregnancy also doesn't go doubling, the extra hormones just increase the rate of absorption. Very cool.)

I'd focus on making sure you get the full daily requirement as often as possible, but you probably don't need to go significantly above that for your body to rebound in calcium storage. I'd personally use the viactives (look yummy!) but they all have dairy, which I can't eat unless I want to swell up like a balloon (dang!). Instead I use Trader Joe's calcium chews, but I actually prefer the Sour Gummy Vites Calcium with Vitamin D (Trader Joes has them, but you can get big bottles at Costco, cheap) - got them for the kids for the winter vitamin D boost, and liked them myself. Better absorption with the D, taste great, easy to pop a couple with a meal, and if the kids complain, they can have some, too. And also plenty of foods with naturally occuring calcium. I know some people are concerned about the gummy vites (there had been a contamination issue at one point, I think), but I'm okay with them at the moment.

By the way, the main issue with calcium plus iron is that the iron isn't absorbed if there's calcium. Calcium drops the acidity of the stomach, and the iron needs the acids to break it down to an absorbable form.

[Jill]

Cecily's right- you want Citrical. Also, orange juice with calcium added is supposed to be really good, because the Vit C in the oj helps the calcium to be absorbed.

[jennyg]

Tums are among the LEAST absorbed types of calcium (calcium carbonate- don't even bother with it). Citrate is good, calcium lactate is even better. Or you could go nuts eating yummy yogurt and, OH, ice cream.... ;)

[jennyg]

Sorry to also double post, but I just saw on the babyfit article that they don't recommend calcium lactate. This goes against research I looked up when I was pregnant.. I'll try to look up what I found and post it here. It seems like you can't go wrong with citrate.

[Melis]

I'm not sure about you, but I suffer from kidney stones that are almost 100% calcium, yet I'm still supposed to supplement. Viactive seems to give me less grief than Caltrate or Citrical and I don't have the lactose problems I get when I try to load up on dairy.

[Most Absorbable Calcium Supplement]

How can I help you get it stocked locally? I will be waiting for your reply. Thanks & God bless you.