Calcium with Vitamin D Powder
16oz
Calcium with Vitamin D Powder
This is a flavored formulation of calcium powder prepared from a mix of calcium carbonate and calcium citrate with vitamin D. The powder combines easily in food or beverages and can be used in baking at moderate temperatures. It’s been successfully incorporated into cookies, pancakes, muffins and other baked goods; however, a significant amount of the vitamin D content may be destroyed if used in baking.
What is calcium and why might I need more?
Calcium is an essential mineral that’s required by your body on a daily basis. Calcium plays a number of crucial roles in the body. A deficiency can cause some adverse health issues. First of all, calcium is the major component of bones and teeth. More than 98% of the body’s calcium is contained in those structures. In the rest of the body, calcium helps with heart function, circulation, nerve function and muscle tone.
Inadequate calcium intake can cause the body to "rob "calcium from the bones to make up the difference. Once this occurs, low peak bone mass can result; this signifies that there will be a low quantity of bone mass present at maturity. Low peak bone mass can be a leading factor to the evolution of a possibly disabling disease of weak, delicate, fragile bones called osteoporosis. More than 25 million people in the United States have this multifactorial disease, which is also affected by race, sex, heredity, body stature, diet, exercise level and lifestyle. Excess alcohol consumption and smoking are also considered risk factors in osteoporosis. Establishing and maintaining good bone health through adequate calcium intake throughout life is associated with a decreasd risk of osteoporosis by optimizing bone mass. Calcium intake going past 200% of the recommended daily intake (2000 mg) causes no additional known benefit.
At what age is calcium intake important?
Very simply, at all ages. Calcium is important to infant development, childhood development when bones are growing, during childbearing and during adulthood to keep bones healthy and strong.
Can’t I get enough calcium from my diet?
Infant formulas and some baby foods are rich in calcium, as is breast milk, so babies and infants probably get enough. Once off of those sources, getting enough calcium becomes more difficult. It is generally recognized by the Institutes of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences that from ages four through adult, optimal calcium Dietary Reference Intakes for good health range from 800 to 1200 mg daily. To get that from the diet requires that an individual ingest two to three servings of dairy products per day, plus several servings of protein, vegetables, grains and fruits. This is difficult for many people.
Many individuals are sensitive to dairy products, casein, lactose or other dairy proteins. These individuals find it very challenging to obtain enough dietary calcium.
What affects calcium absorption from my diet?
Fiber-rich foods and plant foods comprised of phytic acid can negatively affect the absorption of calcium, as can caffeine. Excess fat, salt and soft drinks also have a negative effect.
It’s better to spread calcium intake out over the day rather than taking it all at once. Studies demonstrate that when too much calcium is in the body at once, absorption is reduced.
Vitamin D increases the absorption of calcium, so it’s crucial to make certain your diet incorporates adequate quantities of that nutrient. Vitamin D is stored in the body, so it’s not essential to ingest the vitamin D simultaneously with calcium; however, many calcium supplements incorporate little amounts of vitamin D as a preventative measure. Since milk and cereals are typically fortified with vitamin D and sunlight also provides this, older adults without proper sunlight exposure and with inadequate diets are most at risk to be deficient in vitamin D.
What kind of calcium supplement should I take?
There are a lot of superior calcium supplements available on the market. Calcium carbonate and calcium citrate are the best-selling sources, with calcium carbonate being far and away the most abundant. Both calcium carbonate and calcium citrate are greatt sources and are well-absorbed. The New England Journal of Medicine (1987) confirmed that these forms of calcium had similar absorption profiles to the calciumcontained in milk, and these results have been supported in later studies.
Calcium carbonate is better absorbed if taken with foods. People with the condition achlorhydria (missing stomach acid) seem to absorb calcium citrate better, although the difference is reduced when calcium carbonate is taken with food.
There’s a single type of calcium that’s displayed some advantages in absorption properties. The form is called calcium bis-glycinate chelate, which is made by Albion® Laboratories Inc., of Clearfield, Utah.
What other quality issues do I need to be concerned about when choosing calcium supplements?
Low quality calcium supplements could have a higher lead content than is desirable. The United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) and the Food Chemicals Codex are considered standards for quality materials used in supplements. The lead tolerance in these publications is three parts per million (ppm), an satisfactory level to the Food and Drug Administration. Most respectable companies have adopted these standards. It can also be pointed out that some high-quality pharmaceutical grades of calcium are also available that contain levels far below the 3 ppm accepted standard.
A different issue in quality calcium supplements is disintegration and dissolution standards of the dosage form. A product must dissolve in the body to do any good. Check with your manufacturer to assure that its calcium products meet USP standards.
Lastly, look cautiously at the label of the calcium supplement you’re thinking about purchasing. The requirements for calcium intake pertain to elemental calcium. Your supplement should be providing the total amount of the mineral calcium, not an amount of the calcium salt. For instance, a supplement should be providing 600 mg of elemental calcium, not 600 mg of calcium carbonate. If a supplement provided 600 mg of calcium carbonate, it wouldonly be providing 216 mg of elemental calcium. If in doubt, contact the manufacturer. Calcium is too important to your health to have a deficiency.
Can I take too much calcium?
The National Institute of Health and the Journal of the American Medical Association seem to agree that most people can safely consume up to 2000 mg per day of calcium.
Kirkman’s calcium supplements:
Kirkman® manufactures all of its calcium products with pharmaceutical grade, low-lead calcium-containing raw materials. All Kirkman® calcium products are formulated to meet USP specifications for disintegration and/or dissolution for calcium supplements.
Calcium with Vitamin D Powder Ingredients:
Calcium with Vitamin D Powder
Does Not Contain:
Casein, gluten, soy, wheat, artificial colorings, artificial flavorings, gelatin, or yeast.
Warnings:
- Store in a cool dry place and tightly capped.
- Keep out of the reach of children.