8 best calcium supplements in tablets

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

An adult's body contains about a kilogram of calcium. Most of it provides strength to bones and teeth. But, besides this, it is necessary for normal muscle contraction, the secretion of certain hormones, and normal blood clotting.

1. The daily requirement for calcium in an adult is 1000 mg or 1 g. Theoretically, to satisfy it, 700 ml of milk of 3% fat or 400 grams of cottage cheese or 150 g of hard cheese is enough. But, firstly, not everyone tolerates milk normally, and secondly, many factors affect the absorption and assimilation of the element:
2. Acidity of gastric juice. Hydrochloric acid of the stomach converts calcium into soluble compounds, therefore, with reduced acidity, its absorption decreases.
3. Normal gallbladder function. In the intestine, calcium binds to fatty acids, which, under the influence of bile, form special forms – micelles. In this form, it penetrates the intestinal walls, then – through the cell membrane, releasing ions, which can then be used by the body.
4. Adequate amount of fat. For calcium to bind to fatty acids, you need something to bind to. That is why low-fat cottage cheese is not the best source of this substance. In addition, fat stimulates the secretion of bile.
5. Sufficient content of magnesium in the body. With its lack, calcium begins to be excreted vigorously.
6. Sufficient content of vitamin D in the body – with a lack of this vitamin (or, as they say now, hormone), calcium is simply not absorbed in the intestine and is not incorporated into the biochemical mechanisms that maintain its normal amount in tissues.
7. Protein in food: Protein improves the absorption of calcium.

As you can see, the assimilation and metabolism of calcium is a rather complex process, and the intake of this macronutrient with ordinary food is not always sufficient to cover all the body's needs. That is why other sources of this substance are often needed in the form of special preparations.

They are especially important for the elderly, in whom the normal absorption of calcium is disturbed and its excretion is increased – it is because of this that osteoporosis begins. This macronutrient is needed both for children in whom the skeleton is actively growing and forming, and for pregnant women.

We bring to your attention a ranking of the best calcium tablets that will help maintain its normal balance in the body. But before proceeding to the actual description of the drugs, let us dwell on one more aspect.

Drug manufacturers often write that calcium is best absorbed in the form of special readily soluble salts – chelates – or as a salt of ascorbic or citric acid (citrate). This would be true if the drugs entered directly into the intestines, bypassing the stomach. But, as we have already mentioned, under the action of gastric juice, any calcium compound turns into chloride, which immediately decomposes into ions. Getting into the alkaline environment of the intestine, these ions instantly bind with fatty acids of food, again forming insoluble compounds. Therefore, the release form of the calcium preparation is important only for people suffering from atrophic gastritis, when the number of glands producing hydrochloric acid decreases. For healthy people, the chemical formula of the product is not so important, although we took this detail into account when compiling the rating.

About concentration of content

If we talk about chemical formulas, most of all elemental calcium contains calcium carbonate and triphosphate – 400 mg per 1 g of substance.

Calcium salt	The amount of elemental calcium (mg) in 1 g of substance
Carbonate	400
Triphosphate	400
Chloride	270
Citrate	211
Glycerophosphate	191
Lactate	130
Gluconate	90

Rating of the best calcium supplements

Nomination	a place	Name of product	price
The best vitamin D supplements	1	Calcium D3 Nycomed forte	566 r
	2	Complivit calcium D3 forte tablets 100 pcs.	399 RUB
	3	Active Calcium Citrate	194 r
The best calcium for kids	1	Complivit calcium D3 for babies	224 r
	2	Baby formula bears calcium Evalar	448 r
The best calcium monopreparations	1	Nature's Way, Calcium Citrate, 250 Capsules	RUB 907
	2	Calcium chelate No. 60, Evalar	736 RUB
	3	Calcium gluconate	RUB 27
Rules for the use of calcium tablets
Contraindications to calcium intake

The best vitamin D supplements

This combination of calcium and vitamin D is considered optimal for absorption. In fact, according to some researchers. 80% of the population of Russia has a deficiency of vitamin D to one degree or another, and without it, the macronutrient cannot be properly absorbed or incorporated into the bone tissue.

When taking such complexes, one should keep in mind that fat-soluble vitamin D, unlike water-soluble ones, is able to accumulate in the body, leading to hypervitaminosis. Therefore, people who receive it from other sources are better off choosing monopreparations.

Calcium D3 Nycomed forte

Rating: 4.9

One of the most popular drugs in our country. Available in chewable tablets, each containing 1250 mg of calcium carbonate (500 mg in pure calcium) and 400 IU of vitamin D3. The recommended dosage is 2 – 3 tablets per day.

The amount of vitamin D in these tablets may seem high in comparison with other drugs, but current clinical guidelines for the prevention of vitamin D deficiency indicate a daily dosage of at least 800 IU for middle-aged people, at least 1000 IU for people over 50 and at least 1200 IU. for pregnant women, that is, 2 – 3 tablets just cover the need for a healthy person in vitamin D.

Advantages

• high calcium content;
• a sufficient amount of vitamin D to prevent hypovitaminosis.

disadvantages

• relatively high price

Complivit calcium D3 forte tablets 100 pcs.

Rating: 4.8

The package contains 100 chewable tablets, each of which contains 500 mg of calcium (in terms of pure element) and 400 mg of D3. In fact, this is a domestic, and, therefore, a more economical analogue of Calcium D3 Nycomed Forte, which compares favorably with most competitors with a rather high amount of cholecalciferol. Just like the previous product from our rating, the drug is registered as a medicine, not a dietary supplement, which means more thorough quality control before entering pharmacies.

Advantages

• affordable price;
• high dosages of active ingredients.

disadvantages

• large tablets that are inconvenient to chew.

Active Calcium Citrate

Rating: 4.7

One of the few products available in Russia containing vitamin D3 in combination with calcium citrate – one of the most easily digestible forms of this macronutrient, which may be important for people suffering from atrophic gastritis who have undergone gastric resection or bariatric surgery. But if you study in detail the dosage of active substances, it turns out that in one tablet there are only 250 mg of a 'pure' macronutrient and 100 IU D3, that is, the recommended instructions for 2 – 3 tablets per day are not enough to fully compensate for the lack of these substances.

Advantages

• easily digestible form;
• low price per package.

disadvantages

• low dosage of active substances:
• packaging is only enough for 10 days of reception.

The best calcium for kids

The calcium requirement in children is extremely high. There are only 25 grams of this element in the baby's body, and as the baby's skeleton grows, it actively accumulates it.

Age	Calcium requirement (mg)
up to 6 months	400
6 months – year	600
16 years	800
7 – 10 years old	1000
11 – 17 years old	1200

And if the baby receives the calcium he needs with his mother's milk, then older children may need additional sources of this element. Theoretically, children can be given any of the pills listed in other sections of the rating, but instead of 2-3 times a day, only one dose will be enough. But babies under 3 years old should not be given pills: the child may choke. Therefore, it is better for them to give medicines in the form of drops, suspensions, syrups. Older children already understand well what a medicine is and actively resist taking pills. Therefore, they make funds in the form of gummy pads. gummy bears and the like.

After analyzing the drugs specially designed for children on the Russian market, we found that almost all of them contain relatively high dosages of vitamin D, combined with small amounts of calcium, which cannot replenish the recommended norm. Probably, manufacturers proceed from the fact that baby food traditionally contains a lot of milk and dairy products (yoghurts, curds), so that the baby gets the necessary substances from food.

Complivit calcium D3 for babies

Rating: 4.7

It is produced in powder for preparing a suspension, which must be diluted with 100 ml of water. 5 ml of the finished suspension contains 200 mg of calcium in terms of the pure element and 50 IU of vitamin D. Children under one year old are recommended to 5 ml once a day, from one to 3 years 5-10 ml once a day. Shake the bottle before each use so that the active ingredient is evenly distributed.

Advantages

• form of release, convenient for kids;
• it is enough to take once a day.

disadvantages

• not.

Baby formula bears calcium Evalar

Rating: 4.6

Jelly bears that contain calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D, and the macronutrients are in the optimal ratio for absorption of 2: 1. Unfortunately, the dosage itself is not optimal: 2 lozenges contain only 200 mg of calcium, which is 4 times less than the needs of a child 3-6 years old. At the same time, you should not increase the dosage, because in the same 2 lozenges there is half the daily value of D3. It turns out that these lozenges are intended to supplement the daily diet, but not completely take over the supply of the baby with the necessary macronutrient. They are optimal for children who, in principle, do not give up milk and dairy products, but do not spend much time in the sun. However, in the rest of the calcium preparations available in Russia for children, its content is even lower.

Advantages

• contains calcium and phosphorus in an optimal ratio for assimilation.

disadvantages

• in the package – 60 lozenges, which are enough for children over 7 years old only for 12 days.

The best calcium monopreparations

These are products that contain only one or another calcium compound, without the addition of vitamins and other trace elements. Such drugs are considered the least effective, because vitamin D is needed for normal assimilation. On the other hand, it is precisely such funds, without additional additives, that can be optimal for residents of the southern regions, where the sun is enough to synthesize their own vitamin D, for reasons for regularly visiting tanning salons or for those who get enough vitamin from food and other active supplements.

Nature's Way, Calcium Citrate, 250 Capsules

Rating: 4.5

Regular readers of our ratings know that we rarely include funds that can only be bought via the Internet on foreign sites. We do this deliberately, because not everyone is ready to master orders via the Internet and wait about two weeks for postal delivery. But we simply could not pass by this drug.

The package contains 250 capsules, each containing 500 mg of elemental calcium as a mixture of citrate, carbonate and malate. That is, two capsules cover the daily requirement for this element, and one can is enough for 3 months of admission. At the same time, at the time of this writing, the packaging cost 982 rubles (the cost of USD 65.56 at the Central Bank rate), that is, one day of application will cost 7.8 rubles. No matter how hard we tried, we could not find something similar in terms of price-quality ratio among the funds available in offline pharmacies: the closest competitor, which turned out to be next in our rating, will currently cost at least 25 rubles per day.

Advantages

• high dosage of the active substance;
• low price per day of use.

disadvantages

• must be ordered online.

Calcium chelate No. 60, Evalar

Rating: 4.3

Contains calcium in an easily digestible form, which makes it indispensable for people suffering from atrophic gastritis who have undergone gastric resection or bariatric surgery.

The package contains 60 tablets of 1.3 grams each, but given that this chemical form is far from the first place in terms of elemental calcium content, it is recommended to take 2 – 3 tablets per day, which will provide from 29 to 43.5% of the daily requirement.

Advantages

• easily digestible form;

disadvantages

• relatively low content in terms of pure element.

Calcium gluconate

Rating: 4.2

On the one hand, this is the lowest effective salt: only 90 mg per 1 g of substance, that is, to get the daily norm of the macronutrient, you will have to eat 20 tablets of 0.5 grams. On the other hand, the cheapest pack of 10 tablets for February 2019 costs five rubles. That is, the day of admission will cost 10 rubles, and this is provided that no other calcium sources enter the body. Better to limit yourself to half the daily allowance, because some amount of this element is almost always in food. Of course, you can find the best options in terms of price-benefit ratio, but this one is available in any pharmacy, does not require the ability to place orders on Internet sites and wait for delivery.

Advantages

• long experience of use,
• availability,
• low price.

disadvantages

• to get the right amount of macronutrient tablets will literally have to be eaten by handfuls.

Rules for the use of calcium tablets

Considering that fats, bile acids and proteins are needed for better absorption of this element, it is best to use tablets with meals. And taking into account the circadian – that is, natural circadian rhythms – fluctuations in the parathyroid hormone responsible for the exchange of calcium in the body, it is optimal to do this in the afternoon. It is better to divide the daily rate of the drug into 2 doses, since more than 600 mg of pure substance is not absorbed at a time. Be sure to drink the tablets with at least a glass of any liquid.

If, for some reason, a person takes tetracycline antibiotics, the break between drugs should be at least 3 hours, since they are mutually bound and neutralized.

Those who are forced to constantly take diuretics need to control the level of calcium and creatinine in the blood at least once a month.

Contraindications to calcium intake

You can not take any funds containing it under the following conditions:

1. tendency to thrombosis;
2. severe form of atherosclerosis;
3. hypercalciuria (a metabolic feature in which there is an excess amount of calcium in the urine);
4. atrial fibrillation,
5. myeloma, sarcoidosis, metastases of any malignant tumor to the bone or spine;
6. active form of tuberculosis;
7. gout.

Extremely cautious calcium is prescribed for people with uncontrolled arterial hypertension, severe coronary artery disease, hepatic and renal failure.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.