Calcium Cabonate Question

Hey everyone. I was out shopping and needed calcium chews. I couldn't remeber at the time which kind we should use. I ended up with calcium carbonate chews, which taste much better than the brand of calcium citrate chews I was buying. I know we don't absorb the calcium carbonate as well, so my question is this. Is it worth while for me to take the ones I bought or should I just go get the right ones. Anyone have any experience with this or have any input from their nutritionist? Thanks in advance.

Hi Belinda,

Your body won't be able to absorb enough calcium from the carbonate, so you really should take the citrate.  If you don't like the citrate chews, can you take Citracal Petite?  They're easy to swallow and can also be dissolved in a beverage if you prefer.  (I tried dissolving one.  It didn't change the flavor of my tea, but it was gritty when I got to the bottom of the cup.)

I had trouble absorbing vitamin D with just the calcium citrate....and ended up needing additional D vitamins...so I wouldn't mess around with anything related to that and just go get the citrate.

I wonder if you can return them, even though you've opened them?  Just explain you didn't realize you need citrate.

Good luck on finding ones that you like :)

Just attended a telephone seminar yesterday on nutrition post-WLS and one of the major things that was stressed is how our "new" system does not absorb things as it used to, so we MUST use the calcium citrate products in order to get the amount of calcium we need.  There are some out there I have not tried yet, but I hear good things about, for instance the bariatric advantage, otherwise as recommended you can take the petites and you don't have to melt them, just take as directed by your surgeon.