Use Calcium Citrate for better absorption, not the cheaper, less-bioavailable Calcium Carbonate.
The Chalk vs. The Champion
I started taking Calcium Carbonate because it was cheap and my doctor said I needed more calcium. It felt like swallowing a piece of chalk, and it always left me feeling constipated and bloated. I thought this was just the price of bone health. Then I discovered Calcium Citrate. It was a little more expensive, but it absorbed so much better and didn’t require strong stomach acid. The constipation vanished, and I felt like my body was actually using the mineral. I swapped the cheap chalk for the champion of absorption.
Stop taking large, single doses of calcium. Do split your dose into 500mg or less at a time.
The Absorption Ceiling
I thought I was being efficient by taking my entire 1000mg calcium pill in one go every morning. I didn’t realize my body has an absorption ceiling. It can only effectively absorb about 500mg of calcium at a time. The rest was being wasted and contributing to digestive issues. I switched my strategy. I started taking one 500mg dose in the morning and another in the evening. My results improved, and my stomach felt much better. I was finally working with my body’s limits, not against them.
Stop taking calcium in isolation. Do take it with its essential cofactors: Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, and Magnesium.
The Dream Team
I was taking my calcium pill every day, thinking I was building strong bones. I was making a classic mistake. Calcium is a team sport. Taking it alone is like sending a quarterback onto the field with no offensive line and no receivers. It’s useless. Vitamin D3 is the receiver that catches the calcium from your diet. Vitamin K2 is the offensive line that blocks it from going to the arteries and directs it to the bones. And Magnesium is the coach that helps the whole process run smoothly. You need the whole team.
The #1 secret for bone health isn’t more calcium; it’s getting the calcium you do consume into the right places.
The Calcium GPS
Our culture is obsessed with getting more calcium—drink more milk, take more pills. We think quantity is the answer. The real secret isn’t about more calcium; it’s about directing the calcium you already have. You can consume all the calcium in the world, but if you’re deficient in Vitamin K2 and Magnesium, it will never make it to your bones. It will end up in your arteries. The focus shouldn’t be on cramming in more calcium, but on supplying the “GPS” vitamins that tell it exactly where to go.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about bone health is that you just need to drink more milk.
The Milk Myth
From the time we were kids, we were told that drinking milk builds strong bones. While milk contains calcium, it’s not the magic bullet it’s made out to be. Many cultures with low dairy intake have very low rates of osteoporosis. The lie is that calcium from milk is the only, or even the best, solution. Bone health is a complex matrix of minerals and vitamins—D3, K2, magnesium, boron—and weight-bearing exercise. Just drinking more milk is a massive oversimplification that ignores the most important parts of the equation.
I wish I knew that taking too much calcium without K2 and magnesium could be detrimental to my heart health.
The Heart Risk
Concerned about osteoporosis, my doctor told me to start taking 1200mg of calcium a day. He never mentioned Vitamin K2 or magnesium. For years, I dutifully took my big calcium pills, thinking I was protecting my bones. I had no idea that I was potentially increasing my risk of a heart attack by promoting arterial calcification. I wish I had known then that taking a high dose of isolated calcium is one of the riskiest things you can do for your cardiovascular system. The cofactors aren’t optional; they are essential for safety.
I’m just going to say it: Most people get enough calcium from their diet; the problem is a deficiency in the cofactors that utilize it.
The Cofactor Crisis
We live in a calcium-fortified world. It’s in our orange juice, our bread, our cereals. For most people, a true dietary deficiency of calcium is rare. The real crisis is the widespread deficiency in the nutrients that tell our bodies what to do with that calcium. We are swimming in calcium but are deficient in Vitamin D3, Vitamin K2, and Magnesium. The problem isn’t a lack of bricks; it’s a complete lack of masons to build the wall.
99% of people make this one mistake when supplementing for bone health: focusing only on calcium.
The One-Note Symphony
It’s the biggest mistake in bone health. People are so hyper-focused on the single note of calcium that they completely ignore the rest of the symphony. True bone health is a complex interplay of at least a dozen different nutrients and lifestyle factors. Focusing only on calcium is like trying to bake a cake with only flour. You’re missing the eggs, the sugar, the oil, and the heat. It will never work. The obsession with calcium has ironically distracted us from all the other things that are even more important.
This one habit of eating dark leafy greens and fortified plant milks will change your calcium intake forever.
The Plant-Based Power
I thought the only way to get calcium was from dairy. As someone who doesn’t tolerate dairy well, I thought I was doomed to take pills forever. Then I discovered the power of plants. I started a new habit of having a large salad with kale and spinach every day and switching to a calcium-fortified almond milk. I was shocked to learn I was now getting more bioavailable calcium from my diet than I ever was from cheese or milk, along with a host of other beneficial nutrients.
If you’re still taking calcium carbonate (chalk), you’re losing out on absorption and likely getting constipated.
The Chalk Trap
Calcium Carbonate is the most common form of calcium in supplements because it’s cheap and small. It’s also, quite literally, chalk. It requires a huge amount of stomach acid to be absorbed, which many people lack, especially as they get older. The result? Most of it doesn’t get absorbed. It just sits in your intestines, causing constipation and digestive upset. If you’re still taking chalk, you’re not just getting poor absorption; you’re actively paying to make yourself uncomfortable.