Elemental calcium  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump
to: navigation, search  Elemental calcium is a term used in
dietary supplement ingredient lists to refer to the amount of
calcium in a product.[1] Calcium pills contain calcium in a
variety of molecules, such as carbonate, citrate, citrate-
maleate, orotate, etc. Each pill supplies a different amount of
elemental calcium when absorbed, and hence differs in its
effectiveness. For example, calcium carbonate is 40% elemental
calcium by weight; citrate is roughly 20% calcium, etc. Thus a
500 mg pill of calcium carbonate contains 200 mg of calcium and
the container will indicate each pill has 200 mg of elemental
calcium. This is the calcium that is actually available to the
body and, as such, is the amount that one needs to consider
towards his/her daily requirement.[2] Hence, one should read the
label carefully to determine the number of pills to be taken.
Other factors may influence the choice of molecule prescribed.
Calcium carbonate is by far the bes