One of the most common worries that we have on a societal level revolves around bone health and bone strength – something that the vast majority of us know declines with age. With this in mind, many people look for ways to improve the density of our bones, thus making them stronger and less susceptible to breaks and fractures.
Now there is often two sides to this story.
- Good Quality
- 1200mg of Calcium
- 1000IU of Vitamin D
- Most Popular
- Large Impact
- Good Supplement
- Gummy Form
- Excellent Quality
- More Expensive
The first revolves around exercise, with recent research suggesting that heavy weight training has a powerful capacity to improve bone growth and bone density – irrespective of our age or our exercise history.
The second revolves around nutrition, with the suggestion that by increasing our intake of the specific nutrients required to produce new bone, we can promote an increase in bone growth and strength.
And it is this second point that really brings us to the topic of today’s article.
Calcium.
What is Calcium?
Calcium is the most present mineral within the entire body, in which it is mostly stored in our teeth and bones (and approximately 1% is found spread throughout other body tissues) – this is predominantly because calcium is a primary structural component of both these tissues.
While it is most commonly known for its role in producing and maintaining bone tissue, it is important to note that calcium also plays a key role in a number of our body’s basic functions.
With this in mind, calcium is known to help circulate blood throughout the body, aid the contraction and movement of muscle tissue, and assist in hormone production.
So in short, when it comes to health and function, calcium is an incredibly important mineral.
Taking all of this into consideration it is important to note that our body doesn’t actually have the capacity to produce calcium. This makes it absolutely essential that we obtain calcium through the food we eat (calcium is found in high amounts in dairy products, dark green vegetables, white beans, and sardines), or via the consumption of a high quality calcium supplement.
Why Supplement With Calcium?
Given the many important roles that calcium plays throughout the body, it should come as no surprise that taking a potent calcium supplement can boost health in a rather considerable fashion.
Calcium Supplements and Bone Health
As previously mentioned at length, calcium is one of the key components used in the production of bone tissue, and therefore plays an important role in the maintenance of bone health and normal bone growth.
You see, bone is constantly being remodeled – at any one time we have cells removing old bone tissue while others lay down new bone tissue. If calcium is not readily available, the rate at which bone is removed can exceed the rate that new bone is produced, leading to a drop in bone density and strength.
As such, calcium supplements have been shown to reduce any age related declines in bone density, while maximizing bone health and strength [1].
Calcium Supplements and Fat Loss
There has been some interesting research demonstrating a clear association between calcium intake and fat mass, with those individuals consuming low amounts of calcium clearly exhibiting greater body fat percentages.
With this in mind, the supplementation of calcium has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of a calorie restricted diet on weight loss, causing much greater reduction in fat mass than in individuals who strictly use diet alone (without the addition of calcium supplementation).
This suggest that calcium supplements may play an important role in promoting fat loss and improving body composition [2].
Calcium Supplements and Metabolic Health
Given the impact that calcium has on both the cardiovascular and hormonal systems, it shouldn’t come as a shock that calcium supplements have also been shown to positively impact metabolic health.
In fact, those individuals who consume a high quality calcium supplement on a daily basis have been shown to exhibit lower blood pressure, reduced markers of systemic inflammation, improved insulin sensitivity (and thus improved blood sugar control), and lower levels of blood triglycerides [3, 4].
This has led to the suggestion that supplementing with calcium is likely to play a key role in improving metabolic health, and therefore staving off cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (such as diabetes and obesity).
Best Calcium Supplement Brand Reviews
Given the increasing popularity of calcium supplements in their entirety, there has been a recent influx of calcium supplements into the market – some of which are much better than others.
As a result we have gone ahead and found what we believe to be the best three calcium supplement brands currently available on the market right now.
- Good Quality
- 1200mg of Calcium
- 1000IU of Vitamin D
- Most Popular
- Large Impact
- Good Supplement
- Gummy Form
- Excellent Quality
- More Expensive
Nature’s bounty are well known for producing good quality products at very affordable price points – something that is quite apparent within this calcium supplement.
Providing a scientifically supported dosage of 1200mg of calcium per serve, it provides everything we need in a high quality calcium supplement. As an added bonus, this option also includes 1000IU of Vitamin D, a key compound that has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of calcium in the body.
New Chapter are a key supplement company that have gained popularity for producing high quality plant sourced products.
With this in mind, this particular calcium supplement is arguably the most popular on the market at the moment, in which it provides us with a solid dosage of both Calcium, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K – all of which are known to have a large impact on bone health.
This calcium supplement by Vitafusion offers the perfect alternative for those individuals who don’t like consuming capsules, as they come in gummy form – each of which provide us with a 500mg dosage of high quality calcium.
Although this option works out to be slightly more expensive option than its counterparts, it is a great option for those who can’t handle traditional forms of supplements.
Take-Away Message
There is a very sound reason that calcium is the most abundant mineral in the entire body – it is incredibly important.
Playing roles through the body, calcium supplementation has been shown to cause large improvements in bone density, bone strength, and bone health, while also promoting fat loss, and enhancing metabolic health – suggesting that it really is one of the most important compounds we can consume on a regular basis.
The three calcium supplement brands listed in this article are what we believe to be the best available on the market. If you have had experience with any of them, we would love to hear about it – so drop us a comment and we will get back to you ASAP.