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PS Diva
Thu, Feb-07-08, 17:26
I am confused by the list of ingredients on the back of my supplement bottles. If I am going for a particular dosage, does it matter what percentage of it is elemental? My calcium/magnesium bottle tells me that it supplies:

CALCIUM
700 mg (elemental)
2000 mg marine coral

MAGNESIUM
350 mg (elemental)
614 mg magnesium oxide

So, am I taking 700 mg of calcium, or 2000? 350 or 614 mg of magnesium?
Rosebud
Thu, Feb-07-08, 17:33
The "elemental" amount is the one to pay attention to.
So, you are actually getting 700mg of calcium and 350 of magnesium. :)

Roz:rose:
PS Diva
Thu, Feb-07-08, 17:47
I'm glad I asked, because that is not what I guessed!
NorthPeace
Thu, Feb-07-08, 21:45
That seems like a lot of calcium in one dose. Isn't there a limit on what the body can absorb at one time? Hmm, or maybe it is not a very absorbable form... :confused:
PS Diva
Fri, Feb-08-08, 08:10
I was deleberately going for a larger dose because of my vitamin D intake. But I guess I wasn't getting as big a dose as I thought I was...
cs_carver
Fri, Feb-08-08, 08:26
Don't know what the actual chemical formula of coral calcium is. For the Magnesium oxide, the difference is the weight of the oxygen attached to the Mg. You could have something else attached that would weigh more or less than oxygen (can't think of what off the top of my head), which is why the elemental # is the one that would allow you to standardize among different forms.

Lots of different theories about which forms of lots of supplements are better absorbed. I don't worry about it too much. YMMV