How much mg of calicium can I take per day?

Question

I am 23 years old, about 154 lbs and 5.8"H. I take a 600 mg pill of calcium everyday. I am recovering from a broken jaw and I was woundering if I can double this amount to 2 pills a day 120 mg of calcium? Can I take this much without any problem?

What is the maximum mg of calcium I can take per day?

Answer 1

http://www.acu-cell.com/acn2.html

The upper limit of the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for your age group is 1500 mg, but that is just the amount that is recommended, not a "toxic threshold".  Some people, like dialysis patients, take many times that amount a day.

Moreover, like most things in life, there is no "cut-and-dry" limit -- symptoms of hypercalcemia will gradually appear as the calcium level goes up.

It also depends on exactly how you are getting the calcium:

- If you take it with food, some of the calcium will bind with the phosphate in the food, and not be absorbed any more.

- If the product contains vitamin D as well, you will reach the limit sooner, because vitamin D increases calcium absorption in the gut.

- If the product is based on calcium carbonate, only 40% of the 600 mg is actually calcium.  If the product is based on calcium glucaonate, only 9% of the 600 mg is actually calcium.  (Read the fine print on the bottle to see how many milligrams of "elemental" calcium each tablet contains.)

Anyway, most likely two pills a day will not be problematic at all.  But if you start to get constipation (or one of the other symptoms of hypercalcemia), back off to one again.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

i'm on a doctors order to take 15 pills a day.  but also in renal failure.

my bottle of 600mg says 1-2 daily.