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My endo advised me to take my calcium supplements after drinking milk however I haven't read this anywhere else. Some advice read is take before meals, take after meals, take before bedtime. Does anyone really know?
I doubt it. If I had to take anything with milk, I'd gag. I simply don't like the stuff. I can tolerate custard or yogurt or ice cream, but not whole milk.
Does anybody have any information on my question about lactose helping to absorb calcium tablets? I suppose that's one of the biggest worries when taking these supplements; are they being digested properly.
I'm finding it strange that my Endocronologist (who is highly respected in Queensland, Aus) has been the only one who has told me about this. I haven't read it anywhere else and I like to double check everything (doubting Thomasina!).
Vitamin D and magnesium will help you absorb calcium. I haven't read this anywhere.
I meant that I haven't read anywhere that lactose will help you absorb calcium.
Hi Catkin ~
I don't know the answer to your question. Why don't you try an internet search (Google, Bing, etc.) and let us know the answer? I sometimes drink a mocha (non-fat, decaf) within an hour or so of taking my supplements and would be curious to know, as well.
Thanks! And welcome to this site.
Susan
Hello Susan
Thank you. I have googled (always my first port of call) but can't find anything relevant. Strange, as I said before this Endo has a very strong reputation and I'd be surprised if she said something like this without substance however I can't find anything to back up the claim.
You're right. I can't readily find anything that talks about milk and calcium together---either yea or nay.
There's this: http://www.ehow.com/how_3953_absorb-calcium-supplements.html
I think webmd is a reliable source--they don't mention milk w/calcium as either good or bad. They say to take it with food. http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/living-with-osteoporosis-7/calcium-supple ments?page=4
But you've probably already looked at these sites, eh? I would say if you can't find anything negative, it's probably ok. But who am i? Just a regular person.
Catkin,
Here's something from the NIH--a little off the subject. Probably belongs in a discussion about Fosamax, et al: (National Institute of Health) http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp
The following is about halfway down under "Interactions with medications"
"Calcium can decrease the absorption of the following drugs when taken together: biphosphonates (to treat osteoporosis), the . . . "
Here's something. From the university of Arizona: "Lactose — Lactose, the major carbohydrate in milk, aids calcium absorption, however, how this occurs in the body is still unknown." And here's the link to the whole article: http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/health/az1042.pdf
Thank you Susan! I haven't found these articles before. I found the latter one particularly good. Thanks again.
Hi Catkin,
Lactose is the sugar in milk. It really has nothing to do with absorption unless you are lactose intolerant in which case if you were having diarrhea you would be malabsorbing some of the nutrients ingested with that meal depending on the severity of the lactose intolerance. If that was the case, substituting lactaid milk or using lactase tablets (the enzyme which is deficient) would solve that problem.
Linda
Hi Catkin,
This forum is excellent, so much to be learnt here. I'm not sure about the lactose calcium connection, but there is a bit of info coming out about lactoferrus which is a protein found in milk that stimulates bone growth and slows bone breakdown.
I've read however u need to drink alot of milk to get the benifits but it's concentrated in whey protein and i think u can get it as a supplement too. I thought that was interesting.
Paul
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