Six Tums antacids a day would provide 1,200 milligrams of elemental calcium. Don't take them with meals, however, because fiber and starch bind the calcium and makes it unavailable to your body. You always want to take magnesium with calcium in order to avoid constipation and to balance its influence on the electrical impulses in the nerves and muscles. They work together as mild neuromuscular relaxants. If you take your calcium at bedtime, complement it with half the same amount of magnesium.
Some formulas also contain vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium.
This is fine as long as they don't give you more than 400 IU of vitamin D a day. Remember that calcium loss is promoted by a high-protein diet. If you're worried about your bones and about osteoporosis, cut back on the meat in your diet. Salt, caffeine, sodas and alcohol rob calcium from your bones, too. In addition, the best way to preserve your bone density, protect against calcium loss and protect against osteoarthritis has to do not with what you put in your body, but with what you do with it.