Supplementation of vitamin D to provide 600 to 800 IU per day has been shown to improve calcium balance in elderly people. It is important to take vitamin D supplements under the supervision of a physician or dietitian. If you are not able to consume sufficient levels of calcium through diet, your doctor or dietitian may recommend calcium supplements. If so, keep these tips in mind. First, it's best to avoid bone meal and dolomite preparations.
Some brands contain excessive levels of lead.
Second, calcium supplements vary widely in percentage of calcium and thus so do the number of tablets needed daily to achieve the recommended dosage. For example, calcium carbonate is 40 percent calcium, dicalcium phosphate 30 percent calcium, calcium lactate 13 percent calcium, and calcium gluconate 9 percent calcium. The label on the bottle should tell you how many tablets you'll need to take to get the RDA for calcium. If not, contact the manufacturer. If you don't want to swallow many pills, calcium carbonate is the best choice.