Over 40% of the U.S population does not get a sufficient daily amount of calcium. Calcium is essential for maintaining normal bone health and structure, and it also has other vital functions such as assisting with muscle function and nerve transmission.

Learn how much calcium you need each day, and how it can benefit your health.

Benefits of Calcium

Getting enough calcium can help your body in different ways, most notably by keeping your bones healthy and strong. In fact, 99% of the calcium in the body is stored in bones and teeth.

Your body is constantly breaking down and remodeling bone, and you need calcium to help rebuild your bone. Calcium also helps your body maximize the size and strength of your bone, also known as peak bone mass.

Although your genes primarily determine your peak bone mass, calcium can be an influencing factor. Most people don’t reach peak bone mass until the ages of 25 to 30. From age 25 to 50, bone density tends to stay stable, and it usually begins to break down after age 50.

A diet that includes adequate calcium consumption from childhood to adulthood can help the peak bone mass reach its greatest potential, which can delay bone loss when the bone starts to break down with age.

Calcium also plays an important role in other bodily functions. It’s needed for the chemical processes that cells use to carry out a variety of actions in the body, such as releasing essential enzymes for digestion and enabling muscles to contract, including the heart muscle.

What Happens If You Don’t Get Enough

Not getting enough calcium can be harmful to your health. Since calcium is required for so many vital functions, your body will take it from your bones if you don’t get enough in your diet. This can weaken your bones and make them more susceptible to fractures.

A severe calcium deficiency can lead to a condition known as hypocalcemia, which is when there is deficient calcium in the blood.

Hypocalcemia may lead to symptoms such as:

  • Muscle crampsConvulsionsTingling in the fingersPoor appetiteAbnormal heart rhythmsSeizures

In addition, research suggests that calcium deficiency may be associated with other conditions, including:

  • Preeclampsia
  • High blood pressure
  • Kidney stones
  • Prostate cancer

How Much Calcium You Need Per Day

The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is the national system of nutrition recommendations. In 2020, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly released updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which set the following RDAs for calcium:

The Role of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption. However, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, up to 90% of adults are not receiving an adequate amount of vitamin D from their diet. Vitamin D and calcium supplementation may help you get enough of these nutrients if you’re deficient in them.

Children

  • Age 2 to 3 years: 700 milligrams (mg)Age 4 to 8 years: 1,000 mg

Women

  • Age 9 to 18 years: 1,300 mgAge 19 to 50 years: 1,000 mgOver Age 51 years: 1,200 mg

Pregnant Women

  • Under Age 19: 1,300 mgAge 19 and Over: 1,000 mg

Lactating Women

Men

  • Age 9 to 18 years: 1,300 mgAge 19 to 70 years: 1,000 mgOver Age 71 years: 1,200 mg

The Best Way to Get Calcium

The best way to get calcium is from natural sources in your diet. Dietary sources are absorbed into the body more efficiently than calcium supplements and different types of calcium-rich foods also contain other important nutrients that your body needs, like protein, iron, vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin C.

Dietary Sources

A variety of foods contain ample amounts of calcium. Below is a table of some of the best dietary sources.

Supplements

If you aren’t getting an adequate amount of calcium from natural sources, calcium supplementation may be an option to try.

There are four main types of calcium supplements:

  • Calcium carbonateCalcium citrateCalcium lactateCalcium gluconate

Each type has varying amounts of elemental calcium, which is the actual amount of calcium that the body can absorb.

Calcium carbonate is absorbed with the aid of stomach acid, so it’s important to take it with food.

Calcium citrate is easier for the body to absorb and does not need to be taken with food. Because of this, calcium citrate can be a good option for people who have an absorption disorder or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Calcium lactate and calcium gluconate may be found in over-the-counter supplements. And calcium gluconate is used in IV therapy to treat hyperkalemia, which is an excess amount of potassium in the blood.

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, 9th edition.
  • Beto JA. The role of calcium in human aging. Clin Nutr Res. 2015;4(1):1-8. doi:10.7762/cnr.2015.4.1.1
  • National Institutes of Health. Calcium.
  • The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Healthy bones at every age.
  • John Hopkins Medicine. Osteoporosis: What you need to know as you age.
  • Xie R, Tang B, Yong X, Luo G, Yang SM. Roles of the calcium sensing receptor in digestive physiology and pathophysiology (review). Int J Oncol. 2014;45(4):1355-1362. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2014.2560
  • Kuo IY, Ehrlich BE. Signaling in muscle contraction. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2015;7(2):a006023. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a006023
  • Cleveland Clinic. Increasing calcium in your diet.
  • Cleveland Clinic. Osteoporosis: prevention with calcium treatment.
  • Chakraborty A, Can AS. Calcium gluconate.

By Jonathan Cluett, MD

Jonathan Cluett, MD, is board-certified in orthopedic surgery. He served as assistant team physician to Chivas USA (Major League Soccer) and the United States men’s and women’s national soccer teams.

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