A recent study (cite) suggests that supplemental calcium should be accompanied by phosphate, because the body’s utilization of the two is tightly coupled. It makes sense from a layman’s perspective, since bone is made out of calcium and phosphate. Take more of one, and more of the other gets consumed by being bound up in bone.
Is this actually true? I don’t really keep up with this stuff, generally I’m the last to learn that one type of supplement is better absorbed than another, so the shelves are loaded with the stuff whenever I shop for it. In this case, there’s no calcium phosphate to be found. I find it hard to believe that somehow I came out ahead of the herd on this one.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 21, No. 3, 239-244 (2002)
Calcium Effects on Phosphorus Absorption: Implications for the Prevention and Co-Therapy of Osteoporosis
Robert P. Heaney, MD, FACN and B. E. C. Nordin, MD
They used the results from two small earlier studies, one of 191 nuns and one of 88 women and 5 men. The two studies were not strictly comparable, the former being longitudinal and the latter cross-sectional.
The results are also worth reading.
Unless you’re an elderly osteoporosis patient, in other words, you’re probably already getting enough phosphorus from your diet. Dairy foods are a good source.
This article has been cited many times. However, a closer check shows that most of the relevant articles are by Heaney himself, who has continued to pursue this line of research. I don’t see much evidence that others have taken up the banner. It is used as a supplement for… pets and horses.
No matter, if you really want to take calcium phosphate, here’s a link.
Ahead of the herd meaning inquiring about calcium phosphate supplements before they seem to be widely stocked in run-of-the-mill drugstores and supplement shops. Thanks for the snark though.