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Like many women, you may have memorized the minimum daily calcium requirement — 1,000 milligrams (mg) a day for women ages 50 and younger and 1,200 mg for women over 50 — and followed it faithfully in an effort to preserve your bones. But outside the United States, the recommended calcium intake is much lower.
If you take calcium supplements and eat calcium-fortified foods, you may be getting more calcium than you realize. Check food and supplement labels to monitor how much total calcium you're getting a day and whether you're achieving the RDA but not exceeding the recommended upper limit.
Calcium is an essential mineral that is the key to healthy bones and teeth. How much calcium you need per day depends on your age and sex assigned at birth.
Recommended calcium intake. Many people don't get enough calcium. But how much do you need? The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides this guidance for daily intake in milligrams (mg): Younger than 6 months: 200 mg. 6–12 months: 260 mg. 1–3 years: 700 mg. 4–8 years: 1,000 mg. 9–18 years: 1,300 mg. 19–50 years: 1,000 mg.
Average daily intakes of calcium from foods and beverages are 1,083 mg for men age 20 and older and 842 mg for women [18]. For children age 2–19, mean daily intakes of calcium from foods and beverages range from 965 to 1,015 mg [18].
First, clarify with your physician how much total calcium you should take daily. This amount includes calcium from food and supplements. The RDA for adults is between 1,000-1,200 mg daily, depending on age. Taking more than 2,000 mg daily is not recommended for adults even with osteoporosis, as this can potentially lead to other health problems.
Find out how much calcium you need per day, the best ways to hit this number, and why it’s so important to meet your daily needs consistently.
Many food options can help you meet your daily calcium needs, but doctors sometimes recommend calcium supplements for certain health conditions or if you aren’t able to get enough dietary calcium.
Calcium is absorbed best when you take 500 mg or less at one time. If you take 1,000 mg/day of calcium from supplements, for example, it is better to take a smaller dose twice a day than to take it all at once. Calcium supplements might cause gas, bloating, and constipation in some people.
Daily calcium intake recommendations vary between countries and studies have shown that even in countries with lower recommended amounts, many people are not consuming enough. Recommendations from the Institute of Medicine of the US are presented in the table below.