Why We Use Milk Minerals to Support Women’s Bone Health
Customers often ask us about our key ingredient: milk minerals. What is it, exactly?
Milk minerals are not just the isolated calcium in milk, but actually the entire complex of minerals that you would consume if you had a glass of milk, including calcium. Unlike synthetic calcium forms (calcium carbonate, for example), dairy-based calcium is not isolated and added in to our chew. Picture it like this: take a glass of milk, remove the water, fat, lactose and what you’re left is the minerals of milk. We include ALL the minerals naturally present in milk to aid the absorption of calcium: that means calcium, zinc, copper, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, and potassium. Our milk minerals provide a natural, bioavailable source of calcium and other essential bone-building nutrients in the ratio found in human bone.
Customers are usually already familiar with calcium carbonate. Many conventional calcium supplements rely on calcium carbonate, a compound that, while calcium-rich, presents several drawbacks. Calcium carbonate is often associated with gastrointestinal discomfort, including constipation, bloating, and gas. These side effects can prevent women from taking the supplements consistently. Many women have complained that their conventional calcium gives them discomfort and they stopped taking their calcium, even though they knew they weren’t getting enough from diet alone (the average American woman only gets about 850 mg of calcium from diet, far short of the recommended daily 1200 mg).
In contrast, the milk minerals in our Calcium Chew Complete offer a naturally balanced composition of calcium and other vital minerals, such as phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and copper. This combination mirrors the mineral ratios found in human bones, enhancing bioavailability and supporting better bone health.
All the minerals naturally found in milk - not just calcium alone!
What does the research say?
We refer customers to the many studies that support this. For example, a study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research investigated the effects of calcium derived from dairy products (like ours!) compared to calcium carbonate on bone health. The research found that during growth, femurs from rats fed nonfat dry milk solids had 8.4% higher peak breaking force and 6.4% greater calcium content compared to those fed calcium carbonate.
This study, titled “Dairy Versus Calcium Carbonate in Promoting Peak Bone Mass and Bone Maintenance During Subsequent Calcium Deficiency” suggests that calcium from dairy sources are more effective in promoting bone strength and mineralization than calcium carbonate. The enhanced bone properties observed in the study could be attributed to the presence of additional bioactive components in dairy, such as the many other minerals that our chew includes (iron, phosphorous, zinc, copper, magnesium).
One of the many studies that support the benefits of food calcium over synthetic, supplemental calcium
It took us a long time to perfect the best formula for our Calcium Chew Complete (18 months of R & D, to be precise) but we are proud to be the first calcium chew to use dietary calcium, formulated for taste and absorption, for better bone health.
