What can inhibit calcium supplement absorption?
If you take calcium supplements with food, not very much. Some foods such as spinach contain substances that block calcium absorption, but they block only the calcium that’s in the spinach. Caffeine interferes very slightly with calcium absorption. And that’s more than offset with a little bit of milk. For example, if you have your coffee as a latté, you’re actually coming out ahead of the game. In general, most of the studies that have looked at alcohol consumption have found that people who have an average of maybe one to two servings of alcohol per day, may have better bones and seem to live longer than people who don’t. So at least there isn’t any evidence that that kind of mild drinking produces any harm. Do calcium supplements interfere with absorption? Calcium interferes with iron absorption. So, if you’ve had a major hemorrhage and you’re trying to recover that blood loss by taking iron tablets, it would make good sense to separate your iron dose from your calcium supplements.
