Aside from choosing good quality nutritional supplements, it’s important to be cognizant of when you are taking them.  Many supplements work best under certain circumstances which may mean they should be taken with food, taken on an empty stomach, or taken at different times than other supplements or prescription medicines.  All of this can be very confusing so we will outline a few rules of hand: 

·             Always take your dietary supplements hours apart from your prescription medicines unless otherwise directed by your physician. 

·             Calcium carbonate is best taken with food as your body needs the acidic environment created during digestion for optimal absorption.

·             Calcium citrate can be taken any time of the day!

·             If you are taking a calcium supplement (of any variety), space out your doses so you are only taking approximately 500 mg at any one time.

·             Do not take calcium supplements and iron supplements at the same time.

·             Unless you are told otherwise, take your dietary supplement after meals.  Many supplements are absorbed best when combined with food.

·             Take iron on an empty stomach unless it upsets your stomach.

·             Magnesium – you may want to consider taking this at night as it can help promote good, sound sleep.

·             If you aren’t taking liquid supplements, make sure to take your nutritional supplement with plenty of liquid.