Part of any healthy diet is to get ample calcium into you. I do strive to eat it naturally, daily, but I use Tums sugar-free calcium pills to ensure I am set no matter what.

Tums is primarily calcium carbonate. A serving of 2 tablets provides 1500mg of calcium carbonate. The National Institute of Health (NIH) recommends the following levels for daily calcium intake:

Women: 19-50: 1000mg/day
Women: 51+: 1200mg/day

Men, 19-70: 1000mg/day
Men, 70+: 1200mg/day

Always, of course, talk with your doctor about your own unique needs. But it's clear that every adult needs calcium in their daily diet. Calcium is the building block for bones and teeth. It's used in a wide variety of body systems. It helps your blood clot properly. It helps your muscles work without pain.

Your body needs calcium each day.

So, on to Tums. I agree that Tums has calcium carbonate, when it's a bit better to be taking calcium citrate. However, I just cannot swallow calcium citrate pills. I've tried and tried. So at least taking the Tums is a good alternative for me.

They're tasty. Very easy to chew and swallow. They help ensure that, if something happens to my normal menu and I don't get adequate calcium into me for the day, that I'm covered. It's my safety net.

I have these each morning with my EAS protein shake and it's a nice way for me to wake up. Tasty, chewy, and the orange flavor goes with my chocolate protein shake.

It's gluten free and has no carbs. For phenylketonurics, it does have less than 1mg of phenylaline per tablet.

So, to summarize. Always strive to have a diet naturally rich in calcium. Natural calcium is best for you. But I also highly advocate a safety net of vitamins to ensure, every day, that you get what your body needs to function. Calcium is very high on that list. And you can't rely on most multivitamins to give you that calcium. For example, my Centrum multivitamins only provide 108mg - 11% of my daily calcium needs. So these Tums ensure that I am adequately provided with calcium, each day, in a way that I'm able to take.

How do you handle your calcium needs? Chime in on our forums!