What is calcium phosphate?

If you’re wondering what calcium phosphate is, look at your hands – a large part of your body is made from it. Your skeleton is calcium phosphate. While you work hard to get the right levels of calcium into your body, you don’t need to worry about the phosphate.

Calcium phosphate is the product of two elements, calcium and phosphorus. However calcium phosphate can be found in a few different forms, all of which have a specific function. One of these forms is called hydroxyapatite and is the main mineral drawn from the body to strengthen bones and teeth.

Other types of calcium phosphate are found in kitchen salt and baked goods. Calcium phosphate in this function helps to prevent caking, and acts as a leavening agent. Calcium phosphate is used to fortify foods and boost calcium content. It is also used, of course, in calcium supplements.

In the world of calcium supplements, calcium phosphate is not the most common. Its elemental calcium amount is not as high as others – like calcium carbonate – so you have to take more than one tablet at any sitting.

However, according to a paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2010, there are two other types of calcium phosphate – dicalcium and tricalcium phosphate – which have the same amount of calcium per dose as calcium carbonate.

If you were to be prescribed calcium phosphate, it would be to treat a low level of calcium in your body. This element is mportant to the development and strengthening of bones and muscles. Any depletions of calcium mean that more and more calcium within the bones is being leached to make up for the shortage – which obviously reduces bone mass, causing problems especially in later life.

One study recently, however, found that calcium phosphate was more effective at treating osteoporosis than other supplements including calcium carbonate.