Calcium is a mineral that is important for regulating the function of nerves and muscles, including the heart. Calcium is also an important part of bones and teeth, and getting too little calcium can increase your risk of developing osteoporosis. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, most adults need to consume 1,000 mg of calcium per day, though that number increases to 1,200 mg daily if you are over age 71. Elemental calcium is the amount of actual calcium present in a supplement or other food sources.
Step 1
Look at the nutrition label to find information about the product's calcium content. Nutrition labels for calcium supplements sometimes list the amount of elemental calcium contained in one serving of the supplement. In other cases, you might find the calcium content in terms of the RDA of calcium or in terms of the quantity of the supplement, which will require additional calculation. If consuming foods that do not come with a nutrition label, you can use the USDA National Nutrient Database online to look up the nutritional information for your food.
Step 2
Divide the percent RDA by 100, then multiply by 1,000. The RDA, or recommended daily allowance, for calcium is 1,000 mg per day, so this will allow you to convert percent RDA to mg of calcium. For example, if a serving of food contains 25 percent of your RDA for calcium, the calculation is (25/100) x 1,000, or 250 mg of elemental calcium.
Step 3
Multiply the amount of the calcium supplement by how much of its weight is from elemental calcium. Some calcium supplements, such as those that contain calcium carbonate or other calcium-containing compounds, simply list the weight of the total compound instead of the amount of the elemental calcium. The amount of elemental calcium in calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, calcium lactate and calcium gluconate is 40, 21, 13 and 9 percent, respectively, so if you take 1,000 mg of calcium carbonate, you are actually ingesting 1,000 x 0.40, or 400 mg of elemental calcium.
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