What Is Calcium Asporotate?

Manufacturers are continuously exploring ways to make dietary supplements more bioavailable so that your body can digest a larger percentage of the actual amount contained in dietary supplements. Enter calcium asporotate, a calcium supplement combined with orotate and aspartate. Proponents claim this form delivers calcium better than others. Consult your physician before taking this or other dietary supplements.

Calcium Supplements

Calcium is an abundant mineral best known for its role in the development and maintenance of strong bones. Almost all of the calcium in your body is found in your bones and teeth. Calcium depletion is associated with osteoporosis, a condition characterized by bone density loss. This results in thin bones that fracture easily. Calcium supplements may help treat or reduce the risk of conditions such as osteoporosis, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Available forms include asporotate, carbonate, citrate, gluconate, phosphate and malate.

Transport Theory

Until his death in 1998, Hans Nieper was a German oncologist who claimed that free unbound minerals have a hard time getting into your cells. He theorized that certain substances have the ability to bind to minerals and act as transporters, driving minerals into your cell membranes. He claimed that aspartate and orotate are important mineral transporters that have the capacity to increase mineral absorption by up to 90 percent, according to Dr. William Lee in his book "Orotates and Other Mineral Transporters."

Orotate

Lee explains that orotates are the salts of orotic acid, a substance that helps your body manufacture pyrimidine, which is needed to make DNA and RNA. In the July 2009 issue of "The EFSA Journal," the European Food Safety Authority gave a scientific opinion that orotic acid salts as a source of orotic acid in food and supplements are a health concern based on toxicology results that show orotic acid promotes tumor growth in animal experiments.

Aspartate

Aspartate is the mineral salt of aspartic acid, an amino acid that plays a role in hormone secretion and nervous system function. Aspartate is bound to the amino acid arginine and has the ability to transport minerals into your fuel manufacturing centers, known as mitochondria, according to Nieper. He theorized that this increases absorption. To date, his theories have not been tested and published in peer-reviewed journals. There is no published evidence that calcium asporotate is a more bioavailable form of calcium.