Calcium Gummies After Bariatric Surgery

For many years, calcium supplements have been among the most tedious to take after bariatric surgery. Giant horse tablets, multiple capsules a day, soft chews that people either loved or hated. Patients kept asking us the same two questions: "isn't there an easier way I can take calcium?" and "can you make gummies?"

The request was consistent enough that we could not ignore it, and it set us on a quest to develop one.

That quest had a catch. A gummy was only worth making if it held the same standard as the capsules otherwise available, and with gummies being a relatively new format for supplements - that wasn’t easy. This article explains the reasoning behind our gummies: why the form of calcium matters after surgery, why we included vitamins D3 and K2, and who a chewable option may suit.

What Changes About Calcium After Bariatric Surgery

Calcium is an essential mineral that contributes to the maintenance of normal bones and teeth, and it plays a role in normal muscle and nerve function. Your body cannot make it, so it has to come from food or supplements.

After bariatric surgery, two things change at once. Intake of calcium-rich foods often drops, because portions are smaller. At the same time, surgery changes how the gut absorbs the nutrients you do eat. Procedures that reduce stomach acid (sleeve and both bypasses), or that bypass part of the small intestine where calcium is absorbed (Roux-en-Y, one anastomosis bypass), can make it harder for the body to get enough calcium from food alone.

This is why post-surgery nutrition guidance recommends calcium as an ongoing need rather than a short-term fix, and why the form of calcium on the label is worth paying attention to.

Why Citrate, Not Carbonate

There are two common forms of calcium in supplements: calcium carbonate and calcium citrate. They are not interchangeable for everyone.

Calcium carbonate is cheaper and often the form in most supermarket supplements. The challenge with this form is that it relies on stomach acid to break down before the body can absorb it and it needs to be taken with food. In a normal stomach that is fine. After bariatric surgery, where stomach acid is often reduced, that can be more challenging. 

Calcium citrate, on the other hand, does not need stomach acid to be absorbed, and is why global bariatric nutrition guidelines (ASMBS/IFSO) generally favour this form for bariatric patients. This also means it can be taken with or without food. For these reasons, calcium citrate is the form we chose for our gummies - the same form we use in our calcium capsules.

You can read more about calcium supplementation after bariatric surgery here. 

Why We Added Vitamin D3 and K2

We have kept the formulation consistent with our calcium capsules, that also include vitamins D3 and K2. 

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium from the gut, and low vitamin D status is a recognised concern after bariatric surgery. Including vitamin D3 alongside calcium is a practical way to support the calcium you are taking.

Vitamin K2 matters at the next step. The body uses a protein called osteocalcin to bind calcium into the bone matrix, and osteocalcin requires vitamin K2 to function. Pairing vitamin K2 with calcium and vitamin D reflects how these nutrients work together in normal bone metabolism.

Tric Nutrition is proud to be the only bariatric supplement to include both of these vitamins in their calcium products. 

So Why a Gummy?

Calcium supplements aren’t much help to you when they’re left in the bottle. For some people a large tablet is a genuine barrier - swallowing difficulty, tablet fatigue, or simply forgetting to take them multiple times a day. For others, the calcium soft chews were found to be sickly sweet and had a bitter artificial sweetener aftertaste. A pleasant chewable can subsequently make the daily habit easier to keep.

We are not claiming a gummy is absorbed better than a tablet, or that it works better. It is simply in a format that many people find easier to stick with. Some people prefer capsules, others prefer chewables and some like having the choice of both. 

The gummies come in two great flavours: creamy lemon and mixed berry. Taste was a deliberate priority - a supplement you enjoy and look forward to is a supplement you remember to take.

Quality mattered as much as flavour. As no New Zealand manufacturer was able to make them as we needed, our gummies are produced in Australia in a facility approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the Australian regulator for therapeutic products.

A Few Common Questions

Do I still need calcium if I take a bariatric multivitamin? Generally, yes. Many multivitamins contain little or no calcium, because calcium is bulky and is not recommended alongside iron. This is why calcium is usually recommended as a separate supplement after surgery. It's also not possible to get enough calcium in a single dose, as the body absorbs calcium most efficiently in amounts of around 500-600mg at a time. International (ASMBS) guidance recommends 1200-1500mg per day after bariatric surgery, taken in divided doses as bariatric patients are rarely able to get sufficient calcium through diet alone.

How many do I need to take a day? Each calcium gummy provides 291mg of calcium citrate so it’s recommended to have 4-5 gummies per day, taking 2 at a time. Most people take 2 gummies twice per day (separated by at least 2 hours), but for more specific guidance it’s always best to talk to your bariatric nutritionist or dietitian. 

Do they actually taste good? We went through a number of flavour trials to check that the taste profile was something that our many taste testers loved and that we were proud of. Both flavours have been very popular so far and if you haven't tried them yet, samples of these are available in the Tric shop in our Hamilton clinic. 

Summary

The reason we created calcium gummies was not to reinvent calcium, but to remove a practical barrier. Our main goal was to create a better-tasting chewable option that doesn’t compromise on quality or dose for the people who find tablets hard to keep up with or want a more enjoyable way to take calcium. 

If you’re keen to give them a go, you can try one of each of our creamy lemon and mixed berry Calcium Gummies on special for September 2026 here. And if you would like help working out how your calcium fits alongside the rest of your supplement routine, our team is always happy to talk it through.

Disclaimer: 

This article is general nutrition information and is not a substitute for individualised advice. Supplement needs after bariatric surgery vary between individuals and should be guided by regular blood monitoring and a qualified bariatric nutritionist or dietitian.

References: 

Aaseth, J. O., Finnes, T. E., Askim, M., & Alexander, J. (2024). The importance of vitamin K and the combination of vitamins K and D for calcium metabolism and bone health: A review. Nutrients, 16(15), 2420. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16152420

Parrott, J., Frank, L., Rabena, R., Craggs-Dino, L., Isom, K. A., & Greiman, L. (2017). American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery integrated health nutritional guidelines for the surgical weight loss patient 2016 update: Micronutrients. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, 13(5), 727-741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2016.12.018