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Tuesday Tidbit: Calcium Supplements Bad News?

by Sarah

Did you hear?  A recent study found a 30% increase in heart attack risk for older people taking calcium supplements of 500 mg. or more a day.  That means that at that amount, the supplements are likely to cause more heart-related problems than the number of bone fractures they prevent.  Yikes!

What to do?  Talk to your doctor, but it might be prudent to limit your high-dose supplementation for now – try getting your 1,000 mg./day from dietary sources, and if you need to make up a bit, ask your doc about taking a low dose in supplement form (300 to 500 mg.).  That’s my plan.  We’ll watch this one!

© 2011, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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  • Elizabeth

    The U.S. has some of the highest rates of calcium supplementation, and our population also has a high rate of osteoporosis. There is research to suggest that taking calcium supplements is not solving the problem. Some nutritionists recommend not taking the supplements, relying on getting the calcium from food sources, and taking magnesium supplements in appropriate amounts instead. The reasoning: magnesium facilitates the absorption of calcium. An individual may be consuming adequate amounts of calcium but not adequately absorbing it. As you suggest, Sarah, the ideal thing to do before following any supplement plan is to consult a physician and/or nutritionist who can address an individual’s personal needs.

  • Jennifer

    Sarah-

    Is this the study that was published last summer? If it is, it’s important to note that the effect was seen for calcium supplementation without vitamin D but not seen when vitamin D accompanied the calcium. If it’s not, would love to have more info. Thanks.

    • Semi-Sweet Sarah

      @Jennifer – yes, you’re right – the study from this summer. From what I recall, this meta-analysis didn’t look at vit. D + calcium, just at calcium without vit. D. It’s also important to point out that this study looked at calcium supplements, not calcium from food sources, and that in other studies, women with high levels of dietary calcium intake have been found to have a *decreased* risk of stroke and heart disease.

      So . . . the jury’s out on whether calcium supplementation is helpful or harmful. As always, I urge everyone to consult his/her physician, but until more studies are done do determine what it is about calcium supplementation that’s leading to increased heart disease, I still think the best thing to do is get your calcium through food sources including dairy like lowfat milk, cheese and yogurt or non-dairy sources like almonds, kale, other leafy greens and tofu. Also, I do think that the benefits of vitamin D supplementation (and indeed, vit. D + calcium is necessary for bone health) are better proven, so for me, I’m focusing on supplemental vitamin D.

      If you are doing vit. D supplements, you should have your vitamin D level checked by your doctor to make sure you are getting enough but not too much.

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