In this video, I review the research on calcium supplements and explain why you probably shouldn’t be taking one. I also give you some tips and resources on what you should do to improve your bone health INSTEAD OF supplementing with calcium.
In my functional medicine practice i’ve always asked patients to bring the supplements they’re taking into the first appointment and i’d say that more than 70 percent of the adults over 50 years old that i’ve treated were taking calcium supplements with doses ranging from 500 milligrams to over a thousand milligrams per day they were taking these supplements because
They’ve been told that this would improve their bone health and prevent fractures which are a leading cause of death in the elderly it turns out that this is simply not true in fact it’s one of the biggest myths in modern medicine and nutrition countless studies and large reviews of the available evidence have shown that calcium supplements do not increase bone
Mineral density or reduce the risk of fractures what’s more studies suggest that calcium supplements may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease kidney stones prostate cancer and early death sadly most people are completely unaware of the ineffectiveness of calcium supplements and the dangers that they pose in this week’s tuesday tip i’ll review the research
On calcium supplements and explain why you probably shouldn’t be taking one i’ll also give you some tips and resources on what you should do to improve your bone health instead of supplementing with calcium ready let’s get to it osteopenia and osteoporosis are major issues for older adults especially women 54 percent of post-menopausal women have osteopenia and
An additional 30 percent have osteoporosis by age 80 70 percent of women have osteoporosis and 27 percent have osteopenia in other words almost 100 percent of women 80 years and older have significant bone loss and are at high risk for fractures calcium has become extremely popular as a supplement especially among aging women in the hope that it will prevent these
Fractures and protect against osteopenia and osteoporosis yet the evidence that calcium supplementation strengthens the bones and teeth was never strong to begin with and it has grown weaker with new research published in the past few years for example a 2007 study published in the american journal of clinical nutrition found that calcium supplements don’t reduce
Fracture rates in post-menopausal women and may even increase the risk of hip fractures a 2012 analysis found that consuming a high amount of calcium beyond recommended dietary guidelines typically from supplementation provided no benefit for hip or lumbar vertebral bone mineral density in older adults and a large 2017 review of 33 randomized trials involving over
51 000 participants found that calcium supplements were not associated with a lower risk of fractures in the elderly in 2018 the u.s preventative services task force published their recommendations regarding calcium supplementation and bone health they stated quote the us pstf found adequate evidence that daily supplementation with one thousand milligrams or less
Of calcium has no benefit for the primary prevention of fractures in community dwelling post-menopausal women the uspstf found inadequate evidence to estimate the benefits of doses greater one than one thousand milligrams of calcium to prevent fractures in community dwelling post-menopausal women and this might be shocking given how popular calcium supplements are
If you’re watching this you might even be taking one yourself or perhaps a friend or family member is unfortunately in medicine old ideas die hard we’ve known for over 100 years that calcium is important for bone health and that’s still true today many studies do show that low dietary intake of calcium and calcium deficiency reduce bone mineral density and increase
The risk of fractures understandably researchers and doctors initially assume that taking calcium supplements would solve this problem but that assumption turned out to be false we now know that calcium supplements don’t affect the body in the same way that dietary calcium does when we consume calcium from food it’s absorbed relatively slowly but when we consume it
In large doses from supplements we get a big spike in calcium in our blood and when that happens calcium gets deposited into the soft tissues like our arteries and organs rather than into the bones and teeth where it’s supposed to go researchers suspect that this is one of the reasons that calcium supplements but not dietary calcium are associated with significant
Risks for example a 2012 study of 24 000 men and women aged 35 to 64 years old published in bmj found that those who use calcium supplements had a 139 percent greater risk of heart attack during the 11-year study period while intake of food calcium did not increase the risk a meta-analysis of studies involving more than 12 000 people also published in bmj found
That calcium supplementation increases the risk of heart attack by 31 percent stroke by 20 and death from all causes by nine percent studies have also shown that supplemental calcium isn’t absorbed by the bones as we hoped but is instead excreted in the urine this explains why studies show that supplemental calcium may increase the risk of kidney stones while
Dietary calcium actually reduces the risk and the same is true for prostate cancer in men dietary calcium decreases the risk supplemental calcium increases the risk calcium supplementation at high doses has also been shown to increase the risk of death from all causes a swedish study reported a 40 percent higher risk of death among women with high calcium intakes
Of 1400 milligrams and above which is usually attainable only from supplementation and a 157 percent higher risk of death if those women were taking a 500 milligram calcium supplement daily those rates were compared to women with moderate daily calcium intakes between 600 and 1000 milligrams finally some calcium supplements are problematic not only because of the
Amount of calcium they contain but also because of the presence of toxins like heavy metals a consumer lab analysis found that many of the calcium supplements they analyze failed quality testing for reasons including lead contamination and mislabeled contents now it’s important to note that even if you’re not taking a dedicated calcium supplement you may be getting
Significant amounts of supplemental calcium from other sources most popular multivitamins contain several hundred milligrams of calcium and many commonly consumed foods in the u.s are fortified with supplemental forms of calcium including orange juice breakfast cereals non-dairy milk bread instant oatmeal and even graham crackers now i hope i’ve convinced you by
Now that calcium supplements are not only ineffective for improving bone health and reducing fractures but they may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease kidney stones prostate cancer and early death so what should you do to protect your bones as you age well adequate calcium is still important but you should get it from your diet rather than supplements
The best dietary sources are dairy products canned bone-in fish like sardines or salmon cruciferous vegetables almonds seeds and dark leafy greens however it’s crucial to consider the bioavailability of calcium in different foods calcium bioavailability from plant foods is affected by their levels of oxalate and phytate which are inhibitors of calcium absorption
And thus decrease the amount of calcium the body can extract from plant foods so while leafy greens like spinach and kale have relatively high calcium content on paper the calcium is not efficiently absorbed during digestion one study suggested it would take 16 servings of spinach to get the same amount of absorbable calcium as one eight ounce glass of milk that
Would be 33 cups of baby spinach or around five to six cups of cooked spinach there are a few vegetables listed in that study that have higher levels of bioavailable calcium like broccoli bok choy and mustard greens so they can be a good choice but it’s important to note that all of the vegetables tested required multiple servings to achieve the same amount of
Usable calcium as is found in one single serving of milk cheese or yogurt you may have heard the claim that dairy products contribute to osteoporosis because they acidify our bones this is another myth i’ll put a link in the description to an article on my website with a more detailed explanation and links to references but if there’s one thing i want you to take
Away from this video it’s this there’s a lot more to maintaining bone health and calcium several nutrients have a well-established role in bone metabolism including vitamins d and k2 magnesium silica and collagen and recent studies have shown that vitamins b2 b6 folate b12 vitamin c and e can also support our bones and there are many factors beyond nutrition that
Affect our bone density including inflammation gut health by the gut bone axis physical activity especially weight-bearing exercises like strength training sleep exposure to environmental toxins like heavy metals and chronic stress i have an article on my website with more information about these factors and i’ll put a link to that in the description as well also i
Have a podcast coming out in a couple of weeks on this topic where i do a much deeper dive so make sure to subscribe on itunes or on spotify so you’re notified when that comes out last but not least if you want to be sure you’re getting enough of the right nutrients for bone health like vitamins d e and k2 magnesium and silica and you’re avoiding excess supplemental
Calcium check out the core plus bundle from adopt naturals it’s a daily stack of five supplements that i formulated to close the modern nutrient gap and give you everything you need for optimal bone health and overall health head over to adoptnaturals.com to learn more and get started okay that’s it for now if you enjoyed this video make sure to click the subscribe
Button in the lower right of the video and tap the notification bell so you’ll be updated when i release new content and if you know someone that might benefit from this because there are a lot of people taking calcium supplements please share it with them by clicking the share button right underneath the video thanks for watching everybody and i’ll see you next time
Transcribed from video
Why You Should Stop Taking Calcium Supplements By Chris Kresser
