Many women are urged to take supplemental calcium to keep their bones strong, especially as they get older. A new study from China suggests that this strategy might backfire. A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial provided 800 mg of calcium or placebo to 190 premenopausal and 182 postmenopausal women. All the women had high cholesterol.
After two years, the postmenopausal women who had been taking calcium supplements had significantly higher cholesterol and thicker carotid arteries. Although the study was not long enough nor large enough to determine if these women are more prone to stroke, the trend is worrisome.
[American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, November, 2013]
This is not the first time questions have been raised about the cardiovascular safety of calcium supplements. In a previous study, nearly 400,000 Americans were followed up for 12 years. In that case, men taking at least 1500 mg of calcium daily were at higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke. The bulk of the evidence suggests that getting calcium from the diet is helpful, while high-dose calcium supplements seem to pose risks. Worse yet, supplements do not appear to protect bones from becoming weaker and breaking.
To learn more about natural ways to prevent osteoporosis, you may wish to listen to our interviews with Michael Castleman (author of Building Bone Vitality: A Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis) and Dr. Walter Willett (Chairman of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard University’s School of Public Health) in show 752, Bone Vitality.
