Recently, the Journal of the American Heart Association published a research article on the correlation between calcium supplement and heart diseases. The study found that:
A large amount of calcium supplementation through calcium supplements (such as calcium tablets) may cause plaques on the arterial wall, thus causing harm to the heart.
Does that mean that calcium supplement will endanger cardiovascular system? Or don’t supplement calcium? …… If you see the article < < calcium tablets make cardiovascular calcification > > < < calcium supplement increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases > >, don’t panic.
Let Dr. Clove tell you the main points and true conclusions of this reliable research.
Point 1: High Calcium Diet Can Reduce Heart Disease Risk
The 2,742 subjects selected in this study, Between the ages of 45 and 84, 51% are women. The study recorded their complete dietary survey data over the past 10 years. Including how many dairy products, green leafy vegetables, grains and other calcium-containing foods they eat every day, as well as the intake of calcium supplements, to know the daily calcium intake of these people. Finally, CT scans were used to measure the degree of coronary artery calcification and determine the risk of heart disease.
The researchers found that people who consume more than 1400 milligrams of calcium per day have an average 27% lower risk of heart disease than people who consume less than 400 milligrams of calcium per day.
Summary 1: High calcium diet is beneficial to reduce the risk of heart disease.
We usually recommend people all the year round to eat 800 milligrams of calcium every day to ensure nutrition and health. This study also proves that a diet lacking calcium is harmful to health.
Point 2: Excessive dose of one-time calcium supplement may be harmful,
Does the calcium eaten from food have the same effect on heart disease as the calcium eaten through calcium tablets?
Among the subjects, some who never took calcium supplements but ate more than 1022 milligrams of calcium through food every day did not increase their risk of heart disease during the 10 years.
Summary 2: It’s no problem not to take calcium supplements at all. You can eat enough calcium through food without increasing the risk of heart disease.
People who took calcium supplements did have a 22% increase in the probability of coronary artery calcification. That is to say, although high doses of calcium are good for the heart, if too much calcium comes from supplements, it may increase the risk of heart disease.
For this phenomenon, researchers analyzed the possible reasons:
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The human body may have different utilization and feedback mechanisms for calcium and calcium supplements from food sources.
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When taking calcium supplements, the amount of calcium ingested at one time is much larger than the dietary calcium: for example, a cup of 200 grams of milk can get 200 milligrams of calcium, while some calcium tablets contain 600 milligrams of calcium on a single tablet. The human body may not be able to dispose of the excess calcium in time.
Summary 3: Excessive dose of calcium eaten at one time may be harmful.
Five Suggestions for Correct Calcium Supplement
To sum up, we should draw the following conclusions about calcium supplement:
1. Make sure you eat enough calcium every day
< < Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents 2016 > > Recommendation: The recommended calcium intake for adults is 800 mg, and the recommended intake for mothers over 50 years old, expectant mothers and nursing mothers is 1,000 mg.
2. Priority is given to calcium supplement through food.
- Drink at least 300 grams of dairy products (one cup of milk plus one cup of yogurt, or two cups of milk) and at least 400-500 grams of vegetables (including dark green leafy vegetables with high calcium content, accounting for half as much as possible) and 25-35 grams of soybeans (or dried tofu and beans converted by quantity) and various whole grain grains, nuts and sesame paste every day.
Vitamin D in dairy products and vitamin K in green leafy vegetables can help the absorption and utilization of calcium and are the best foods for calcium supplement.
3. Don’t blindly take calcium
For people who want to supplement calcium, first of all, under the guidance of professionals, they should find out whether they need to supplement calcium and how much is appropriate. Do not blindly buy and eat a large amount of calcium supplements.
4. Try to choose a single piece of calcium with a small dose and eat it several times a day.
If you need calcium tablets, don’t try to save trouble. Think about taking one tablet and supplement all the calcium for the day. It is best to choose a small amount of 100-300 milligrams of calcium tablets and eat them two or three times a day. For example, 200 milligrams once in the morning and 200 milligrams once in the evening.
5. It is best to eat calcium at the same time or immediately after the meal, and try to avoid eating with high calcium milk bean products.