Are calcium supplements doing any good for your bones?
Worried about your bones as you get older? Well, overdosing on calcium supplements won’t help. Here’s why
People worry about aging constantly, especially after you hit that over 50 mark. Some people show signs earlier or later, but the telltale signs are all the same: greying hair, wrinkles and one of the scariest of them all, bone aches. Because it’s something internal, we can’t really tell if the danger is grave, but it is one of the most worrying.
Now, when we feel the first symptoms of bone aches, we start to panic. We wonder “Is everything ok?” “Do I need more calcium?” and “I really shouldn’t have said ‘no’ to that one glass of milk in 2005”. And you think it’ll be better to take more of those calcium pills that you have in your bathroom cabinet. However, you might want to rethink that move.
Recent studies of randomized controlled trials have showed how extra calcium intake in women and men over age 50 affected bone mineral density. The researchers found increases in bone mineral density of about 1-2% over up to five years, but the authors say these increases are “unlikely to translate into clinically meaningful reductions in fractures.” Post-menopausal women lose an average of about 1% in bone mineral density a year.
In another study, the researchers looked at the link between calcium intake and lower risk of fractures, but the results were too varied to be conclusive. “Dietary calcium intake is not associated with risk of fracture, and there is no clinical trial evidence that increasing calcium intake from dietary sources prevents fractures,” the study’s authors wrote. “Evidence that calcium supplements prevent fractures is weak and inconsistent.”
The science is evident and irrefutable. If you’re worried about your rattling bones and the signs of aging, it would be best to go to a orthopedist, instead of finding a cure on your own – which may do you more harm than good.
Bernice Ng
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