More Calcium Does Not Mean Less Fractures, Scientists Say

Recent studies conducted in New Zealand confirm the fact that calcium may not have such mineral boosting power as it was previously believed.

Researchers looked at how calcium intake affects the density of the bones, and whether people who consume more calcium were less likely to suffer fractures. The studies were conducted on people ages 50 and above.

In the firsts study, researchers looked at data collected from 59 previously conducted control trials, which involved approximately 12,000 participants. The results showed that the density of the bone-material increased with two percent in people who consumed more calcium, by taking supplements, or through diet. Although the bone-density increased, it was not enough to reduce the risk of getting fractures, the researchers concluded.

For the second study, researchers analysed 40 other studies that were about people’s diets. What they found was that an increased calcium intake had nothing to do with the risk of getting fractures. It did not decrease, nor increase the risk, researchers said. After analysing another 26 studied on calcium supplements, the researchers noticed a slight decrease in the risk of getting fractures in people who took calcium supplements, but the evidence was inconsistent and not strong enough.

In 2013, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force found that taking vitamin D along with calcium din not improve bone structure in post-menopausal women.

Scientists also warn people that consuming too much calcium can lead to the development of kidney stones.

Most U.S. citizens get enough calcium intakes, however there are some senior citizens that do not consume enough calcium, wrote the Institute of Medicine in a report in 2011.

Based on a study that was conducted twenty-five years ago, as well as the two new studies, Karl Michaëlsson, a professor of medical epidemiology at Uppsala University in Sweden, stated that: “[The studies] concluded that calcium supplements to prevent fractures were not justified by the available evidence.”

That evidence holds true to this day, being backed up by the data that was analysed in the two new studies. With or without vitamin D, calcium supplements are too weak to protect people from getting bone fractures, Michaëlsson stated.

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