Calcium

The mineral calcium is well known for its key role in bone health. Calcium also helps maintain heart rhythm, muscle function and more. Because of its health benefits, calcium is one of the best-selling supplements in the UK.

Calcium uses

Calcium is crucial for new bone formation and for maintaining bone strength. The British Medical Journal says that if you don’t get enough you have an increased risk of developing osteoporosis, a condition where your bones are so weak that they may break easily.

Calcium is useful in helping treat other medical conditions too; it is commonly found in antacids, for example. Doctors also use calcium to control high levels of magnesium, phosphorus and potassium in the blood. It’s possible but not proven that calcium may play a role in preventing certain cancers. It’s also possible but not proven that calcium with vitamin D may help protect against breast cancer in pre- menopausal women, but the data are still inconclusive for post-menopausal women, and the exact relationship regarding vitamin D and calcium intake is still not known. In fact, new analysis of an old trial involving more than 30,000 women has found that some participants taking combined vitamin D and calcium supplements were at an increased risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. The British Heart Foundation says the study showed there was a modest increase in heart attack or stroke risk but that’s not the same as saying calcium supplements with vitamin D cause heart attacks and strokes, only that there was an increased risk. The research was published in the British Medical Journal and analysed data from 16,718 women who were not taking calcium supplements at the start of the Women’s Health Initiative study – a seven year trial involving 36,000 women.

While calcium has been looked at for other uses - such as helping with weight loss - these studies have been inconclusive.

People at risk of calcium deficiency include post-menopausal women, those who follow restrictive diets, and since dairy products are one of the most common sources of calcium, people who are lactose intolerant or who follow a vegan diet.