Calcium supplements and heart disease

Calcium and heart attacks

Recent media hype about the danger that calcium supplements increase the chance of having a heart attack or stroke has confused many consumers. Especially in the USA where 51% of the population over the age of 19 take calcium supplements, with 66% of women over the age of 60 taking calcium supplements (National Health and Nutrition Surveys USA).

This publicity grew out of a series of meta-analyses conducted by Professor Ian Reid at Auckland Medical School in New Zealand, with the results published in the British Medical Journal in early 2011. For these meta-analyses, he chose a wide range of trials covering about 29,000 people and states for every 1,000 people who take calcium supplements we save 3 fractures and cause 6 heart attacks.

While he’s not sure why, he posits that when a consumer starts taking a conventional calcium supplement, it causes an abrupt spike in blood serum calcium, leading to increased risk. His recommendation is to take any calcium supplement in food form rather than a capsule. That is, increase your intake of foods that are high in calcium, such as dairy products. If you must take a supplement, take one that is highly insoluble, take it with food, and divide your daily dose rate.

Several people question Professor Reid’s views. The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), several health supplement organizations, and several well-known cardiac specialists. They all express concern about the figures and say that Professor Reid has just selected the essays that proved his thesis and left out the ones that didn’t fit and say that he raises more questions than answers. There are many more trials showing no effects on the heart than he has selected and none of the trials were designed to measure effects on the heart.

That may be correct, and mega scans can often give strange results. For example, a global meta-analysis of dairy product consumption and osteoporosis rates clearly shows an inverse relationship. In general, countries with a high consumption of dairy products have much higher rates of osteoporosis than those with a low consumption of dairy products. Still, Professor Reid is a highly reputable researcher and I’m sure he sincerely believes in his theory. It would seem silly not to keep this matter under review and in the meantime follow Professor Reid’s advice if taking supplements (he generally prefers calcium to be taken in the diet naturally with other minerals and nutrients).

However, he says that if you need a calcium supplement, choose an insoluble one, preferably a complex one that contains a variety of minerals and proteins and is similar to a concentrated feed. Take them with meals and divide the daily dose.

NUZEACAL calcium supplement fits these criteria well and has the added benefit of bioactive bone strengthening. This is available at http://www.seniorhealthcare.co.nz