Two new studies say that building bones with calcium supplements may be waste of time for older folks. Which means it’s even more important to strengthen your bones while you’re young — even though it’s the last thing on your mind. (Photo: Getty Images)
For older men and women, building stronger bones by increasing calcium intake has been a hot topic for some time now.
The questions: Does it work? Is it worth the risks? Or is it too late? Two new studies from the British Medical Journal might do more to sway a divided medical community.
Both BMJ reports cover older populations, specifically men and women over the age of 50. The first study was a meta-analysis of available literature on the effects of increasing calcium, either through diet or supplementation, on bone mineral density. After surveying 59 eligible pieces of research, they found that the effect was nearly negligible, upping bone density by just one to two percent.
The second study specifically focused on calcium’s effect on bone fractures. After reviewing two randomized controlled trials and 50 additional reports from 44 cohort studies, the researchers concluded that dietary calcium intake does not seem to reduce risk of fracture. They say there is no evidence that “calcium from dietary sources does not prevents fractures,” and evidence that supplements help reduce fractures is “weak and inconsistent.”
According to the study authors, the evidence shows that we should not be championing calcium in older men and women beyond that of a healthy dietary regimen, or suggesting supplements.
Elinor Mody, Director of the Women’s Orthopedic and Joint Disease Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, says the reports are interesting, but unlikely to settle the debate about whether or not we should be advocating for calcium.
“It brings up the question again, quite nicely, of whether or not we should really be doing this,” she tells Yahoo Health. “It’s a cumbersome pill, calcium isn’t well-absorbed in the body, and there are potential negative side effects like calcium stones and constipation.”
In older populations, bumping calcium intake may be a waste of time.
Does Calcium Really Help Build Bones?
Since the “Got Milk” campaigns of our childhood, we’ve been taught that high calcium equals strong bones. But other factors besides calcium intake play into our overall bone health, says Dana Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD senior dietitian at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
“Bone health, in general, is internally regulated by the hormones testosterone, estrogen, and parathyroid hormone, and vitamin D, which can act like a hormone,” Hunnes tells Yahoo Health. “When our blood levels of calcium are increased as the body absorbs the mineral from food, that can trigger bone formation — especially when we are younger and have higher levels of the above hormones.”
Related: The Ancient Aztec Food with More Calcium Than Milk
Since our bone health is mostly guided by an interplay of hormones and other metabolic pathways, it does make sense to Hunnes that calcium supplementation might not affect fractures either way in older populations.
Both Hunnes and Mody do note that, while the authors of the study indicate there is no evidence that increasing calcium through dietary sources seems to help bone health, there are instances where supplementing did seem to be beneficial. “Particularly, a study looking at women in nursing homes who already had very low calcium and vitamin D levels,” says Mody. “In this case, it did seem to help prevent fractures.”
So, it’s still important to check with your doc. Mody says that she generally only recommends supplements to those at high risk for osteoporosis or — for instance, women who are taking a steroid like prednisone. But generally, she doesn’t panic if a patient tells her she’s not taking a calcium supplement.
In fact, vitamin D might be the more important nutrient. Mody says she routinely checks levels of D, since it assists in calcium absorption and many people don’t get enough anyway. She’s says a good chunk of her patients are deficient, especially in New England where sunlight is lacking and people spend half the year indoors. In these cases, she typically recommends 1,000 IU per day, and no more.
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