Bone Health, Heart Health

This Common Supplement Can Actually Be Harmful

Tell me if you agree with this statement…

The point of medicine is to make people better, right?

People listen to doctors because they want to get better; and doctors (and researchers) go to school for years and years so they can help improve people’s health.

At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen.

Sadly, I’ve begun to realize as much as we want to help people, sometimes we end up hurting them. And it’s hardly ever on purpose. We just end up thinking because prevailing medical wisdom says “X” is supposed to work, then “X” is the way we go.

Such is the case with calcium supplementation.

As far as the medical community at large is concerned, calcium supplementation absolutely helps strengthen bones.

However, that’s not entirely true; recent research shows (despite what many people believe) calcium supplementation doesn’t do much to help build strong bones.

And in some cases…it can be harmful.

Let me show you how.

Why Calcium Supplementation Might Be Harmful

Can anyone help me fill in the blanks of this popular phrase? 

Milk: it does a  ____ ____!

If your answer was “does a body good,” you guessed correctly.

But it turns out that’s actually not true

I’m not going to get into the specifics of how exactly this came to be accepted as the gospel truth…

But you need to know that even though we’ve been told calcium supplementation, as well as drinking milk rich in calcium, is important for strong bones... that claim is false.

Look, I don’t dispute the necessity of calcium for healthy bones. Bones are partly made up of calcium.

But it isn’t the end-all-be-all for strong bones. 

And supplementing with it is definitely not necessary. So, if you’re taking calcium for stronger bones, well you might want to stop.

Here are a few reasons why:

According to Robert Thompson, M.D. who wrote a book called  The Calcium Lie, the singular focus on calcium supplementation might actually increase the risk for weaker bones – not help fix it.

In addition, Dr. Thompson documented how taking excessive amounts of calcium might actually lead to other mineral deficiencies and imbalances, which can be a detriment to the health of the heart, kidneys, gallbladder, joints, thyroid, weight and blood sugar.

And as Kate Rheaume-Bleue notes in her book, The Calcium Paradox:

Calcium supplementation increases the [risk of impairing the cardiovascular function] with-or-without vitamin D, showing that the latter has no protective effect here. Even worse, it’s possible that the soaring popularity of vitamin D might actually be compounding the problem.

Under certain circumstances, vitamin D [can] increase [the amount of calcium circulating throughout the bloodstream] in vitamin K2-deficient conditions. [This leads to calcium buildup in the arteries.] With all the good news about vitamin D, how could this be? The news about vitamin D hasn’t been all good, just the widely publicized news.

We know vitamin D is beneficial for bone health. When it comes to heart health, the research has been decidedly mixed. The results are so confusing and conflicting that researchers are only just now making sense of it. Many studies indicate that vitamin D deficiency is associated with [poor] heart [health], and as vitamin D levels go up, [circulating calcium] decreases.

Other studies show just the opposite— that higher blood levels of vitamin D are associated with more arterial [calcium]. This double-edged sword can be partially explained by understanding what vitamin D does and doesn’t do with calcium.

And here you were, thinking calcium strengthens bones just like steel beams help keep houses from falling down. 

For today, I want to focus on the main reason to be careful when taking calcium.

If you’ve been taking calcium supplements and are over 40, you might want to read this.

Calcium Is Serious Bad News For Your Heart – Here’s Why

When people take calcium for stronger bones, they figure their body will break down the calcium and then move it to the bones.

After all, that’s what all the popular medical advice has been repeating.

But here’s the problem with calcium and bone health…

For calcium to strengthen bones, you’ve got to take it in concert with other vitamins and minerals.

If you don’t, calcium won’t really help you much; in fact, it might even harm you.

That’s because calcium depends on vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 for bone strength.

These vitamins ensure calcium doesn’t end up in your arteries, and that it instead moves into your bones where it belongs.

Vitamin K2 and D3 are crucial for bone health, because they grab calcium by the hand and show it to its real home (which is your bones and teeth).

And here’s where the issue with calcium supplementation becomes a problem

Most calcium recommendations for men and women propose you take anywhere from 1,200 mg – 1,500 mg daily.

That’s a lot of calcium, and it’s way more than you need.

The average person only needs 200-350 mg of calcium for healthy bones. And the average person’s body only excretes 100 mg of calcium daily. 

Any idea how that might be a problem?

It’s simple – when you take 4-5 times more calcium than you need and barely excrete any of it, that calcium ends up stuck in your body.

Can you guess where it goes?

It gets stuck in your arteries. And as you know, left unchecked, it could lead to bad news later down the road.

That, in a nutshell, is why I simply don’t recommend calcium supplements.

You Should Take This For Healthy Bones Instead 

Quick recap: calcium supplementation for healthy bones is not the best idea

At least, not if you agree with the recent accumulation of evidence.

Don’t get me wrong, you need calcium; you just don’t need to take a pill for it. Instead, simply build a diet around calcium-rich foods like:

  • 1 cup Kale (cooked):  245 mg (24% DV)
  • 2 ounces Sardines (with bones): 217 mg (21% DV)
  • 1-1/2 cup Broccoli (cooked): 93 mg (9% DV)
  • 1 cup Watercress: 41 mg (4% DV)
  • 1 cup Bok Choy: 74 mg (7% DV)
  • 1 cup Okra: 82 mg (8% DV)
  • 1 oz. Almonds: 76 mg (8% DV)

Among others. 

With that taken care of, the next thing you should do is build your diet around vitamin D3 and vitamin K2.

Both of these vitamins are extremely important for bone growth.

The problem is, vitamin D3 is only obtained naturally via bright, sustained sunlight. It’s also very hard to come by In the winter, since the sun’s rays don’t carry strong amounts of vitamin D3.

And while you can find K2 in food, it’s very difficult to find it in an adequate supply. You can blame that on our dependence on nutritionally inferior/processed foods.

Therefore, if you want to get the most K2 possible, I recommend eating liver, fermented soy beans (known as natto), strong cheeses (like gouda), and other fermented products like sauerkraut and kimchi.

That’s where I’d start for getting stronger bones.

But, if you want to get everything you need in an affordable and easy-to-swallow capsule, then I recommend our Calcium-Free Bone Support.

This amazing new supplement is flying off the shelves because it’s packed full of elements needed to help build strong bones.

Our calcium-free bone support contains no added calcium; plus, it takes the calcium you obtain from your diet and ensures it ends up in your bones where it belongs.

Follow this link or click on the picture to get yours today!

Talk Soon,