Did you see this worrisome headline? “Older Women Who Take Calcium Supplements to Maintain Bone Strength May have an Increased Risk of Heart Attack.”¹ When we all thought calcium supplements were relatively safe, we now find out that high dosages of calcium supplements may adversely influence vascular health.

Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand evaluated 1471 healthy post-menopausal women, average age 74, for a period of 5 years.² Of them, 732 were given a daily calcium supplement and 739 were given a placebo. Participants received either 1 gram of elemental calcium citrate daily (Citracal) or identical placebo.

They were asked to take two tablets (each containing 200 mg of elemental calcium) before breakfast and three in the evening (total of 1,000mg). Over the next few years, heart attacks were more common in the women taking the calcium supplements.

Based on these results, doctors and patients are now presented with a very difficult challenge. Many women take calcium supplements to try to prevent osteoporosis. But calcium supplements elevate blood calcium levels, possibly accelerating vascular calcification, and leading to heart attacks. At what level of calcium supplement intake do the benefits of osteoporosis prevention or treatment outweigh the possible risks of heart attacks?

My final research paper in school was on Osteoporosis.  What I found so interesting is that the role magnesium plays in our ability to utilize calcium and its “opposite” role from calcium in the body is rarely discussed.

Nutrients do not work in isolation, they work together, and they work in families. Calcium and magnesium are a pair.  Calcium is essential for muscle contraction. Magnesium is essential for muscle relaxation. Magnesium is a key component of the body’s energy production machinery. It is actually more difficult to get muscles to relax than it is to get them to contract. One of the world’s leading magnesium authorities, Mildred Seelig, warns that supplementation with high doses of calcium by itself may actually induce a magnesium deficiency.

Magnesium can also be difficult to absorb. High dose calcium supplementation can reduce absorption of magnesium.  Mildred Seelig believes that the ideal form of calcium and magnesium supplementation is two parts calcium to one part magnesium (2:1). The absorption of calcium is actually superior with this natural balance than it is by simply loading the body with large quantities of calcium. Women require about 2.5 milligrams per pound of bodyweight.

Magnesium can be readily lost from the body. Factors that cause magnesium loss include diuretics like caffeine, alcohol, high sugar intake, stress, and loud noises.  Large numbers of people are magnesium deficient. This is not completely due to inadequate intake of magnesium.  A major factor involves the highly acidic diets that Americans consume.  Magnesium is a buffering mineral. Consumption of large quantities of meat, grains, and caffeine requires a generous supply of magnesium to buffer the acids produced in the metabolism of these foods.

Magnesium has been referred to as nature’s calcium channel blocker. Calcium channel blockers are a common class of medications used to lower blood pressure and regulate heart beat.  Not only does magnesium help to keep blood pressure down, but adequate intake reduces the risk of heart attack. There is an inverse relationship between intake of magnesium and the risk of heart disease.  Could this be why in the above mentioned study those women who took calcium alone had a higher incident of heart attacks?

One of the most common signs of magnesium deficiency is tremors, tics, cramps, or spasms of the muscles. Weakness and fatigue are common as is sensitivity to loud noises. Deficiency of this mineral can cause high blood pressure, irritability, and depression. Loss of energy for the proper operation of the digestive tract can lead to constipation. Magnesium deficiency can also cause a loss of appetite and a loss of the sense of smell. The brain will function poorly and it can become difficult to sleep. The magnesium deficient individual may manifest a good deal of emotional volatility and overreaction. Magnesium is so important to the functioning of the heart that deficiency can result in rapid or irregular heartbeat.

Don’t become discouraged if symptoms of magnesium deficiency seem to linger. It can take up to six months to replenish magnesium stores in someone who is seriously depleted. The effort to optimize magnesium intake is worth it. The body uses magnesium in over 300 different enzyme systems which are critical for health and which make life possible.

Compiled by Chris McKee, CNC

www.betterhealthdesigns.com

References

1. reuters/healthNews.
2. Bolland MJ et al. Brit. Med. J. 2008 Jan 15.
3. McAfee CCN, Jim, Image Awareness newsletter, 10/1/2006

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This entry was posted by Chris McKee on September 6, 2011 at 7:39 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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