Apparently, Calcium supplements should be taken ”with caution,” Swiss and German researchers warn. They may raise your risk of heart attack.
“The increase [in risk] is, I would say, moderate,” says Sabine Rohrmann, PhD, assistant professor of chronic disease epidemiology at the University of Zurich.
Rohrmann and her team followed nearly 24,000 men and women for 11 years. Those who took calcium supplements had an 86% increased risk of heart attack compared to those who used no supplements.
However, the actual number of heart attacks during the follow-up period was small, with 354 recorded.
The researchers found a link, or association, between calcium supplements and heart attack, but the study cannot show cause and effect.
The dietary supplement industry takes issue with the findings. “The study is not consistent with the total body of science,” says Taylor Wallace, PhD, senior director of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Council for Responsible Nutrition.
The study is published in the journal Heart.
