Get more calcium to strengthen your bones. Health “experts” have pounded this message into women’s brains for decades.
Doctors say to get plenty of dairy—and other high-calcium foods—or take calcium supplements. And they tell women who ignore this advice they risk osteoporosis and bone fractures.
Now we find out all of this is, well…bunk.
A new landmark study published in the prestigious medical journal The BMJ, explains why.
Researchers analyzed data from thousands of women.They found that calcium from food or supplements has little or no effect on bone density in women over 50.1
An earlier study out of New Zealand found it doesn’t prevent fractures, either.2
Even worse? One study analysis found that calcium supplements raised women’s heart attack risk by 30%.3 That’s because excess calcium can deposit in your bloodstream if you aren’t getting all the 20-some nutrients you need to absorb it. This can lead to artery-stiffening plaque.
So what should women do for stronger bones? You might be surprised…
Weight-bearing exercise. This includes running, jumping, walking lunges, climbing stairs, dancing, playing tennis, and skipping rope. High-impact workouts build stronger bones by stimulating skeleton-building cells called osteoblasts.
One recent study found that women who jumped as high as they could 10 times in row, twice per day, had denser bones after four months.4
Get adequate vitamin D3. It helps you absorb the calcium you get from your food into your bones. The only way to know if your vitamin D levels are low is to have your doctor run a 25(OH) D blood test. You want the results to show a level of 40-60 ng/mL.
At INH, we recommend taking a supplement that delivers 5,000 IUs of vitamin D3 a day to raise your levels. Get tested again after a few weeks and increase or decrease your daily dose depending on your results.
If you smoke, quit. Smoking increases the rate of bone loss.
So I’ll say it again… You don’t need to take calcium supplements. New research shows they are useless for bone strength. Take these simple measures instead.
In Good Health,
Angela Salerno
Publisher, INH Health Watch
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References:
1http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4183
2http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4580
3http://www.bmj.com/content/2/3650/1051.1
4http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24460005