what can too much calcium do to your body

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This is a reader-friendly overview of Calcium. For more than details, run into our health professional fact canvas on Calcium.

What is calcium and what does it do?

Calcium is a mineral your body needs to build and maintain stiff bones and to acquit out many important functions. Calcium is the virtually arable mineral in the body.

Nigh all calcium in the body is stored in bones and teeth, giving them construction and hardness.

Your torso needs calcium for muscles to move and for fretfulness to carry messages between your brain and every part of your trunk. Calcium also helps blood vessels move blood throughout your trunk and helps release hormones that touch on many functions in your trunk.

How much calcium practise I need?

The amount of calcium you need each day depends on your historic period and sex. Average daily recommended amounts are listed below in milligrams (mg):

Life Stage	Recommended Amount
Birth to six months	200 mg
Infants seven–12 months	260 mg
Children 1–3 years	700 mg
Children 4–eight years	i,000 mg
Children 9–13 years	1,300 mg
Teens fourteen–xviii years	1,300 mg
Adults 19–l years	i,000 mg
Adult men 51–70 years	1,000 mg
Developed women 51–70 years	1,200 mg
Adults 71 years and older	1,200 mg
Significant and breastfeeding teens	1,300 mg
Pregnant and breastfeeding adults	i,000 mg

What foods provide calcium?

Calcium is found in many foods. You can get recommended amounts of calcium past eating a diverseness of foods, including the following:

• Milk, yogurt, and cheese are the chief food sources of calcium for most people in the Us.
• Canned sardines and salmon with basic contain calcium.
• Certain vegetables, such as kale, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage (bok choi) also contain calcium.
• Calcium is added to some beverages, including many fruit juices and milk substitutes such equally soy and almond beverages, equally well as some brands of tofu and ready-to-consume cereals. To find out whether these foods have calcium added, check the product labels.
• Most grains (such equally breads, pastas, and unfortified cereals) do not take loftier amounts of calcium. Still, because people eat them oft, what they contribute adds up.

What kinds of calcium dietary supplements are available?

Calcium is found in many multivitamin-mineral supplements, in calcium supplements, and in supplements that contain calcium and other nutrients such as vitamin D. Check the Supplement Facts label to determine the corporeality of calcium in the supplement.

The two main forms of calcium in dietary supplements are calcium carbonate and calcium citrate. Calcium carbonate is absorbed all-time when taken with food. Some over-the-counter antacids, such equally Tums and Rolaids, also comprise calcium carbonate.

Calcium citrate is well captivated on an empty breadbasket or a total stomach. People with depression levels of stomach acid—a condition well-nigh mutual in older people—blot calcium citrate more easily than calcium carbonate.

Other forms of calcium in supplements and fortified foods include calcium sulfate, calcium ascorbate, calcium microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, calcium gluconate, calcium lactate, and calcium phosphate.

Calcium is absorbed all-time when yous take 500 mg or less at one time. If you take ane,000 mg/mean solar day of calcium from supplements, for example, it is ameliorate to have a smaller dose twice a day than to take it all at once.

Calcium supplements might cause gas, bloating, and constipation in some people. If you have whatever of these symptoms, try spreading out the calcium dose throughout the twenty-four hours, taking the supplement with meals, or switching the course of calcium y'all take.

Am I getting plenty calcium?

Many people in the United States get less than recommended amounts of calcium from food and supplements, especially:

• Children and teens aged four to 18 years
• People who are Black or Asian
• Adults anile 50 years and older living in poverty

Certain groups of people are more likely than others to have problem getting enough calcium, including:

• Postmenopausal women. The body absorbs and retains less calcium later on menopause. Over fourth dimension, this can lead to fragile basic.
• People who don't drink milk or eat other dairy products. Dairy products are rich sources of calcium, but people with lactose intolerance, people with milk allergies, and vegans (people who don't swallow any animal products) must find other sources of calcium. Options include lactose-costless or reduced-lactose dairy products; canned fish with bones; certain vegetables, such as kale, broccoli, and Chinese cabbage; calcium-fortified fruit juices and milk substitutes such every bit soy and almond beverages, tofu, and set up-to-eat cereals; and dietary supplements that comprise calcium.

What happens if I don't go enough calcium?

Getting as well little calcium can cause several weather condition, including the following:

• Osteoporosis, which causes weak, fragile bones and increases the take chances of falling
• Rickets, a disease in children that causes soft, weak basic
• Osteomalacia, which causes soft bones in children and adults

What are some effects of calcium on health?

Scientists are studying calcium to understand how information technology affects health. Hither are several examples of what this enquiry has shown:

Os wellness in older adults
After about age 30, bones slowly lose calcium. In middle age, bone loss speeds upward and tin lead to weak, fragile bones (osteoporosis) and broken basic (fractures). Although bone loss is more than mutual in women, it can affect men besides.

The health of your basic is measured with a os mineral density examination, which volition tell whether your bones are healthy and strong, or weak and sparse. Some studies have constitute that calcium supplements with or without vitamin D increase bone mineral density in older adults, but others exercise not. In improver, information technology is not clear whether calcium supplements assistance prevent fractures. More research is needed to better understand whether consuming more calcium from nutrient or supplements improves bone health in older adults.

Cancer
Some research shows that people who have high intakes of calcium from nutrient and supplements have a lower risk of cancers of the colon and rectum, but other studies do not. Some studies have shown that men with high intakes of calcium from dairy foods accept an increased run a risk of prostate cancer. For other types of cancer, calcium does not appear to affect the risk of getting cancer or dying of cancer. More than research is needed to better empathise whether calcium from foods or dietary supplements affects cancer run a risk.

Eye disease
Calcium tin can attach to fats and reduce the corporeality of fat that your body absorbs. Some studies bear witness that calcium supplements take no effect on heart affliction, while others show calcium supplements might even increment the risk of heart disease. Overall, experts believe that calcium intakes with or without vitamin D from foods or supplements do not affect the hazard of middle illness or of dying from heart illness. (See the section called Tin can calcium be harmful? )

Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a serious complexity of late pregnancy. Symptoms include high blood force per unit area and high levels of protein in the urine. Calcium supplements might reduce the gamble of preeclampsia in some meaning women who swallow too little calcium. Therefore, many experts recommend calcium supplements during pregnancy for women with low calcium intakes.

Weight management
Research hasn't clearly shown whether calcium from dairy products or supplements helps you lose weight or prevents weight gain. Some studies testify that consuming more calcium helps, but other studies do not. For more than information, read our fact sheet on dietary supplements for weight loss.

Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a serious medical condition that increases your take a chance of center disease, stroke, and diabetes. You have metabolic syndrome if yous have iii or more of the post-obit:

• a large waistline
• loftier blood levels of fat (triglycerides)
• low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (good cholesterol)
• high claret force per unit area
• high blood sugar levels

Some research suggests that a college intake of calcium might aid lower the risk of metabolic syndrome in women but not men. More studies are needed.

Can calcium be harmful?

Some research suggests that high calcium intakes might increase the take a chance of heart disease and prostate cancer.

High levels of calcium in the blood and urine can crusade poor muscle tone, poor kidney office, low phosphate levels, constipation, nausea, weight loss, extreme tiredness, frequent need to urinate, aberrant heart rhythms, and a high risk of death from center disease. Even so, high levels of calcium in the blood and urine are normally acquired by a wellness condition such as high levels of parathyroid hormone or cancer, not past loftier calcium intakes.

The daily upper limits for calcium include intakes from all sources—food, beverages, and supplements—and are listed below.

Life Stage	Upper Limit
Nascence to six months	1,000 mg
Infants 7–12 months	1,500 mg
Children ane–8 years	2,500 mg
Children 9–18 years	3,000 mg
Adults xix–50 years	2,500 mg
Adults 51 years and older	2,000 mg
Pregnant and breastfeeding teens	three,000 mg
Pregnant and breastfeeding adults	2,500 mg

Does calcium collaborate with medications or other dietary supplements?

Calcium dietary supplements tin can collaborate or interfere with certain medicines, and some medicines can lower calcium levels in your body. Here are some examples:

• Dolutegravir (Dovato, Tivicay) is a medicine to treat HIV. Taking calcium supplements at the same time as dolutegravir can lower blood levels of the medicine. To help avert this interaction, take dolutegravir 2 hours before or 6 hours after taking calcium supplements.
• Levothyroxine (Synthroid, Levoxyl, and others) is a thyroid hormone used to care for hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer. Levothyroxine is non absorbed well when taken within 4 hours of taking a calcium carbonate supplement.
• Lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid) is used to treat bipolar disorder. Long-term utilise of lithium, or taking lithium together with calcium supplements, tin can lead to abnormally high levels of calcium in your claret.
• Quinolone antibiotics (examples are ciprofloxacin [Cipro], gemifloxacin [Factive], and moxifloxacin [Avelox]) are not absorbed well when taken within 2 hours of taking a calcium supplement.

Tell your doc, chemist, and other healthcare providers well-nigh any dietary supplements and prescription or over-the-counter medicines you take. They can tell you lot if the dietary supplements might interact with your medicines or if the medicines might interfere with how your torso absorbs, uses, or breaks down nutrients such equally calcium.

Calcium and Healthful Eating

People should become most of their nutrients from food and beverages, according to the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Foods contain vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other components that benefit health. In some cases, fortified foods and dietary supplements are useful when it is not possible to meet needs for i or more than nutrients (eastward.g., during specific life stages such as pregnancy). For more information about edifice a healthy dietary pattern, see the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the U.S. Section of Agriculture'south MyPlate.

Where tin I discover out more than well-nigh calcium?

• For general information on calcium:
• For more information on food sources of calcium:
  • U.S. Section of Agriculture'southward (USDA) FoodData Central
  • Food Listing for calcium (listed by food or by calcium content), USDA
• For more advice on buying dietary supplements:
  • Office of Dietary Supplements, Frequently Asked Questions: Which brand(s) of dietary supplements should I purchase?
• For information nearly building a healthy dietary design:

Disclaimer

This fact sail by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) provides data that should not take the identify of medical advice. We encourage y'all to talk to your healthcare providers (medico, registered dietitian, chemist, etc.) about your involvement in, questions virtually, or apply of dietary supplements and what may exist best for your overall health. Any mention in this publication of a specific production or service, or recommendation from an organization or professional society, does non stand for an endorsement by ODS of that product, service, or expert advice.

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Source: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-Consumer/

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