So . . . the jury’s out on whether calcium supplementation is helpful or harmful. As always, I urge everyone to consult his/her physician, but until more studies are done do determine what it is about calcium supplementation that’s leading to increased heart disease, I still think the best thing to do is get your calcium through food sources including dairy like lowfat milk, cheese and yogurt or non-dairy sources like almonds, kale, other leafy greens and tofu. Also, I do think that the benefits of vitamin D supplementation (and indeed, vit. D + calcium is necessary for bone health) are better proven, so for me, I’m focusing on supplemental vitamin D.

If you are doing vit. D supplements, you should have your vitamin D level checked by your doctor to make sure you are getting enough but not too much.

Is this the study that was published last summer? If it is, it’s important to note that the effect was seen for calcium supplementation without vitamin D but not seen when vitamin D accompanied the calcium. If it’s not, would love to have more info. Thanks.