Calcium for Bones? Read and Reflect

Every time I see someone taking calcium to improve their bones, often on prescription from health professionals and frequently together with alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate, pamidronate and zoledronic acid (bisphosphonates), I am sincerely worried.

REASONS:

1️⃣ When you only use large doses of one macro-mineral, such as calcium, you are very likely to unbalance dozens of others (macro and even micro), especially sodium, magnesium, potassium, iron and zinc, generating numerous adverse effects over time.

2️⃣ You can't guarantee that the calcium you take goes to the right and desired places if you don't have good lifestyle habits and minimal hormonal balance. These are two fundamental conditions for the body to know where to allocate calcium, and other minerals, in what proportions and how much it should excrete. Otherwise, you run the risk of calcifying other, undesirable areas of the body, such as the arteries (gradually clogging them), creating an increase in “bone calluses” and stiffening “soft parts” (such as cartilage and tendons), among other adverse effects.

3️⃣ It has become fashionable to replace calcium on its own, which in general is already a mistake because of what I explained above, but together with vitamin D (which is a hormone). However, the doses of vitamin D used have been far too small, derisory. The ideal is to measure vitamin D3-25-OH in the blood and, if it's low (it should usually be between 50 and 100 ng/ml, in most laboratories I know), advise the patient to get more sun regularly (with quality) and replenish it, often with much higher initial doses than those indicated out there.

4️⃣ Is your interest in calcium related to osteoporosis and osteopenia? Then understand that what matters most for bone health, even before calcium, are water, proteins and a balance of hormones (including vitamin D). After that, of course, we can consider calcium and other minerals! After all, most of the bone is made up of water and proteins.

5️⃣ The use of bisphosphonates is associated with many side effects and often with bones that are full of calcium but still brittle due to a lack of other important components. Remember: bone is not just made up of calcium.