Green Med Info has been gathering and reporting on a growing body of evidence indicating that taking calcium supplements to “keep bones strong,” is a bad idea. GMI’ s founder Sayer Ji says there are three main reasons for this. First, healthy bones require more than calcium; they are made up of living tissue, which needs vitamins, like C, D and K, along with magnesium, amino acids and more. Second, humans are “designed to get their calcium from foods.” And third, the form of calcium most commonly sold as a supplement comes from either limestone, oyster or egg shells, which can deposit in our bodies’ soft tissues and lead to strokes or heart attacks.

More recently GMI has found yet another reason for concern. Calcium supplements may also be associated with elevated volumes of brain lesions in older adults. This information, reported in a GMI blog last October, is based on a 2014 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, which Ji says got very little mainstream medical attention at the time.

The brain lesions are caused by decreased blood flow that leads to neurological damage. Common in older adults, the lesions increase the risk of serious health problems, including dementia, depression, cognitive decline, hip fractures and death. The role calcium plays in reducing blood flow is through calcium deposits, which can block blood vessel openings. Excess calcium can also get into brain cells and cause cell death and calcification of the pineal gland and other brain structures.

The study found that those who used any calcium supplements, no matter the dosage or frequency, had greater lesion volumes than non-users. It also indicated that the negative effect calcium supplementation has on the brain is as high as the deleterious effects of hypertension. Ji says an earlier study linked brain calcification to Alzheimer’s disease

Ji believes one reason the public uses too much and the wrong kinds of calcium, is due to hype from the dairy industry and misrepresentation of bone density issues by doctors. Explaining that older individuals are not supposed to have bone density equal to that of a twenty-five year old, Ji says that “absurd and dangerous idea,” nevertheless, is what the current bone density reference ranges are based upon, making it appear that aging itself is a disease.

To get all the calcium we need, Ji says to focus on food sources like kale, which is higher in calcium, magnesium and silica than milk. Also we should keep in mind that hormonal changes are responsible for bone loss in older women, and this can be addressed by consuming pomegranate and other hormone-modulating foods like prunes, fermented soy foods and with vitamin C.

For more details on Green Med Info’s research on calcium and bone, brain and cardiovascular health, visit:

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/taking-calcium-supplements-causes-brain-lesions