If you are confused by the contradictory advice on calcium and vitamin D supplements and their usefulness, you are not the only one. The latest addition to the confusion comes from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the same group of scientists that recently recommended against routine prostate cancer tests. According to them, calcium and vitamin D supplements are useless since they do not prevent fractures.
Why not?
What the group found from their review of scientific evidence is that healthy men and women, whether of pre or postmenopausal age, do not benefit from the calcium and vitamin D supplements. In fact, long-term use of extra calcium increases slightly the risk of kidney stones.
This recommendation applies only to healthy people and not those who already have osteoporosis.
The group also could not find any proof that calcium and vitamin D supplements play any role in preventing some cancers, as was previously believed. They did not say that there is no connection, just that there is no evidence of one, and they reviewed 137 reliable studies.
What should we do?
The conclusion of the group is that healthy diet contains enough calcium and vitamin D to keep us in one piece, without fracturing anything. It means that if you get most of your nutrients from McDonalds” â„¢, you should get worried.
It is interesting that this recommendation comes at times when there is so much discussion about the epidemics of obesity in the country, which is a clear proof that ” Ëœhealthy diet” â„¢ is not so common in the USA.
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