What are the dangers of taking too much calcium?

Calcium is an important trace element in the human body. It can promote bone development. Once calcium deficiency occurs, it is easy to cause a variety of symptoms. For example, for children, calcium deficiency often leads to poor development and even rickets. If you are calcium deficient, you should supplement calcium in time. However, if you supplement too much calcium, it will also have adverse effects on the body. Let us learn about it.

What will happen if you take too many calcium tablets? Excessive calcium supplementation is harmful to the body. If you take more than 2000 to 2500 mg of calcium per day, it may cause kidney damage and adverse reactions. The main hazards are as follows:

1. Excessive calcium supplementation increases the risk of osteoporosis

Studies in developed Western countries have found that calcium not only fails to effectively reduce the incidence of osteoporotic fractures, but on the contrary, the risk of hip fractures in osteoporosis patients increases by 50% after high calcium intake.

2. Excessive calcium supplementation increases the risk of stone disease

Calcium is not easily absorbed by the human body. If too much is consumed but cannot be absorbed, and oxalic acid substances (contained in many vegetables, such as spinach) are ingested at the same time, they may combine to form calcium oxalate stones. Larger stones cannot be excreted with urine and may cause renal colic. In severe cases, they will cause kidney damage.

3. Excessive calcium supplementation increases the risk of heart damage

Excessive calcium supplementation may lead to increased calcium levels in the blood. Hypercalcemia will accelerate the formation of deposits in the arteries, leading to ectopic calcification, and ultimately accelerate the formation of heart disease due to atherosclerosis.

4. Excessive calcium supplementation affects mineral absorption

The nutrient content in the human body needs to be in a stable and balanced state, which is conducive to mutual promotion of absorption, otherwise the opposite is true. Experiments have shown that high calcium supplementation can significantly inhibit the absorption of iron, zinc, magnesium and phosphorus.

5. Hypercalcemia

Early symptoms of hypercalcemia include severe constipation, progressive dry mouth, persistent headache, loss of appetite, irritability, depression, metallic taste in the mouth, fatigue, etc. Late symptoms include drowsiness, confusion, hypertension, arrhythmia, nausea and vomiting, and increased urine volume. From this we can see that any medicine must be viewed from two perspectives and not be taken lightly.

6. Gastrointestinal adverse reactions

Excessive calcium supplementation can stimulate the gastric mucosa and promote rebound gastric acid secretion, resulting in large amounts of gastric acid and gastric juice secretion, which can cause mucosal congestion and swelling, mucosal erosion or ulcers. Excessive calcium supplementation can also induce constipation, which has adverse effects on health.

Calcium supplementation is a health care method that many people are actively pursuing, and many people believe that the more calcium supplementation, the better. From the description in this article, we can know that excessive calcium supplementation can also have great disadvantages, so it is best to supplement calcium in moderation. Don't waste your energy and money while harming your body.