Micronutrients & recovery
Long-term calcium (1,000 mg) and vitamin D3 (400 IU) supplementation reduces hip fracture risk in postmenopausal women who do not take personal supplements at baseline, with a hazard ratio of 0.62 after 5+ years.
If you are a postmenopausal woman and you do not currently take calcium or vitamin D supplements, taking 1,000 mg of calcium carbonate and 400 IU of vitamin D3 daily for at least 5 years can significantly reduce your risk of hip fractures. If you already take these supplements, adding more from this specific trial protocol does not appear to provide additional fracture protection. Be aware that this regimen slightly increases the risk of kidney stones, but does not increase cardiovascular risk.
Among women not taking personal calcium or vitamin D supplements at baseline, the hazard ratio [HR] for hip fracture occurrence in the CT following 5 or more years of calcium and vitamin D supplementation versus placebo was 0.62 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.38–1.00).
Why this rating
Double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial (RCT) with large sample size (36,282 women), though the primary finding relies on a subset analysis.
Source
Health risks and benefits from calcium and vitamin D supplementation: Women's Health Initiative clinical trial and cohort study
Ross L. Prentice et al. · Osteoporosis International · 2012
DOI 10.1007/s00198-012-2224-2
More from this paper
- Calcium and vitamin D supplementation (1,000 mg/400 IU) does not increase the risk of cardiovascular events (MI, stroke, CHD) in postmenopausal women, contradicting claims of adverse cardiovascular effects.Good
- Calcium and vitamin D supplementation (1,000 mg/400 IU) is associated with a modest reduction in urinary tract stone risk in adherent users, though the overall risk increase is small (HR 1.17).Good
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