Research

Hormonal

Calcium supplementation (≥1,000 mg/day) increases the risk of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease, particularly in men and postmenopausal women.

If you are taking calcium supplements, especially doses over 1,000 mg per day, be aware that this may increase your risk of heart disease, particularly if you are a man or postmenopausal woman. Prioritize dietary calcium sources, which do not appear to carry this risk, and consult your doctor about your specific cardiovascular risk profile before continuing high-dose supplementation.

GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
a meta-analysis (including eleven randomized controlled trials) that calcium supplements have up to 30% increase risk for myocardial infarction... supplemental calcium intake of >1,000 mg/d may raise the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases among men... 1,000 mg/d elemental calcium supplements increased the incidence of cardiovascular events.
Kelvin Li et al. · Clinical Interventions in Aging · 2018

Why this rating

Supported by multiple meta-analyses and large randomized controlled trials, though results are mixed with some studies showing no effect.

Source

The good, the bad, and the ugly of calcium supplementation: a review of calcium intake on human health

Kelvin Li et al. · Clinical Interventions in Aging · 2018

DOI 10.2147/cia.s157523

narrative_reviewCited 187×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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