Calcium: One More Thing That Won’t Help All That Much

First they tell us that a low-fat diet does virtually zip to lower our chances of getting cancer or heart disease. Now they tell us that calcium, taken as a supplement by millions of Americans who would like to improve their bone density, joins low-fat eating in the probably-not-worth-the-effort garage.
The Seattle Times reports on a survey of 36,000 women that found that calcium supplements did not reduce the risk of bone fractures as much as had been expected, and provided no defense against colon cancer, as earlier research had suggested. The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, divided 36,282 women age 50 to 79 into two groups. About half took a
daily dose of 1,000 milligrams of calcium combined with 400
international units of vitamin D. The other half took a placebo.
After an average of seven years, the women taking supplements had about
a 1 percent higher hip-bone density and a 12 percent reduction in the
risk of hip fractures. But, the Times reports, there was no protection from other
fractures, and the hip-fracture finding is said to be far less than certain. On the other hand, calcium supplements, are inexpensive, easy to take, and harmless.