Why Is Too Much Calcium Harmful?

Excess of anything is harmful. Be it calcium or any other nutrient, mineral, vitamin or protein. Its requirements varies depending on a person's gender and age. Calcium is also very good for your bones. And that is what makes it an essential part of your diet. But, the age old conception of more the better needs to be shred now. Here are a few reasons as to why excess calcium can be bad.

Women and children have more calcium requirement than men. This is because children need a lot of calcium for their growth. And women need more calcium because of pregnancy, lactation and also otherwise. Men need about 1000-1200mg of calcium every day, women need 1200-1500mg and children need about 1300mg of calcium every day. And the maximum calcium that you can have is 2500gm. Let us see what happens when there is an excess calcium intake.

• Excess calcium might cause nausea and vomiting. Thus when you feel dizzy at times this might just be an effect of calcium. There is a need to analyze such medical conditions with your doctor.

• The effects of excess calcium intake has also been linked to an increased chance of prostrate cancer. Hence, people already suffering from this disease should avoid excessive consumption of calcium in their diets. And also if you have cancer running in your genes its better not to have foods too rich in calcium. Too much consumption of calcium in the blood stream is thus harmful.

• Osteoporosis is the thinning of bone tissue and its depletion over time. An excess intake of calcium might not be good for your bones, but just the opposite. Excessive calcium degenerates the bones and causes them to age early. That is why even if you love all calcium rich products like milk and its products, you should never take too much of it.

• Excess calcium intake may also cause a lot of stomach problems like constipation, loss of appetite and abdominal pain. It might even cause frequent urination problems. This is quite harmful as your body gets dehydrated very easily and you also lose a lot of salt from your body that becomes hard to replace.

• Too much calcium intake releases calcium into the urine that causes crystals of calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate to form in the kidney. This is what leads to kidney stones. And this is one of the most harmful effects of calcium intake.

So, consult your doctor and restrict yourself to a minimal amount of calcium intake as required by your body.