Heart Disease Health Center

Calcium Supplements May Increase Heart Risk

Calcium From Food

Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of the Women’s Heart Program at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York, says women must be aware of how much calcium they get through diet and how much they get through supplements to avoid getting too much of this mineral.

“Calculate how much you are eating through food and balance off the rest with supplements so it equals 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day for women older than 50,” she says.

“Women should also take a global approach to their heart disease risk and get risk factors evaluated,” she says. “Calcium intake alone is not the only risk marker for heart disease.”