Revisit recommendations to increase intake beyond a normal balanced diet Calcium is vital to many biological processes, and serum concentration is tightly regulated. Net calcium excretion must be replaced, but the amount of calcium needed has been debated for decades. Twenty-five years ago in this journal, Kanis and Passmore concluded that calcium supplements to prevent fractures were not justified by the available evidence,1 though this view was challenged by determined opponents.
According to two linked articles,2 3 the conclusions of Kanis and Passmore still hold true. Furthermore, there seems little to be gained from an increased consumption of calcium-rich foods. In the first paper, Tai and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.h4183) report a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of extra dietary or supplemental calcium in women and men aged over 50.2 They…
