Skip to content

Are Calcium Supplements Safe?

Sauteed kale with garlic, butter, and red onions

The July 29, 2010 edition of BMJ Online caught many by surprise, when it reported on a statistical analysis of data from 11 clinical trials in which women took calcium supplements without vitamin D in hopes of preventing fractures. The authors discovered that, not only did the calcium do almost nothing to prevent fractures, there were slightly more heart attacks in the group of women taking calcium supplements.

If you have osteoporosis, you may wonder: What should I be doing for my bones?

Here’s the wrong answer:

People with osteoporosis should be taking medications, not supplements, to treat the disease.” –Dr John Cleland

Dr Cleland, a cardiologist, was interviewed by a WebMD reporter. Why the reporter decided to print the opinion of a cardiologist on treatments for osteoporosis is beyond me.

This article is continued below...(scroll down)
Kobe Bryant

It helped. I feel great.

"It’s helped. I feel great."

Kobe Bryant
NBA baskeball player
megyn kelly

This has been life changing

"Let me tell you this has been life-changing. I have all of her books, in audible and ebooks! I have gotten rid of all the hateful 8 oils. I have trained my body to eat its own previously toxic body fat. Download that pod it's a game changer!"

Megyn Kelly
Jesse Watters

Life changing

Deep Nutrition changed my life.

Jesse Watters
Fox News Primetime host

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. Prior to reading the book, it was almost impossible for me to lose weight as a diabetic. 

Leontyne Tompkins

I feel free

For the last month, I have really been reading all labels on everything. I have completely remove those 8 oils you talk about. I must tell you, I feel great! I have more energy and I am now 197 lbs (have always been around 205 to 210lbs). I eat potatoes with real butter, grass fed steak, pasta with the right toppings. I eat everything! I seem to crave less sugar. I love it! 

Robert Kirkendall

I feel so much better

I had terrible aches and pains everywhere in my body, my hands, shoulders and knees. I feel so much better and the way I feel is motivating me every day! Thank you

Mike Deb Wootan Burcin

Better than ever

I am an anesthesiologist in Orlando and a huge fan of both of your books! I have been incorporating your principles for the last 10 months and feel that my health is better than ever.

Marnie Robinson, MD

My allergies disappeared

The biggest difference for me (and a surprising one) is that my allergies have almost completely disappeared! This is a big deal for me, because I’ve had allergies most of my life and they have often affected what I do which is a teaching music in [a public school district].  In general, I feel much better and have more consistent energy throughout the day.

Erica Turrell

Heart Palpitations have Stopped

I’ve lost 20+ pounds (also fasting 16-24 hours daily) and haven’t had palpitations except for one occasion — I had a mini bag of Fritos for the first time in July. And, I feel better now on a daily basis than I ever did all through college.

Mike Wright
Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix reader
Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

I’ve lost over 50 pounds

I’ve lost over 50 pounds. I’m 56 years old. Cutting processed food and unhealthy fats from my diet was one of the first things I did on my health recovery journey...I went cold turkey off the bad oils. Emptied my pantry into the trash and just started eating real food

Mitzi Wilkinson Champion

Knowledge I didn’t know I needed

Your Fatburn Fix book is amazing, my friend. Thank you! I’m an Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and I know my stuff. This is the extra layer of knowledge I didn’t know I needed. Well done!

Jennifer Dillman
Fatburn Fix reader

Lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork is great

I have lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork (after 3 months of eating your way) was even better! I was metabolically healthy (per your book) before I read your book, but barely. Lowering my weight, sealed the deal! I have been talking about you and your book to anyone who will listen...Thank you for all you’ve done and what you continue to do! You are changing lives for the better!

Missy Cramer
FatBurn Fix reader

Lost 20 lbs I could never shed

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!

Lauren Smith

I feel great

My waist is four inches smaller. I feel great and many of the minor aches and pains that I had (knees and lower back) are gone. Also, my muscle tone is amazing, even though I have not increased my workout routine.

Richard Janelle
Completed Dr Cate's online course
Kent Matthes

The go-to for strength and conditioning coaches

Whenever I advise my clients about eating to perform I go straight to what I have learned from Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition has become the go-to for strength and conditioning coaches across the country.

Kent Matthes
Major League Baseball Agent with WME Sports
Ken D Berry

Dismantles the lie

Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.  

Ken D Berry, MD
Author of Lies My Doctor Told Me
Dr. Drew Pinsky

She knows the chemistry

Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.

Dr. Drew Pinskey, MD
Globally recognized internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist, media personality, LoveLine Host, and New York Times bestselling author
Kelly Starrett

No one is better at communicating nutritional truth

Dr. Cate has had the single greatest impact on how we talk to people about fueling for both performance or durability. While we all are a little unique, the foundational principles of human nutrition are immutable. If you are looking to create a more durable, resilient body, no one is better at communicating nutritional truth than Dr. Cate.

Dr. Kelly Starrett
Physiotherapist coach and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Brian Lenkzes

Highly recommend The Fatburn Fix

Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!

Dr. Brian Lenkzes, MD
CEO of LowCarbMD San Diego, co-host of Low Carb MD Podcast and host of Life's Best Medicine Podcast
Chris Kaman

Respected in the sports world

Dr. Cate reordered my diet when I was with the L.A. Lakers, and the benefits, for me personally, were felt immediately and have served me to this day. I’ve come to take real food so seriously I started a small family farm. I know of no M.D./nutritionist more respected in the sports world than Dr. Cate Shanahan.

Chris Kaman
NBA Player
Mark Sisson

Brought seed oil issue front and center

Cate brought the seed oil issue front and center. Healthy fats matter. So much so that I created an entire product line to swap out bad fats with good.

Mark Sisson
Founding Father of the Primal/Paleo Movement
Dallas Hartwig

Optimal health starts with food

If you want to understand how optimal health starts with food, start with Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition leaves you with an appreciation of the profound relationship between our genes and the planet, inspiring us to be good shepherds of both.

Dallas Hartwig
Attribution author of The Whole 30
Dwight Howard

Helped me with endurance

Deep Nutrition really helped me with endurance. I started to feel better as a player. I was able to run more, I was able to be more active …and I just decided to keep going with it to this day.

Dwight Howard
NBA Player
Paul Grewal

Silver bullet for me

Dr Cate’s teachings helped me lose 60 pounds like it was nothing. It was like a silver bullet for me.

Paul Grewal, MD 
Dr Grewal Internal Medicine, MD, author of Genius Foods
Joesph Mercola

Radically improve your health…

Dr. Shanahan has provided a solid reference that deserves a place in the library of anyone who is seriously interested in nutrition. Her perspective on the vital role that healthy fat has in our diet is novel and, if implemented, can radically improve your health.

Dr. Joseph Mercola
Author of Fat for Fuel and Founder of Mercola.com
Dave Aspery

Pull up a chair…

I have based my work on the idea that getting the right kinds of healthy fats into your body and avoiding the worst fats is essential to optimal health. I've interviewed dozens of the world's top experts about this, and I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on this topic than Dr Cate. If she’s talking fats, pull up a chair. Take notes.

Dave Asprey
Author of the Bulletproof Diet

The key to unlocking my fatburn

I love your Fatburn Fix!  Has helped me so so much!  I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed.  I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils.  It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.  

Lauren Smith

Saved my life

I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. 

Leontyne Tompkins

> Tears of joy

 I'm crying tears of joy and appreciation for all you've done for me and my health! Without Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix, I would literally still be in the vicious cycle I'd been fighting all my life! In a nutshell - I am no longer a compulsive overeating addict suffering under the crushing 'thumb' of all food and alcohol.     

Penni Wicks

 

In addition to weight-bearing exercise, here’s what I advise for bone health.

  • Bone density drugs like Boniva and Fosamax do you more harm that good (see article)
  • The best calcium sources are whole foods, like dairy products, green leafy vegetables, bone-in fish like canned salmon and sardines, and bone stock.
  • If you have allergies or can’t eat these foods often enough, then you should supplement with 500 mg of calcium taken with 1000 IU of vitamin D, a combination which has been shown to reduce a post-menopausal woman’s risk of fracture by fifty percent.
  • Magnesium, vitamin K, and zinc are also keys to bone health.
  • If you must supplement, you should make an effort to include all factors in the above two bullet points because, to make bone, your body needs all of the above, and supplementing some but not others leaves leftovers that wander through your body causing problems, like heart attacks.

The reason whole foods work better than supplements is best explained by the language philosophy of food, which Luke constructed during the writing of Deep Nutrition, and I’ll blog about soon. It includes the idea that the function of food is to connect our bodies to nature—the ultimate source of healing, strength, and life.

Visit Dr. Cate in her office in Newtown, CT for a Complete Bone Health Plan. Insurance Accepted!

With over two decades of clinical experience and expertise in genetic and biochemical research, Dr. Cate can help you to reverse metabolic disease and reshape your body.

This Post Has 9 Comments

    1. I looked at their site for you and found they say some good things. However good their products may be, they are taking the place of farms that would produce more wholesome product and as these kinds of high-margin, middleman-oriented products invade the marketplace, one-by-one they are making the simpler, more effective solution of eating real food more difficult. Adopting the principles of traditional diets as well as following the advice laid out in Food Rules is a far better long-term solution for us, and for our planet.

      1. Thank you very much for the response.

        If I understood your words right, you mean these supplements are good, but traditional diets and healthy food is still better.

        I’m going to integrate four pillars in my life (think, Food Rules will help in that), but sometimes I just cannot feed myself regularly (student’s life), that’s why I thought supplements, used from time to time, could be a good solution.

        So, it is important for me to know whether LP supplements are trustworthy.

  1. Part2.
    In general I am sceptical about supplements, but this was recommended by my doctor. I found it out latter that LifePlus is a Multi-level marketing company. Now I’m sceptical about advice of my doctor (he subscribed me).

    Main issue for me is whether these supplements really worth those money one pays for them? Or I just fool myself? I still have time to send them back, but I cannot find any independent information about this company and their products.

  2. Part1.
    Dear Catey, first of all, thank you very much for your work “Deep Nutrition”. I’ve just finished reading it and am going to make some changes in my diet.

    The actual reason I came to this site is a need for advice from somebody who knows much about health and healthy food.

    Recently I ordered LifePlus Supplements,which are very expensive for me (I’m still a student). I had low vitamin D,B12 and Iron levels, so I decided to try them – Proanthenols 100 and Daily BioBasics.

  3. Where can we find more on the language of plants please! After listening to your talk at the Paleo Summit and your comments on the appropriate forms of mineral and vitamin supplementation I was reminded of the way in organic agriculture that plants need specific fertility regimens that communicate well with soil biology to maximize bio-availability. I would love to pursue this topic further.

    Thank you!

  4. Thank you, Dana, for pointing out yet another reason to support your local dairy farmers who raise pastured animals and sell farm fresh milk.

  5. Specifically vitamin K2, analog mk-4, which is also found in grass-fed dairy but can be found in supplement form. K1 is plentiful in green vegetables, but you have to convert it to the K2 form, and the more I read, the more I’m convinced that people aren’t as good at converting the fat-soluble precursors as mainstream medicine/nutrition seems to believe. Might as well skip the middleman.

Comments are closed.

Note: Please do not share personal information with a medical question in our comment section. Comments containing this content will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.

Back To Top
Search