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Calcium Supplements

Calcium supplements are commonly recommended in older women, or people of any age who are lactose intolerant. In women, a calcium supplement can prevent the fragile bone condition osteoporosis. In lactose intolerant individuals it can offset the lack of calcium that the person would normally receive from dairy products.

While osteoporosis has been a known medical condition for a long time, it is only in the past 10-15 years that calcium supplements have caught on as a tool to combat it. Osteoporosis is much more likely in women who have been through menopause because their bodies greatly lower the production of estrogen. Estrogen is a suspected factor in the body’s metabolism of calcium.

While doctors will often recommend a calcium supplement for post menopausal women, it is still considered a food supplement rather than a drug by the FDA. This is because while it can be used to prevent osteoporosis, we can hardly make the claim that calcium was invented for this purpose. Because of its status as a food supplement it is more difficult to find studies regarding the body’s metabolism of calcium supplements.

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