What 2 Nutrients Should Never Be Supplemented (Unless Deficient)?

Neither calcium nor vitamin D should EVER be supplemented UNLESS you are deficient.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t get enough from food/diet. This needs to be a standing rule without exception…

Even if you don’t get enough calcium from your food, it should not be supplemented. It is easy enough to get the needed calcium each day from food. You need only 500-700 mg of calcium per day, ¹ according to this Harvard study.

Supplementing calcium carries significant risks to your health: ^{2 3 4 5}. Hypercalcemia is a condition caused by supplementing calcium, ⁶ which is increased when also supplementing vitamin D (in any form, even from food). Hypercalcemia is excess calcium in the blood, which has been shown in multiple studies to cause heart attacks, strokes, kidney stones and damage, constipation, and blood clotting. ⁷ Because it is alkaline, it neutralizes stomach acid and thereby leads to acid reflux, GERD/GORD, ⁸ which compromises the ability to digest food as well as leads to conditions such as Leaky Gut, a condition known to cause osteoporosis, ⁹ chronic inflammation, and autoimmunity. ¹⁰ Even in the same form as found in our bodies, they only form one that one should ever use to supplement if they are deficient: hydroxyapatite, which is what is found in our bones. Many have had to ask for help with acid reflux/G.E.R.D. after taking calcium supplements. It should be done ONLY as a LAST RESORT, and then only very short-term.

The proper level of calcium in blood serum should be “in the 9’s” or below 10.0 mg/dl for anyone over age 40. Deficiency is less than 8.0 mg/dl (.2 nMol/L). 11 If your blood levels are not at this point, you have no business supplementing any calcium in any form, even if you didn’t get enough from your food for the day. High calcium blood serum levels have also been shown to cause GERD. ¹²

It should also be noted that supplementing calcium provides only a 1% increase in BMD, and this, only for one year, according to one study, ¹³ with another stating 1-2% for up to a possible 5 years. Both studies show this benefit stops completely after that time, permanently. ¹⁴

Supplementing vitamin D also carries significant risks. Because it is needed for the absorption of calcium in the small intestine, ¹⁵ it greatly increases the risk of Hyperglycemia when supplemented. ¹⁶ Hypercalciuria (excess calcium in the urine) also causes compromising conditions, such as kidney stones, and can damage the kidneys. It can also lead to other stone formations in the body, such as gallbladder stones. ¹⁷

This is regardless of the source and unless one is deficient in 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which equates to less than 12-20 ng/ml or (30-30 nMol/L). ¹⁸ Too much vitamin D, even from food sources, can become toxic in the blood at higher levels. If one must supplement due to deficiency, then only food-based sources should be used and only long enough to raise levels above deficiency to the ideal range, which the latest science shows should be 35-50 ng/ml (87.5-120 nMol). ¹⁹

Sunshine is the first source for vitamin D. While this is not always possible in some higher latitude countries, studies have shown that even tribes in the sub-arctic have maintained above deficiency levels during darker months from food sources alone. ²⁰ This means one can maintain levels above deficiency even from food/diet. If one falls below 12-20 ng/ml levels, then supplementing with food-based sources can and should be done. But again, only to the extent of bringing levels into the ideal range.

Studies have shown supplementing vitamin D can significantly increase the risks of bone loss with decreased BMD from the bones, ²¹ as well as damage to arteries and major blood vessels, and the compromising of the endocrine system to make more due to the introduction of exogenous hormones. ²² ²³

These two nutrients, while being “essential,” are the two most misunderstood and misdirected, and wrongly suggested by physicians. This, of course, is due to a lack of understanding among allopathic doctors, as it is common knowledge that these doctors get, on average, NO nutritional training, and the few who have received no more than 20 hours of class time. ^{24 25}

Don’t be fooled by ignorant doctors or others who would suggest you need to supplement either calcium or vitamin D. It is simply bad advice, unless you are deficient in them, and only the right sources are appropriate, and then, only until above deficiency to ideal levels have been reached.

Remember: Healthy Bones are Happy Bones!

[Taken from To Your Health blog site]

Written by Douglas K. Johnson – Life, Health and Wellness Coach, Herbalist, Nutritionist, Investigative Journalist, and Author

References, Sources, & Citations:

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What 2 Nutrients Should Never Be Supplemented (Unless Deficient)?

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