Much like Valentine’s Day gifts, the heart isn’t fond of store-bought calcium, suggests new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers examined the heart health history of more than 1,500 adults enrolled in a long-term research project, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). The participants, all between the ages of 45 and 84, were free of any coronary artery calcification (CAC) — a risk factor for hardened arteries, or atherosclerosis — prior to the study’s start and had remained in touch with researchers for at least a decade afterwards. First, the researchers found that participants with higher levels of daily calcium intake were less likely to develop atherosclerosis by the 10-year mark. But when they dug deeper and looked solely at people who obtained most of their calcium from supplements as opposed to diet, they found the exact opposite effect.
