Summary
Research now shows calcium may provide health benefits beyond strengthening bones. Studies show it may also ease premenstrual symptoms. Calcium pills have become a hot item on the health market, with calcium pills emerging as the fourth top-selling supplement. A Consumer Reports study found the best calcium value is Nature Made Calcium 500 mg and CVS Natural Oyster Shell Calcium 500 mg USP.
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Calcium may have a number of health benefits beyond strengthening the skeleton.
Emerging evidence indicates that it may lower the risk of colon cancer, reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure, aid weight loss, and ease premenstrual symptoms.
Calcium pills are the fourth top-selling supplement-and the product choices are daunting.
To help shoppers choose, Consumer Reports (CR) tested 30 top-selling calcium supplements and also had them tested by independent labs.
All products tested contained the labeled amount of calcium and reasonably close to the labeled amount of vitamin D. The best values for calcium plus vitamin D are Kirkland Signature 500 mg Calcium Plus Vitamin D, available at Costco, and Walgreens Finest Natural Calcium 500+D.
For calcium alone, the best values are Nature Made Calcium 500 mg, and CVS Natural Oyster Shell Calcium 500 mg USP.
Commonly recommended doses of four products contained amounts of lead that exceeded a California standard designed to reduce lead in calcium supplements.
Three products did not dissolve in simulated stomach acid as fast as the U.S. Pharmacopeia says they should, raising concerns about their ability to be absorbed.
CR helps consumers decide whether they should take or avoid calcium supplements, and lists 10 calcium-rich foods-from a ½ cup of Tofu with 435 mg to a medium orange with 60 mg.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams launched TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video site featuring videos on holistic health and green living. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
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Thursday, January 27, 2005
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