Can You Get Too Much Calcium In Your Diet?

With doctors stressing the importance of calcium for both young children and older adults to support strong bones and teeth, people mistakenly believe that more is better. Although vitamins and minerals support functions vital to life, taking more than the recommended daily intake may actually cause adverse health problems. The incidence of calcium overload from diet alone is rare, but those taking calcium supplements can consume too much calcium.

Intake

The Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board recommends adults between the ages of 19 and 50 consume 1000 mg of calcium per day. The body continually builds new bone to replace old bone. As you age the production of new bone slows down, which means that bone breaks down faster than new bone can replace it. This causes bones to become porous and brittle, a condition known as osteoporosis. To fight this, adults over the age of 50 should increase their intake of calcium to 1200 mg per day. Doctors recommend you get calcium from healthy food choices like low-fat dairy products or vegetables including Chinese cabbage, kale or broccoli. For those at risk of a deficiency, calcium supplements can help boost calcium levels, but too much can lead to medical problems.

Tolerable Upper Limit

When you intake too much calcium, calcium remains in the blood. The kidneys filter the blood and remove excess water, salts and minerals like calcium, but they can only filter out so much calcium. To avoid complications, the National Academies Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board sets the Tolerable Upper Limit of calcium at 2.5 g or 2500 mg per day. Since 1 cup of low-fat 2% milk contains 297 mg of calcium it would take a lot of milk to get too much calcium in your diet.

Hypercalcemia

Hypercalcemia describes a condition of excessively high levels of calcium in the blood. Hypercalcemia can lead to kidney problems. Too much calcium increases your risk of developing kidney stones and can cause renal insufficiency. Renal insufficiency occurs when the kidneys become damaged and can no longer filter the blood effectively. Too much calcium in the blood damages the tiny capillaries and inhibits the kidney's ability to function.

Cardiovascular Problems

Consuming too much calcium, whether through diet or supplements, also affects your cardiovascular health. Calcium in the blood vessels can contribute to the formation of plaque -- an area in which fat, cholesterol and calcium accumulates. The more calcium in the blood, the more there is available to buildup in the plaque. As plaques grow, a process known as atherosclerosis, they restrict the flow of blood and can lead to coronary artery disease, the most common form of heart disease. To avoid cardiovascular complications, eat a healthy diet that provides no more than the recommended intake of calcium per day.