While your body chiefly uses calcium for building strong bones and teeth, you use about 1 percent of your dietary calcium for functions that are critical to your heart health. If you have high blood pressure, a condition that causes your heart to work harder to pump blood throughout your body, increasing your calcium intake may help you stay healthy.
Research
A review published in the May 2006 "Journal of Human Hypertension" reported on the connection between dietary calcium intake and a reduction in high blood pressure. Researchers from the Netherlands examined 40 different studies to draw conclusions about the overall benefits of dietary calcium intake. The review concluded that calcium supplementation of 1,200 mg of calcium each day led to a 1.9-point drop in systolic blood pressure and a 1-point drop in diastolic blood pressure. Because these studies were measured in terms of months, the researchers proposed that long-term calcium supplementation could potentially result in further blood pressure decreases. Over time, a 5-point drop could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by 21 percent, according to the study.
Mechanism
Calcium performs a number of vital functions related to the heart. This includes encouraging vascular contraction and dilation necessary for maintaining blood pressure levels. If your blood vessels do not open and close properly, your heart has to work harder to move blood through them. Calcium also is used for muscle function. Because your heart is a muscle, it uses calcium to continue beating. The mineral seems to have the greatest effects on those who have high blood pressure. According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, dietary calcium does not seem to have as much of an effect on those with normal blood pressure levels.
Recommended Intake
Women ages 19 to 50 should consume 1,000 mg of calcium per day, and men ages 19 to 70 should consume the same amount. Women ages 51 and older should consume 1,200 mg of calcium per day to prevent bone loss. Dietary calcium sources include 8 oz. of milk or yogurt, which have 300 mg of calcium. Other calcium sources include 1/2 cup of pinto beans, which has 45 mg of calcium, and the same serving size of white beans, which has 113 mg. Bok choy, kale, broccoli, spinach and rhubarb are also sources of calcium.
Uncertainties
While studies have linked a diet high in low-fat dairy products with a reduction in high blood pressure, the focus was on a healthy diet as a whole, not the specific role calcium played in lowering blood pressure, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. For this reason, not all is known about how calcium can help your blood pressure. However, continuing to follow a diet high in low-fat calcium sources can help you to keep your blood pressure low.
References
- Bastyr Center for Natural Health; Health Conditions and Concerns; Kimberly Beauchamp, N.D.; 2006
- Office of Dietary Supplements: Calcium
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Types of Blood Pressure Medications: Guide to Lowering HBP
- Linus Pauling Institute; Calcium; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.; November 2010
- Go Ask Alice!; Managing High Blood Pressure Through Diet; August 1998
- "Journal of Human Hypertension"; Blood Pressure Response to Calcium Supplementation: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials; L.A.J. van Mierlo, et al.; May 2006
