Calcium plays an important role in your health, helping to maintain bone tissue and prevent osteoporosis, as well as facilitating nerve, muscle and heart function. Calcium chews serve as a source of supplemental calcium, helping to prevent a calcium deficiency that can occur due to low dietary calcium consumption. The vitamin D in several calcium chews can have beneficial health effects, but can also develop into a vitamin toxicity if you take too many chews.
Vitamin D in Calcium Chews
Calcium chews often contain added vitamin D to increase the efficacy of the supplement. Vitamin D helps your intestines absorb the calcium from the supplement, according to the Linus Pauling Institute, helping ensure the supplement does not simply pass through your digestive tract. In addition, vitamin D helps your body to properly use the supplemental calcium, regulating the levels of calcium in your bones and other tissues.
Safe Intake Recommendations
When consuming calcium chews, take into account a safe dosage level that will not cause a toxicity of vitamin D or calcium. To prevent overdoses, only take the supplement according to the recommendations on the product label, and only under the supervision of a doctor. In general, take no more than 100 mcg of vitamin D daily, and limit your calcium consumption to 2,500 mg daily, or less, if you are between the ages of 19 and 51, or 2,000 mg daily if you are over age 50, advises the Linus Pauling Institute. Exceeding these limits can lead to vitamin or mineral toxicity.
Vitamin D Toxicity Symptoms
If you take too many calcium chews that contain vitamin D, you might develop symptoms of a vitamin D toxicity. This excess vitamin D causes increase blood calcium levels, and can lead to symptoms including digestive upset, muscle weakness, fatigue and dehydration. Prolonged vitamin D toxicity can eventually promote the formation of calcium deposits in your soft tissues, and cause calcium to leech from your bones.
Other Harmful Effects
In addition to the risk of vitamin D toxicity, taking too many calcium chews can also cause calcium toxicity. This chronic high calcium intake can further increase the levels of calcium in your bloodstream, potentially causing calcification of your blood vessels and heart. Talk to your doctor about the potential risks of calcium toxicity from calcium chew supplementation, and let her determine a safe and effective chew dosage to avoid vitamin D or calcium toxicity.
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