In my recent blog “to D or not to D” I pondered the benefits of taking vitamin D supplements. My concerns have not been allayed when I heard on the ABC Health Report (2 August 2010) that “calcium supplements have been recommended for a long time to prevent osteoporosis. Research has now suggested that they may be associated with an increased risk of heart attacks.”
It appears that taking your calcium as food (eg milk, cheese etc) is OK because the calcium gets released slowly into the body – it is taking it as a tablet with the rapid increase of calcium in the blood that ends up causing more heart attacks and strokes than saving broken bones.
I’ll definitely try to get my vitamin D via sunshine until a bit more research comes in on the risks/benefits of vitamin D.
Now we are (over) fifty 
I would too.
Surely you can obtain Vitamin D supplements that don’t double up as calcium supplements?
Dairy foods are not necessarily the best natural source of calcium. I believe there is some research that shows that the makeup of components in dairy foods can reduce the intake of calcium, or even have harmful effects (something to do with acid?). Vegetables and legumes with high calcium levels might be a better option if you’re relying on getting calcium from food alone. Of course, I’m responding on the fly, so don’t have any references on me 😉
Thanks for the comment – I’m not trying to get all reactionary – just think I’ll try the simplest things first, ie eat up my veg & fruit, and a bit of exercise, before buying vitamins. However, we will see how it all pans out in 3 months when I get another blood test done.
Sounds fair enough to me! 🙂 Catch some rays when the sun is out, etc. and it may be a different story when you’re next tested.