Featured Image Credit: Thana Prasongsin / Getty
Supplements are viewed as a great way to add additional nutrition and vitamins into your body beyond your actual diet, yet tablets aimed at boosting both vitamin D and calcium are part of a new warning from medical experts after a man is hospitalised.
There's a good chance that your diet is leaving you deficient in at least one valuable nutrient or vitamin, as it's incredibly challenging for people to get everything their body needs without a little extra help.
That's where supplements come in for most people, as they not only give you more than enough when it comes to health-boosting substances, but they're taken in easy and convenient forms that ensure consistency.
These could in fact be more harmful than you think, however, as new research and advice from scientists indicates that their benefits might actually be overstated — and could even leave you in hospital following an incident involving one man.
Advert
As reported by Kent Live, researchers have published a new study in the British Medical Journal that downplays the health benefit of both calcium and vitamin D supplements, specifically relating to their purported strengthening of bones.
The study analysed data across 69 clinical trials involving over 153,000 people, concluding that there was no evidence that links the regular consumption of these supplements with the prevention of fractures and falls.
This occurred in both individual analysis of each supplement, alongside data involving concurrent consumption of both — although they have indicated that the conclusion might not necessarily apply to people who have specific bone disorders or are receiving treatment for osteoporosis.
Furthermore, that have been recent reports regarding the possibility of 'overdosing' on these supplements, with one man in particular hospitalized after suffering from hypervitaminosis D, also referred to as vitamin D toxicity.
Thankfully suffering from this condition doesn't typically have fatal consequences, yet the middle-aged man did suffer from a dry mouth, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, and leg cramps after simply taking too many of the supplements.
This can even lead to more permanent damage over a longer period of time, as an excessive build up in your bloodstream can lead to kidney stones — and anyone who has suffered from them will be glad to tell how much you'll want to avoid that possibility.
The impact of both hypervitaminosis D and hypercalcemia – the calcium supplement-causing equivalent – can be felt cognitively too, with neurological issues relating to fatigue, mood swings, and even a coma in the worst case scenario.
