# What is with calcium? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739 "2007-02-11T17:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/1 "2007-02-11T17:09:26Z")
I Thought it was supposeded to be good for you. But I just found out I have gall stones (not a big surprise, my family has just never been on good terms with their gall blatters). And then there’s kidney stone. And now I hear (as long as I can hear) you can get calcium stone IN YOU EARS.I thought it was supposed to be good for you!! If I get stones in my ears i’m cutting my head off, forthwith. If I eat the wrong things will I become a rock sculpture? I thought calcium was my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/2 "2007-02-11T17:14:50Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] I thought calcium was my friend. [/QUOTE] The Goldilocks conundrum. Too little calcium, and you get brittle bones and soft teeth; too much calcium and you get kidney stones (most gall stones are cholesterol). But what you want is the calcium porridge that is just right, and your body is happy. You can have too much of a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/3 "2007-02-11T17:23:48Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] The Goldilocks conundrum. Too little calcium, and you get brittle bones and soft teeth; too much calcium and you get kidney stones (most gall stones are cholesterol). But what you want is the calcium porridge that is just right, and your body is happy. You can have too much of a good thing. [/QUOTE] Everybody’s body is different. Somebody else’s ‘too much calcium’ will not necessarily be ‘too much’ for you. It will also vary based on age and the state of your estrogen. As a rule, women need more calcium than men but making definitive statements about exact quantites is [difficult](http://tinyurl.com/2t6s9u). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/4 "2007-02-11T17:31:15Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Everybody’s body is different. Somebody else’s ‘too much calcium’ will not necessarily be ‘too much’ for you. [/QUOTE] True. But everyone has a range, outside of which is either too much, or too little. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/5 "2007-02-11T17:40:05Z")
None of what you mention in your OP is likely to be due to excess calcium intake. Gall stones, as noted already, are rarely calcium. And while many kidney stones are made of calcium, their formation is not due to excessive calcium intake, but rather other metabolic factors. People with liver disease need to make sure they get enough calcium, because they tend to not absorb it properly in the first place. Ditto people who smoke or drink alcohol. It is very unusual to have a condition which requires calcium intake restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/6 "2007-02-11T17:59:21Z")
What QtM said is exactly what doctors told my kidney stone-prone husband. If anything, he gets less calcium than most people. He rarely drinks milk (maybe a splash in his coffee) and avoids most other dairy foods because he both hates the taste of non-fat and needs to keep fat intake low. Yeah, he’ll eat a vegetable rich in calcium once in a while, but that’s about it. But he’s had kidney stones multiple times, the first when he was barely a teenager. All his doctors have said it’s just his metabolism and that there’s not much to be done about it. I, on the other hand, do not have a cholesterol problem, and enjoy dairy products a lot. I also take calcium supplements since, as a person of the female persuasion I want to avoid osteoporosis. I have never had either a kidney or gall bladder stone problem. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/7 "2007-02-11T18:10:24Z")
[QUOTE=MLS] I, on the other hand, do not have a cholesterol problem, and enjoy dairy products a lot. I also take calcium supplements since, as a person of the female persuasion I want to avoid osteoporosis. I have never had either a kidney or gall bladder stone problem. [/QUOTE] It’s worth noting that if you don’t get enough vitamin D, a calcium supplement is worthless. Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium. So either take a supplement that has Vit. D, or make sure to get enough sunlight. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/8 "2007-02-12T12:39:48Z")
Kidneystones can be caused by too much calcium. There are several types of stone formers. Even limiting the question to calcium oxylate stones, there are people who consume too much calcium, people whose systems are too effective at harvesting calcium from whatever they eat, people who fail to excrete it correctly, and people who do similar things with oxylate. In addition there are many people whose stone forming mechanism doesn’t fit any of the known descriptions. Sensitivity to calcium is one reason why it’s boneheaded to add calcium to products that wouldn’t usually have much, such as orange juice. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/9 "2007-02-12T19:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] Sensitivity to calcium is one reason why it’s boneheaded to add calcium to products that wouldn’t usually have much, such as orange juice. [/QUOTE] Well, I wouldn’t go that far. The ones fortified with calcium are labeled as such, so those with sensitivities can avoid it. But that brings up another question - the effectiveness of “fortified” foods. Susan ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/10 "2007-02-12T22:52:38Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] It’s worth noting that if you don’t get enough vitamin D, a calcium supplement is worthless. Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium. So either take a supplement that has Vit. D, or make sure to get enough sunlight. [/QUOTE] Prolonging the hijack, the supplement I take does, as my doctor recommended, include vitamin D. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/11 "2007-02-12T23:35:23Z")
[QUOTE=Napier] Kidneystones can be caused by too much calcium. [/QUOTE] about 50% of Calcium Oxalate stones are caused by hypercalciuria, but many folks with hypercalciuria don’t benefit from restricing calcium intake. > [@](#): > > The obvious dietary advice for people who form calcium stones recurrently is to reduce the calcium content of the diet. Unfortunately, this common sense advice appears to be incorrect. Several large population studies in both men and women have shown that, within reasonable limits, patients with the highest dietary calcium levels also had the lowest rates of new calcium stone formation. > **[Hypercalciuria: Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology](https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2182757-overview)** > > Hypercalciuria, or excessive urinary calcium excretion, occurs in about 5-10% of the population and is the most common identifiable cause of calcium kidney stone disease. Indeed, about 80% of all kidney stones contain calcium, and at least one third... If one is a recurrent calcium stone former, one should get a metabolic workup including serum & urine electrolyte evaluation, assessment of the parathyroid, and medication review (among other things), before cutting out various nutrients. Some calcium stone formers actually need more calcium in their diet. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-with-calcium/391739/12 "2007-02-13T11:29:37Z")
\>The ones fortified with calcium are labeled as such, so those with sensitivities can avoid it. Not in restaurants, they’re not. BTW sorry I seem to have mispelled “oxalate”.