Natural sources of calcium preferable

In 2020, gold medal swimmer Katie Ledecky swam across an Olympic pool with a glass of chocolate milk on top of her head. While it proved that she has astounding muscle control, it didn’t do much for her intake of calcium. That, it turns out, is best accomplished by eating calcium-rich foods.

There are three problems with getting your calcium from supplements.

1. Calcium taken in through supplements isn’t processed in the body like calcium in natural food sources.

2. The data on calcium supplements fortifying bone strength is not ironclad. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “There is a growing body of evidence that suggests no health benefit, or even worse, that calcium supplements may be harmful.”

3. Studies show high doses of calcium supplements may increase the risk of colon polyps (a potential cancer risk), encourage kidney stones and may cause plaque buildup, increasing the risk for heart attack.

You can get bone-building, heart-friendly calcium from low or nonfat dairy such as yogurt; canned sardines and salmon with bones; almonds; oranges and dried figs; soybeans and garbanzo, white and pinto beans; and leafy green vegetables like spinach.

PAD news

Eight million folks, 40 and older, in the U.S. have PAD (peripheral arterial disease). This disease of the arteries — usually in the legs and feet — is a result of plaque buildup in those blood vessels. Unfortunately, only about 25 percent of folks with PAD admit to themselves they’re experiencing early symptoms such as calf, foot, thigh or butt pain. As a result, PAD often goes undiagnosed until it causes severe problems, such as changes to skin and nails’ texture and appearance, “pins and needles” in your leg or foot, pain when not moving and hard-to-heal sores on toes, feet and legs.

Risk factors include inactivity, smoking, poor nutrition, obesity, diabetes, elevated lousy LDL cholesterol and high blood pressure. You can be diagnosed by determining your ankle brachial index — a noninvasive test that measures blood pressure in your ankles and compares it with the blood pressure in your arms. An MRI or ultrasound can also identify areas of atherosclerosis in your peripheral arteries.

If you are diagnosed, you can reduce your risk for serious complications such as stroke by adopting hearthealthy habits, getting exercise and taking antihypertensives, statins and meds that reduce clotting risks.