I've read of dangers from taking calcium supplements -- such as the risk of developing arterial calcifications. I can't seem to find a multivitamin without calcium. Can you help me?

Answer:

It's true that getting too much calcium from supplements can increase the risk of arterial calcifications, and this should be avoided. More information about this risk is found in the "Concerns and Cautions" section of the Calcium Supplements Review.

As to finding a multivitamin without calcium, first be aware that most multivitamins provide less than 20% of the 1,000 - 1,200 mg adult daily requirement of calcium. There is little safety concern with this amount of calcium from a supplement if you're not getting quite enough from your diet. However, if you're sure that you get sufficient calcium from your diet and want to avoid getting more from a multivitamin, there are multivitamins that contain only tiny amounts (under 20 mg) of calcium -- usually as incidental part of another ingredient in the supplement. You can easily find products like this by comparing the amounts of calcium listed in the "Minerals" comparison table of ConsumerLab.com's Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplements Review >>