6 things that happen if you are overconsuming calcium

Calcium is essential for a healthy body, especially for bones. Your bones are the main storage space of calcium in the body. It helps to maintain the bone mass, and supports in structuring a strong skeleton. Calcium is extremely important for overall health and there’s no doubt that being calcium deficient can welcome multiple ailments. Therefore, you try to induce enough calcium in your routine to meet your daily intake. But the golden rule of consuming every nutrient is to ensure you stick to the right quantity, at the right time, and by maintaining the right frequency. 

Just because calcium is important, it doesn’t mean you will eat excess of it.

Before we understand how an overdose of calcium may affect our body, let us first understand how calcium is beneficial for us. 

So why do you need to monitor your calcium intake? 

According to Dr Kaushal Kant Mishra – Associate Director, Orthopedics, Fortis Escorts Bone & Joint Institute, Okhla, New Delhi, “Calcium is very important for the growth of people of almost every age group. If there is a low intake of calcium-rich food, it may cause growth retardation in childhood, it may cause rickets in young children, and it may even cause osteomalacia in young females or breastfeeding females. And less calcium may even cause osteoporosis in elderly patients.  So, calcium has got a very crucial role in normal general well-being of persons.”

Now, just like any other nutrient, you can overdose on this mineral too. Read on to know the side effects. 

How does excess calcium harm your health?

Calcium overdose can harm your body in many ways. When the calcium level in your blood is above normal, this condition is known as hypercalcemia. Calcium is important for bones but turns out that excess quantity can weaken your bones. Here are the other side effects of it: 

1. One of the most common side effects of taking too much calcium is constipation. 

2. Excess calcium makes your kidneys work harder to filter it. This can cause excessive thirst and frequent urination.”

3. Experiencing bone pain and muscle weakness is common if you’re taking excessive calcium. 

4. Frequent headaches and fatigue are also the outcomes of overconsumption of calcium. 

5. Hypercalcemia can even interfere with how your brain works, resulting in confusion, lethargy, and fatigue. 

6. Rarely, severe hypercalcemia can interfere with your heart function, causing palpitations and fainting, indications of cardiac arrhythmia, and other heart problems.  

Many people don’t have obvious symptoms of hypercalcemia, but these signs hint that your calcium levels might be high.