Can calcium intake lower blood pressure?

First let me get the facts straight.  A lot has been written on calcium over the past two decades. Most of the anecdotal stuff has been written by uneducated people who do not even have grade 2 education. Social media sites like Facebook are full of wannabe doctors giving out BS advice on everything from surgery to nutrition. For example, a person, usually a female, takes calcium pills and notices that the blood pressure is low one day and then she starts blogging about the wonders of calcium. This person then starts to recommend calcium to every Tom, Dick and Harry. This is nonsensical medical advice and dangerous. Blood pressure control and modulation is dependent on hundreds of factors and there is no one mineral or supplement that controls it. In the majority of people with high blood pressure, there is no known cause. Almost everything underneath the sun has been tried out as a cure and failed. So simply telling someone to take calcium or vitamin D is bullshit advice.

The latest study shows that in YOUNG PEOPLE who do not have high blood pressure an increase in calcium may drop the blood pressure slightly. This indicates that perhaps regular calcium ingestion may be preventive against hypertension. However, these results should be viewed with caution as the mechanisms for this BP lowering are not known and the studies need to be reproduced. How much calcium to take, or for how long is not known. The current evidence suggests that in people over the age of 35 with normal blood pressure, a dose of calcium between 1000 to 1500 mg/day may be beneficial.

Having said all that, I should add that these studies on calcium were sponsored by the industry- and that usually means you have to think about the fudge factor.  Doctors who are paid a lot of money to conduct trials usually always report positive results. My advice is always the same. To prevent high blood pressure, eat less, walk more and cut down on salt. If you want to add calcium there is no harm in it but do not expect miracles, because the blood pressure lowering is miniscule.

If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, I highly recommend you remain complaint with your medications- there is no substitute. High blood pressure is a silent disorder but it has devastating complications if it remains untreated.