Calcium

We're talking about getting more calcium, one trick that may add years to your life.

Calcium is essential for our health but most people simply recognize it as something we need to keep bones strong, especially for women. And for men, the government recommends 1,000 milligrams a day if your 19 to 49 and 1,200 milligrams if your older.

But Swedish researchers wanted to find out if calcium might be more important for men than just to keep their bones strong. So they looked at over twenty thousand between the ages of 45 and 79 to see if calcium might actually help keep them living longer. After following them for ten years they found the ones consuming the most calcium in their diets also ended up having a lower chance of dying by the end of the study. Those same men ended up getting upwards of 2,000 milligrams of calcium a day, nearly double of the recommended daily allowance.

The men in this study got calcium from their diet so it's hard to tell if supplements will work the same way. And like all medications, herbs or supplements, there are side effects to taking too much calcium, and it can interfere with other medications so check with your doctor before adding more to your daily routine.