We have always heard that taking nutrition supplements such as calcium or vitamins are good for our bones, especially for the elder people. However, it turns out this is not true and these supplements make no difference.

A study published in the Journal of American Medical Association analyzed 33 random clinical trials, systematic reviews and older reports published in the last decade. This involved more than 50,000 adults over 50. The study was conducted by Jia-Guo Zhao, in which he focused only on those adults who did not include in any nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities for their treatment and took only nutritional supplements, including calcium or vitamin D.

It was revealed by the end of the study that calcium and vitamin D supplements do not prevent any bone breaks or hip fractures in adults. They do not benefit in any way despite the dose, patient’s gender, history of fractures or the amount of calcium in diet, reported The Washington Post.

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Fourteen calcium trials were carried out that pitted calcium supplements against a placebo or no treatment, 17 trials were carried out looking at people who took vitamin D pills and other 13 were carried out of people who took both calcium-vitamin D supplements. There was no connection found between the supplements and fractures for any of the three categories of trials conducted.

Moreover, it was revealed that adding more vitamin D through supplements or taking high doses of it were linked with a greater risk of hip fractures.

According to Los Angeles Times, it is likely that these supplements can be helpful for people in nursing homes or such residential facilities. These people are more expected to have osteoporosis because of poor diet, low sunlight exposure and such factors. However, for adults living on their own without these facilities, the researchers clearly explained that ‘these findings do not support the routine use of these supplements’.