The ratio of calcium to magnesium is important, and imbalances can lead to deficiencies, suggesting calcium-magnesium combination supplements are preferable to calcium-only pills.

“Metals. Mae West said too much of a good thing is wonderful, but she was thinking about sex not micronutrients, particularly for metals because calcium and magnesium are one above the other on the periodic table. Magnesium's here and calcium's here. And they're similar kind of molecules. And it's hard. So there are a lot of calcium-dependent proteins, and a lot of magnesium-dependent. Well, nature cares about the ratio. You can put in too much calcium and cause magnesium shortages, and vice versa. But we tend to be short of both of them. So I think we shouldn't sell calcium pills. We should sell calcium-magnesium pills.”