Getting a lot of calcium from your diet or a calcium supplement up to 1,000 mg per day has been shown to help women live longer according to a recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. However, this study comes after other research suggests that taking too much calcium can actually increase your risk for heart disease.

The researchers monitored the health of over 9,000 Canadians between 1995 and 2007. During that period, 1,160 participants died. They found that women who took calcium supplements up to 1,000 mg per day had a lower risk of death compared to those who didn’t. There was no difference in mortality among men.

“Higher amounts of calcium were potentially linked to longer lifespans in women, regardless of the source of the calcium,” said the study’s lead author, David Goltzman, MD, of McGill University in Montreal. “That is, the same benefits were seen when the calcium came from dairy foods, non-dairy foods or supplements.”

Earlier, a few studies have linked high-doses of calcium supplements with heart disease risk. All of these results can be very confusing for a lot of women who are trying to take charge of their health and do what’s best according to the latest research. However, keep in mind that studies do support getting as much calcium as possible from your diet. Try getting at least 1,000 mg of calcium per day, but not more than 2,000 mg per day.