CALCIUM: ANOTHER WEIGHT LOSS STRATEGY

CALCIUM AND VIT D SUPPLEMENTATION

CALCIUM CUTS BONE LOSS

VITAMIN C - THE WONDER CURE

PMS - PROPER MULTIPLE SUPPLEMENTATION

CATARACTS AND ANTIOXIDANTS

CALCIUM & MAGNESIUM

A CRAMP "SOLUTION"

CHOCOLATE CRAVINGS

CHELATION & MINERAL BIOAVAILABILITY

MALNUTRITION AND THE ELDERLY

MAGNESIUM: ARE YOU "MARGINALLY" DEFICIENT?

MAGNESIUM: THE MEDICINAL MINERAL

YOUR HEALTH CARE DEBATE

THE OTHER DEBATE

"TIS THE SEASON TO BE STRESSED"

VEGETARIANISM: A 90'S APPROACH TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

WINTER BLUES AND HOLIDAYS

ANTIOXIDANT PROTECTION

SHOULD YOU TAKE EXTRA VITAMINS

MACULAR DEGENERATION STUDY SUPPORTS SUPPLEMENTATION

WHAT DO HEART DISEASE, STROKES AND ALZHEIMER'S HAVE IN COMMON? 3 B VITAMINS

Women, more than five years past menopause, need an intake of 800 milligrams of calcium a day to keep their bone loss to a minimum. In a recent two-year study, researchers concluded that those who consume the recommended daily dosage of calcium (800 milligrams) can significantly reduce bone loss. (National nutrition surveys indicate that nearly half the women in the U.S. consume less than 500 milligrams of calcium daily.)

This study of 361 women was launched to determine if increasing calcium intake would have any effect on the loss of bone that women experience after menopause. This bone loss can lead to osteoporosis, in which the weakened bones of older women tend to fracture.

Half the women in the study had daily calcium intakes less than 400 mg ; the other half consumed 400 to 650 mg per day. One-third of the women were given 500 mg daily supplements of calcium carbonate (oyster shell calcium); one third were given similar doses of calcium citrate malate; and one third were given a placebo.

Periodic measurements of the density of the spine, forearm and hip-bones, for example showed that the bone loss that occurs in the first five years after menopause was not stemmed by the calcium supplements. Similarly, women who regularly consumed more than 400 mg of calcium in their daily diet showed little benefit from the calcium tablets. But, in women who were more than five years past menopause and who were habitually eating a low-calcium diet, the calcium tablets did slow the rate of bone loss, the researchers said.

(Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, New England Journal of Medicine)

Copyright © 1991