On Jan 26, 12:02 pm, ironjustice <teamtan...@hotmail.com>
wrote:calcium <<

Dietary calcium is better than supplements at protecting bone health

June 20, 2007 -  Women who get most of their daily calcium from food
have healthier bones than women whose calcium comes mainly from
supplemental tablets, say researchers at Washington University School
of Medicine in St. Louis. Surprisingly, this is true even though the
supplement takers have higher average calcium intake.

Adequate calcium is important to prevent osteoporosis, which affects
an estimated 8 million American women and 2 million American men.
Another 34 million Americans have low bone mass, placing them at
increased risk for osteoporosis. Calcium consumption can help maintain
bone density by preventing the body from stealing the calcium it needs
from the bones.

The researchers' conclusions about calcium intake, published in the
May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, came from a
study of 183 postmenopausal women. The researchers asked the women to
meticulously detail their diet and their calcium supplement intake for
a week. "We assumed that this sample represented each woman's typical
diet," says senior author Reina Armamento-Villareal, M.D., assistant
professor of medicine in the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases and
a bone specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "In addition to analyzing
the volunteers' daily calcium intake, we tested bone mineral density
and urinary concentrations of estrogen metabolites."

The researchers found that the women could be divided into three
groups: one group, called the "supplement group," got at least 70
percent of their daily calcium from tablets or pills; another, the
"diet group," got at least 70 percent of their calcium from dairy
products and other foods; and a third, the "diet plus supplement
group," consisted of those whose calcium-source percentages fell
somewhere in between these ranges.

The "diet group" took in the least calcium, an average of 830
milligrams per day. Yet this group had higher bone density in their
spines and hipbones than women in the "supplement group," who consumed
about 1,030 milligrams per day. Women in the "diet plus supplement
group" tended to have the highest bone mineral density as well as the
highest calcium intake at 1,620 milligrams per day.

The hormone estrogen is known to maintain bone mineral density. But
the standard form of estrogen is broken down or metabolized in the
liver to other forms - some active and some inactive. Urinalysis
showed that women in the "diet group" and the "diet plus supplement
group" had a higher ratio of active to inactive estrogen metabolites
than women in the "supplement group."

"This suggests that dietary calcium is associated with a shift in
estrogen metabolism that favors production of active forms of
estrogen," says Armamento-Villareal. "Although we're not yet certain
what underlies this effect, it could be that nutrients other than
calcium cause this shift. It's also known that dairy products, which
are a major source of calcium, can contain active estrogenic
compounds, and these can influence bone density and the amount of
estrogenic metabolites in the urine."

Calcium supplements differ in how well their calcium can be absorbed,
and this also could play a role in the study's findings, according to
its authors. For example, calcium carbonate tablets need to be taken
with a meal so that stomach acid can facilitate absorption, but
calcium citrate tablets don't have this limitation. If the study
participants taking calcium carbonate weren't conscientious about the
timing of their supplements, they might not have received the highest
benefit from them.

"Only about 35 percent of the calcium in most supplements ends up
being absorbed by the body," Armamento-Villareal says. "Calcium from
the diet is generally better absorbed, and this could be another
reason that women who got a high percentage of calcium in their food
had higher bone densities."

Although dairy foods are excellent sources of calcium, Armamento-
Villareal suggests that individuals with dairy sensitivities could
consume other calcium-rich food sources such as calcium-fortified
orange juice. Dark green leafy vegetables also contain calcium, but it
is not as readily absorbed as calcium from dairy sources.

Washington University School of Medicine

Who loves ya.
Tom

Jesus Was A Vegetarian!
http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com

Man Is A Herbivore!
http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3

DEAD PEOPLE WALKING
http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk

Ah!  More  junk science from a nut-job.  :(

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=45
The better / more expensive / supplements will advertise that the
supplement has been Chelated. Chelated calcium is calcium bound to an
organic acid, such as citrate, malate, lactate, or gluconate; or to an
amino acid, such as aspartate.

No matter how you verbalize it.  The better calcium / magnesium / zinc
supplements are contain a bioavailable form.

Probably the biggest mistake being made, is taking calcium without any
magnesium.

The tactics of the Science Geek wack-jobs don't help anyone on these
newsgroups.  And, I for one am rather tired of having to correct the
posts of Kooks on these so-called science newsgroups.