Today's Wall Street Journal has the following headline on the front of
section D:  "Calcium May Help Women Curb Weight."  The actual article
has the following headline:  "Calcium, Vitamin D Linked to Weight."
When you read the article, the results of the study seem a little
underwhelming -- participants who took calcium and vitamin D weighed
an average of 0.28 pounds less than those in the placebo group after 7
years.  Here's some more of the article:

WASHINGTON -- Postmenopausal women who take calcium and vitamin D
supplements may gain slightly less weight than women who don't,
although the overall effect is small, according to a study.

The findings, part of a broader study known as the Women's Health
Initiative, suggest that getting the proper amount of daily calcium
might help prevent some of the weight gain commonly seen in middle-
aged women. The study is being published in this week's Archives of
Internal Medicine.

The study looked at 36,282 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 years
old who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative clinical trial.
About half were in a group that received 1,000 milligrams of calcium
plus 400 milligrams of vitamin D, while the other half received a
placebo, or fake pills, daily. Women were followed for an average of
seven years.

The study found those who took calcium and vitamin D supplements
weighed an average 0.28 pounds less than those in the placebo group
after seven years. Overall, women in the calcium group were less
likely to gain weight than women in the placebo group.

The lead researcher, Bette Caan, a senior research scientist in
nutritional epidemiology at Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif., said
though the difference in weight gain between the two groups is small,
calcium and vitamin D may play a larger role at preventing weight gain
that is often seen in women up to about age 60. The study showed women
who were in the placebo group gained about five pounds if they were 50
to 54 when they started the study, while women in the oldest group --
70 to 79 -- lost about five pounds, backing up previous findings of a
trend toward weight gain and then loss in postmenopausal women.

Still, she cautioned, the impact of calcium and vitamin D is small.
"You can't overeat, not exercise, take a calcium pill and prevent
weight gain," Dr. Caan said.

* * *

Other studies have suggested that calcium and vitamin D play a role in
weight management, probably by stimulating the breakdown of fat cells
and cutting down on the absorption of fat by the intestines.

The study showed that women who had the most benefit were those who
had the lowest amount of calcium intake at the study's start. They
gained about a half-pound less than women in the placebo group and
were 11% less likely to gain weight in small and moderate amounts. A
small weight gain was defined as 2.2 to 6.6 pounds over the study
period, while a moderate weight gain was more than 6.6 pounds.

The Women's Health Initiative is a clinical trial launched in 1991 by
the National Institutes of Health to address the most common causes of
death, disability and impaired quality of life in postmenopausal
women. The initiative has looked at the effects of hormone-replacement
therapy, diet and calcium.

Previous findings from the calcium portion of the study have shown
that calcium slowed the loss of bone density over a seven-year period,
but didn't significantly cut the rate of hip fractures. Calcium also
didn't prevent colon cancer among the women in the study.

The most recent calcium study was funded by the National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute. GlaxoSmithKline PLC provided the supplements and
placebo pills used in the study.

* * *

It's too bad they used only 400 mg. of vitamin D.  That's a pretty
small dose.  Also, how do we know whether the effect was from calcium,
from vitamin D, or from the two combined?

Marilyn

Wiser to simply eat less down to the right amount:

http://HeartMDPhD.com/HolySpirit/overweight.asp

May GOD bless you.

Prayerfully in Jesus' awesome love,

Andrew <><
--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
http://EmoryCardiology.com

"Unlike the 2PD-OMER Approach, weight loss diets can't be combined
with well-balanced diets."
http://HeartMDPhD.com/Love/TheTruth