By: Jean Johnson for Fibroids1There is no benefit from calcium and vitamin D supplements for women over 50 according to a huge seven year, $18 million study.
The federal project that studied more than 36,000 women was part of the Women’s Health Initiative, an undertaking that has also produced controversial results related to estrogen replacement therapy and the benefits of low-fat diets.
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Recommended levels of calcium for older women range from 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams a day.
Some foods high in calcium include:
A cup of yogurt 350 mg
A 5 ounce serving of salmon 275 mg
A cup of beans 150 mg
A cup of milk 300 mg
An ounce of cheese 175-200 mg
A tablespoon of molasses 135 mg
A cup of kale or spinach 200-225 mg
A cup of broccoli 100-150 mg
A quarter cup of almonds 100 mg
A cup of tofu 200 mg
Two tablespoons of milk powder 100 mg
A half cup of oatmeal 100 mg
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In the case of the calcium study – which challenged widely-held beliefs that calcium and vitamin D supplements are effective against osteoporosis – statistics showed that taking the pills over the span of seven years produced only a 1 percent increase in bone density. More, results indicated that women taking the supplements can put themselves at risk for kidney stones. After the study was published in the mid-February 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, healthcare professionals, women and supplement manufacturers across the nation began debating the controversial results.
Ethel Siris, M.D., president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, for example, confesses that her first reaction was skeptical, and she found herself “thinking there was something wrong with the design of the study because I don’t like the results.”
The physician, however, curbed her initial emotions and has since embraced the scientific findings that not only can supplements be counterproductive, but that nutritious diets can supply women with all the calcium and vitamin D they need.
“Enough is enough,” Siris said. “Too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing.”
Osteoporosis is most likely to occur with increasing age. Although men are susceptible, women are six times more likely to develop to the disease that weakens the bones. Women usually eat less than men and so take up less calcium over the span of their lives. Also, after menopause, the lack of estrogen speeds up bone loss.
Suzanne Blair of Phoenix, Arizona is not worried, though.
“I never did get into the supplement thing,” she said. “Call me a purist, but I learned to cook from ‘Laurel’s Kitchen,’ and those good folks encourage you to just eat sensibly. These days I guess it’s called the Mediterranean diet.
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The New Laurel’s Kitchen by Laurel Robertson offers the following tips on getting enough calcium from the food we eat:
Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption and is available either from eating egg yolks or exposure to sunlight. Almost all milk manufacturers add synthetic vitamin D to their product.
Increase aerobic exercise with brisk daily walks so the body will both get the weight-bearing activity it needs for healthy bones and it will also burn enough energy so sufficient intake of enough nutritious food is possible.
Vegan diets are notoriously low in calcium (and B-12). Those who do not eat dairy products or eggs need to closely monitor their calcium intake.
Good sources of calcium include dairy products – particularly milk and yogurt – and leafy greens like broccoli and kale.
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“My daily intake is loaded with a range of real food,” Blair went on. “I grow kale all winter long here in Phoenix. When it’s young and tender, just a touch of heat on the stove top turns it into a warm salad that melts in your mouth along with some olive oil, shaved Romano and a few shallots steeped in some good vinegar. That’s how I like to get my calcium. In my ‘fast food.’”
Blair says she also tries to weave yogurt and beans into her mix of creative cooking. “It’s all way more fun than worrying about the latest studies and spending tax payer money that this country really does not have at the moment. Just fill the larder with good quality ingredients and have fun. We need to get a grip – get some of our common sense going again. Do things like take a walk and get out in the sunshine for our vitamin D.”
Sounds fine for Blair, but the supplements industry will clearly have something to say. According to Joel S. Finkelstein, M.D., an osteoporosis researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the calcium supplement industry has been booming and raked in $993 million in 2004 alone. Finkelstein pointed out that calcium supplements are “the biggest seller of the multibillion-dollar dietary supplement industry,” even though he takes issue with the hard sell the industry has mounted.
“Women come to see me all the time saying, ‘How can I possibly have osteoporosis? I exercise and I take calcium and vitamin D.’” he said. “The ads for calcium have given many women the impression that they are protected against osteoporosis. The message of the study is that calcium and vitamin D by themselves are not enough.”
Clifford Rossen, M.D., director of the Maine Center for Osteoporosis Research and Education took the message a step further. “This is a public health intervention. We’ve been recommending it for everyone but it probably doesn’t work in the majority of people or the effect is small. And there is an increase in kidney stones. It is not a benign intervention.”
