Bone Fracture Risk Doesn't Depend on Calcium Intake

Research carried out in Sweden demonstrates that the belief people have that calcium will reduce their risk of bone fractures later on in life is false. Experts found the same bone fracture risks in people with high and low doses of the mineral in their bones.

In the paper, the team also argues that consuming more than the daily recommended dose (DRD) of calcium has no positive effect on the skeleton, neither immediately, nor later on in life.

The DRD of calcium today is 750 milligrams daily. While investigating Swedish women in their 50s, the study group learned that this level of calcium ensured the lowest risk of bone fractures or osteoporosis. The latter is a condition in which women's bones become frail as they age.

For test subjects found to consume more than 750 mg of calcium daily, there was no observable decrease in their chance of developing this condition, or suffering bone fractures.

It's important to note here that the DRD for all essential chemicals differ from country to country, and from age group to age group. Women in the United States are advised that that DRD of calcium is 1,200 milligrams, whereas women in the UK are told that 700 milligrams per day are enough.

“Some populations have higher intakes of calcium-rich food, so why take supplements when diet is sufficient? Also, we should be aware of the total intake of calcium that is inclusive of calcium-rich foods,” says Dr. Sanford Baim.

The scientist, who was not a part of the new Swedish study, holds an appointment as a professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, My Health News Daily reports.

The team behind the work published details of the 19-year-long investigation in the May 24 online issue of the reputed British Medical Journal. Some 61,433 women (all born between 1914 and 1948) were included in the study.

Over nearly two decades of study, about percent of these women went on to develop osteoporosis, while nearly 25 percent had a bone fracture during this interval. An estimated 6 percent suffered a hip fracture during this interval.

“There must be a proper balance of calcium incorporation into our skeleton at all stages of life or we may develop rickets (lack of mineral in childhood), never attain our genetic peak bone mass as an adult and have a negative balance in later adulthood with insufficient intake leading to osteomalacia (lack of mineral in adulthood) and fracture,” Baim concludes.