Calcium Intake and Health

Abstract

There are striking inequities in calcium intake between rich and poor populations. Appropriate calcium intake has shown many health benefits, such as reduction of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, lower blood pressure particularly among young people, prevention of osteoporosis and colorectal adenomas, lower cholesterol values, and lower blood pressure in the progeny of mothers taking sufficient calcium during pregnancy. Studies have refuted some calcium supplementation side effects like damage to the iron status, formation of renal stones and myocardial infarction in older people. Attention should be given to bone resorption in post-partum women after calcium supplementation withdrawal. Mechanisms linking low calcium intake and blood pressure are mediated by parathyroid hormone raise that increases intracellular calcium in vascular smooth muscle cells leading to vasoconstriction. At the population level, an increase of around 400–500 mg/day could reduce the differences in calcium intake between high- and middle-low-income countries. The fortification of food and water seems a possible strategy to reach this goal.

Regulatory and Policy-Related Aspects of Calcium Fortification of Foods. Implications for Implementing National Strategies of Calcium Fortification

“…The increase in hip fractures and myocardial infarct described in some studies performed in older populations with adequate basal calcium intake are still in debate [76,77]. Calcium supplementation randomized controlled trials conducted in younger populations with low basal calcium intake have shown many benefits and report no clear deleterious effects [16]. There is scarce information about high-quality clinical trials evaluating the effect of increasing calcium intake through dietary interventions in populations with low basal calcium intake.…”

“…However, new evidence merits reviewing these values. Nevertheless and despite the potential variation in the recommendations, most LMICs do not even reach the lower recommended levels [16]. In addition, any recommendation to introduce a calcium fortification strategy should take into account the basal calcium intake of the population and the gap to achieve the recommended levels, particularly in view of the strong differences in calcium intake between HICs and LICs [1,27].…”

“…Furthermore, the value of results coming from randomized controlled trials and observational studies need to be considered. In a recent review of randomized controlled trials the common concern of potential adverse effects of increasing calcium intake like a detriment of iron status, formation of renal stones, and myocardial infarction in older people were challenged [16]. Nonetheless, in supplementation studies, some of these effects, such as post-partum bone resorption and gastrointestinal discomfort have been reported [16].…”

Relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetic comparison of calcium glucoheptonate with calcium carbonate

“…In Indonesia, Southeast Asia's most populous country, average calcium intake was reported to be 342 mg/day 8 . Hence, for some populations such as those of Southeast Asia, supplements represent a suitable dietary source of calcium 9 …”

Fotification of Karish Cheese with Calcium by Means of Using Calcium Chloride or Casein Co-Precipitates Containing High Calcium

“…Calcium has many benefits, such as lowering blood pressure particularly among young people, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, prevention of osteoporosis and colorectal adenomas, lowering blood pressure in the progeny of mothers talking sufficient calcium during pregnancy and lowering cholesterol values (Cormick and Belizan, 2019). It is important nutrient to maximize peak bone mass for osteoporosis prevention (Marcinow et al, 2017) and also effective on non skeletal, especially cardiovascular (Tankeu et al, 2017).…”