Dietary Calcium, Vitamin D, and the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged and Older U.S. Women

Abstract

OBJECTIVE -To examine whether and to what extent intakes of calcium and vitamin D are related to the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged or older women.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS -We analyzed data from 10,066 women aged Ն45 years participating in the Women's Health Study who were free of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes and who never used postmenopausal hormones. We used multiple logistic regression models to estimate multivariable odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs comparing different dietary intake levels of calcium and vitamin D.RESULTS -In age-and calorie-adjusted analyses, higher intakes of total, dietary, and supplemental calcium were significantly and inversely associated with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. After further adjusting for smoking status, exercise, alcohol intake, multivitamin use, and parental history of myocardial infarction before age 60 years, the ORs of having the metabolic syndrome for increasing quintiles of total calcium intake were 1.00 (reference), 0.82 (95% CI 0.70 -0.97), 0.84 (0.71-0.99), 0.70 (0.59 -0.83), and 0.64 (0.54 -0.77) (P for trend Ͻ0.0001). This association was not appreciably altered by additional adjustment for other dietary factors or total vitamin D intake. In contrast, neither total (P for trend ϭ 0.13) nor supplemental (P for trend ϭ 0.45) vitamin D was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome. Dietary vitamin D was inversely associated with prevalence of metabolic syndrome but was not independent of total calcium intake. Similar strong relations between intakes of dairy products and metabolic syndrome were also observed. After adjustment for lifestyle and dietary factors, the multivariable ORs comparing highest with lowest intake categories were 0.66 (0.55-0.80) (P for trend Ͻ0.0001) for total dairy products and 0.85 (0.71-1.02) (P for trend ϭ 0.05) for total milk intake.CONCLUSIONS -Our results indicate that intakes of calcium and dairy products may be associated with lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and older women. Diabetes Care 28:2926 -2932, 2005R ecent studies (1-3) have shown that dairy consumption is inversely associated with body weight, hypertension, glucose homeostasis, and type 2 diabetes. Although the underlying mechanisms remain incomplete, calcium and vitamin D, two major components of dairy products, have been postulated to be primarily responsible for the beneficial effect of dairy consumption on body weight and insulin sensitivity (4 -6). Intracellular calcium can act directly on adipocytes to regulate lipid metabolism and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and storage (7). Some studies have indicated that dietary calcium intake may have favorable effects on body weight (2,5), hypertension (1), and coronary heart disease (8,9).Vitamin D repletion improves insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion in animal studies (10,11). An association between vitamin D deficiency and ␤-cell dysfunction has been reported in healthy and glucose-tolerant subjects (4), nondiabetic people (6), and patients with type 2 di...

Serum calcium is independently associated with insulin sensitivity measured with euglycaemic–hyperinsulinaemic clamp in a community-based cohort

“…Thus, our data do not support an independent association between dietary intake of calcium and insulin sensitivity. These findings conflict somewhat with previous studies in women, where dietary and supplemental calcium intake was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes [14] and the metabolic syndrome [25]. It should be noted that in those studies insulin sensitivity was not assessed.…”

No association between 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and prediabetes in Brazilian patients. A cross-sectional study

“…There is evidence that 3% of the human genome is managed by The present study and others did not find any association after multivariable adjustments, 13,14 or in subgroup analyses on women. 15 Recently, Anoop Shankar et al 16 studied the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and prediabetes in an American population, using data from NHANES III.…”

“…8,9 Several clinical studies have evaluated the role of low 25OHD3 in the pathogenesis of T2DM, but with controversial results. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Recently, a study has looked into prediabetes and 25OHD3 in a representative population in the United States. This study reported that low serum 25OHD3 levels were associated with prediabetes in that population, with a strong correlation when vitamin D levels were lower than 17 ng/ml.…”

The antihypertensive effect of fermented milk in individuals with prehypertension or borderline hypertension

“…4,5 The active substances in dairy products have not been identified, but several proposals have been made; the minerals, the vitamins and the proteins (peptides), or the combination of all, perhaps in the context of a healthier lifestyle among milk drinkers. [4][5][6][7] Fermentation by lactobacilli is believed to increase the antihypertensive effect of milk. Proteinases in the cell wall of lactobacilli hydrolyse milk proteins, hereby raising the concentration of the peptides with proposed antihypertensive action.…”