Researchers: Drink More Milk

Drink your milk.

If you’re a pregnant mother, your baby may thank you some day. But even if you’re not pregnant — or female — you could still end up leaner and healthier, according to the findings of two recent studies.

For decades, pediatricians and nutritionists have been urging pregnant women to consume milk and other dairy products to build fetal skeletal tissue.

Now, based on the findings of one of these studies, expectant mothers have another incentive to get adequate levels of dietary calcium. Calcium appears to help lower lead levels not only in expectant women but also in their developing fetuses.

“For the mother, that’s important, but for the developing baby, it’s really important,” says Dr. Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.

Excessive blood levels of lead contribute to mental impairment and, at extreme levels, to mental retardation as well as lasting damage to the nervous system.
The findings are only the latest contribution to a mountain of evidence confirming calcium’s value, especially for fetuses and newborns.

While lead exposure concerns have been largely addressed in the United States and most of the Western world, reducing this exposure remains a paramount concern in many developing countries.

But that’s only part of the good news: Adequate amounts of calcium may also help keep you lean.

The findings of a Brazilian study revealed that calcium may have a direct bearing on whether you become obese. The study, conducted by University of Sao Paolo researchers, involved almost 1,500 adults between 20 and 59. Almost 30 percent of the participants were overweight.

According to the study’s findings, participants with the lowest calcium intakes — less than 265 milligrams a day — were more likely to become overweight than those whose daily was at least 594 milligrams.

However, researchers cautioned that the calcium intake may only be a marker for other healthy lifestyle behaviors that actually contributed to leanness.
“Obviously, we want people to watch their calories and exercise, but this finding also indicates benefits associated with low-fat dairy products,” says Keith, who cites skim milk and low-fat yogurt as good sources.

While the Sao Paolo study found benefits from consuming only 600 milligrams of calcium, adult Americans should shoot for the current federal recommendation of 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams a day.

Ironically, one recent calcium study was not so positive, revealing that calcium supplements actually increased the incidence of heart attacks among older women. The results of this study, conducted by the University of Auckland, were posted on the British Medical Journal Web site.

“It actually goes against the grain and even is cause for concern,” Keith says, adding that older women are routinely prescribed calcium supplements to prevent bone loss that often leads to osteoporosis, a crippling bone disease.

“The number of supplement users who suffered heart attacks wasn’t staggering but the fact that the incidence was higher in the supplemented is cause for concern and additional research,” Keith says.

Keith says scientists aren’t sure how calcium supplements may contribute to heart attacks, although it is known that calcium is active in arteries and may possibly have some kind of detrimental effect.

“If these findings are borne out in additional studies, we may have to reconsider how much calcium we recommend to women facing high rates of bone loss following menopause.”

Posted by Jim Langcuster at October 21, 2008 08:57 AM