Micronutrients & recovery
Among women with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations below 50 nM, higher dietary calcium intake is significantly associated with higher total hip bone mineral density (BMD), whereas this association disappears when 25(OH)D levels are above 50 nM.
If you are concerned about bone health, check your vitamin D levels first. For women with low vitamin D (<50 nM), increasing dietary calcium helps bone density. However, if your vitamin D is already sufficient (>50 nM), simply eating more calcium will not further improve bone density. For men, this study found no link between calcium intake and bone density, highlighting vitamin D status as the primary driver for both sexes.
A higher calcium intake was significantly associated with higher BMD (p value for trend: p = 0.005) only for women with 25(OH)D status <50 nM, whereas calcium intake beyond the upper end of the lowest quartile (>566 mg/d) was not significantly associated with BMD at 25(OH)D concentrations >50 nM.
Why this rating
Large population-based cross-sectional survey (NHANES III) with rigorous measurement error correction, though causality is limited by cross-sectional design.
Source
Dietary Calcium and Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Status in Relation to BMD Among U.S. Adults
Heike A. Bischoff‐Ferrari et al. · Journal of Bone and Mineral Research · 2008
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →