Dietary Calcium Linked to Decreased CVD, Stroke Risk

Higher calcium intake may protect older individuals from developing cardiovascular disease and stroke, but it does not appear to offer any protection against fracture, according to recent research.

While previous studies have suggested that dietary calcium may offer protection against cardiovascular disease and fractures, the results have been controversial because the study participants were from high-calcium populations.
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To further examine whether dietary calcium effects the risk of cardiovascular disease and fractures in low-calcium populations, researchers followed 9631 participants in the Ansung and Ansan Cohort Study, an ongoing, prospective, community-based cohort study in South Korea, for a mean of 13 years. Of those, 2199 men and 2704 women aged 50 years and older without a history of cardiovascular disease and stroke were included in the final analysis.

Researchers assessed the participants’ dietary calcium intake using food frequency questionnaires, then classified the participants into quartiles. 

Overall, participants with higher calcium intake had significantly lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those with lower intake. Those with higher calcium intake also showed lower risk of stroke than those with lower calcium intake, but no significant difference was observed in the risk of fracture across the quartiles.

“In older men and postmenopausal women in a low dietary calcium intake population, higher dietary intake of calcium was associated with decreased risk of CVD and stroke,” the researchers concluded. “Risk of fracture was not significantly associated with dietary calcium intake.”

—Michael Potts

Kong SH, Kim JH, Hong AR, Cho NH, Shin CS. Dietary calcium intake and risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and fracture in a low calcium intake population: a prospective community-based cohort study. Presented at: Endocrine Society 98th Annual Meeting & Expo; April 2, 2016; Boston, MA. https://endo.confex.com/endo/2016endo/webprogram/Paper27386.html. Accessed April 5, 2016.