According to recent research, vitamin D and calcium supplementation can help postmenopausal women with avoiding weight gain. The study indicates that all women will benefit from adding more vitamin D and calcium to their diets, but those that are receiving less than 1,200 mg of calcium per day will enjoy the greatest benefits. In addition, postmenopausal women should still strive to consume 1,200 mg of calcium per day through the foods they eat rather than rely solely on supplements.
The report looked followed 36,282 postmenopausal women ranging from 50 to 79 years of age for a five year period. Some of the women were placed on a dose of 1,000 mg elemental calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D while the other women were provided with a placebo. A greater portion of the women taking the calcium and vitamin D supplements experienced a slight weight loss when compared to those on the placebo.
Despite the findings of this report, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in the May 14 issue, the role calcium plays in helping to maintain a healthy body weight is still controversial. Biologically, it appears that calcium and 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D work together to better regular lipid metabolism in the adipose cells. This is accomplished mostly by stimulating the fatty acid oxidation and by suppressing lipogenesis. Whether this is accurate or truly the reason for the connection between calcium and weight regulation, however, remains to be proven.
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