Calcium supplements  increased BMD by 0.7 - 1.8 % at all five skeletal sites at one , two , and over two and a half years , but the size of the increase in BMD at later time points was similar to the increase at one year .
Increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking calcium supplements produces small non-progressive increases in BMD , which are unlikely to lead to a clinical ly significant reduction in risk of fracture
OBJECTIVE To determine whether increasing calcium intake from dietary sources affects  bone mineral density ( BMD ) and , if so , whether the effects are similar to those of calcium supplements .
Inhibition of bone turnover by milk intake in postmenopausal women.
Increased postmenopausal bone turnover leads to bone loss and fragility fracture risk . In the absence of osteoporosis , risk preventive measures , particularly those modifying nutritional lifestyle , are appropriate . We tested the hypothesis that milk supplementation affects bone turnover related to biochemical markers in a direction that , in the long term , may be expected to reduce  postmenopausal bone loss .  Thirty healthy postmenopausal women aged 59.3 ( SD 3.3 ) years were enrolled in a prospect i ve crossover trial of 16 weeks . After a 4-week period of adaptation with diet providing 600 mg calcium plus 300 mg ingested as 250 ml semi-skimmed milk , participants were maintained during 6 weeks under the same 600 mg calcium diet and r and omized to receive either 500 ml semi-skimmed milk , thus providing a total of 1200 mg calcium , or no milk supplement . In the next 6 weeks they were switched to the alternative regimen . At the end of the each period , i.e. after 4 , 10 and 16 weeks , blood and urinary sample s were collected . The changes in blood variables between the periods of 6 weeks without and with milk supplementation were : for parathyroid hormone , -3.2 pg/ml ( P=0.0054 ) ; for crosslinked telopeptide of type I collagen , -624 pg/ml ( P<0.0001 ) ; for propeptide of type I procollagen , -5.5 ng/ml ( P=0.0092 ) ; for osteocalcin , -2.8 ng/ml ( P=0.0014 ) . In conclusion , a 6-week period of milk supplementation induced a decrease in several biochemical variables compatible with diminished bone turnover mediated by reduction in parathyroid hormone secretion . This nutritional approach to postmenopausal alteration in bone metabolism may be a valuable measure in the primary prevention of osteoporosis
Calcium supplements  increased BMD by 0.7 - 1.8 % at all five skeletal sites at one , two , and over two and a half years , but the size of the increase in BMD at later time points was similar to the increase at one year .
Increasing calcium intake from dietary sources or by taking calcium supplements produces small non-progressive increases in BMD , which are unlikely to lead to a clinical ly significant reduction in risk of fracture
OBJECTIVE To determine whether increasing calcium intake from dietary sources affects  bone mineral density ( BMD ) and , if so , whether the effects are similar to those of calcium supplements .