Not everyone with hypertension responds the same way to calcium. In the one third to one half who are salt sensitive, calcium can lower blood pressure. But it usually has no effect in other hypertensives and may even increase pressure. Effect on diabetics. That same discrepancy is already evident in studies on calcium and diabetes.
Animal studies indicate that mineral intake, especially calcium, reduces insulin resistance.
Calcium may also fight cancer by reducing the risk of colon tumors and polyps, which often foreshadow malignancies. Researchers speculate that in the colon, calcium binds to fatty acids and neutralizes them. When soluble, these acids act as irritants that encourage cells to multiply out of control. Other cancers may be restrained by calcium, too. Laboratory mice fed high doses of calcium and vitamin D show less abnormal cell growth in the breast and pancreas.