If more people adopted the dairy-rich DASH eating plan, the United States could see significant improvements in rates of stroke and heart disease, McCarron said. It took us 40 years to find the connection between calcium and osteoporosis and 15 years for blood pressure. It's why I think that we will find other indications for calcium at a faster pace in the next 10 years. One of the newest frontiers for calcium is in colon cancer prevention. Laboratory, clinical and population studies suggest that a diet high in calcium may protect against this widespread disease.
Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States today.
The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 100,000 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed in 1999 in the United States and that 50,000 people will die from the disease. Colon cancer develops from tiny polyps that are the result of rapidly multiplying cells in the lining of the intestine. Why these cells develop into polyps is not completely understood, but the theory is that a high-fat diet produces high amounts of fatty acids in the intestine, which accelerate the cell proliferation. Growing evidence suggests that calcium can slow this process by binding to fatty acids and bile acids. Studies have found that both calcium supplements and calcium-rich foods can help achieve these changes.