Whey products, milk minerals and dairy calcium - InnovateWithDairy ...

APPLICATIONS MONOGRAPH ■ CALCIUMBUILDING AND MAINTAINING STRONG BONES:A Case for Balance in Dietary Mineral ConsumptionDr. Eric BastianDirector Research and Development, Glanbia Foods Inc.Recently, the importance of dietarycalcium has increased becauseresearch has established thatcalcium is not only essential forbone growth and development,it is important for regulation of cellfunction, nerve conduction, musclecontraction, and blood coagulation.In addition, calciumprovides a protective role againstosteoporosis, essential hypertension,gestational hypertension,hypercholesterolemia, certaincancers (colon and mammary)and possibly gallstones.Several population segments in bothdeveloped and developing countrieshave low calcium intake. Calciumsupplementation and fortificationhas become increasingly importantand calcium is being incorporatedinto many food products aroundthe world. Calcium supplementsare usually calcium salts suchas calcium citrate, calciumlactate, calcium carbonate, andcalcium phosphate.In the hype that has surroundedcalcium supplementation andfortification, one of the basicprinciples of nutrition, balance,has been neglected and overlooked.Obviously, to maintain propercomposition of mineral in the bone,there must be adequate absorptionand delivery of all bone minerals tobone sites in the human body.Phosphorus is required for bonegrowth and maintenance, and mostrecommendations for phosphorusare to maintain a dietary calcium :phosphorus ratio of 2:1. Magnesiumis also an important mineral inbone development. Most of thecalcium supplements deliveronly calcium and none of the otherbone building minerals such asmagnesium, potassium, zinc andother minerals required for goodbone health.Just as Ca/Mg/K ratios have receivedlittle attention among researchers inthe osteoporosis area, ratios of therequired micronutrients also havereceived little attention. The effectsof calcium supplementation withand without zinc, copper andmanganese showed that boneloss in postmenopausal womencould be only partly arrested by Casupplementation, but to fully maintainbone mass, trace minerals wererequired. It can be concluded thatmany minerals are required foroptimal bone growth and health,but that the extreme focus on onlycalcium has, in a sense, inhibited thepromotion of a balanced approach formineral supplementation, particularlyfor segments of the population thatare at risk for osteoporosis.One mineral supplement that hasbeen widely accepted in Asia and isrecognized there as the “premier”bone building supplement is “milkcalcium” (more accurately called milkmineral). It has been recently shownby several studies that milk mineralcontains the appropriate balance ofminerals for optimal bone health. Milkmineral is an ingredient that retainsthe mineral balance of milk whileallowing for mineral supplementationinto products that traditionallydo not contain good ratios of bonebuilding minerals.BIOAVAILABILITY OF CALCIUMFROM DAIRY SOURCESThere are many factors that influencecalcium bioavailability. Both exogenousand endogenous factors influence calciumbioavailability. Level of calcium intake,vitamin D status, phytates, oxalates, lipids,phosphopeptides and other proteins,lactose, phosphorus and caffeine are amongthe exogenous factors influencing theintestinal calcium absorption.Dairy foods and ingredients are not onlyrich in calcium, but the calcium from thesesources is readily available. Normal healthyindividuals absorb about 20 to 35% of thecalcium in dairy foods and ingredients.Studies have shown that the calciumabsorption efficiency from non-dairycalcium fortified sources (such as fortifiedsoy milk) was 25% less than that from adairy source.*For this reason, manufacturers can rely ondairy ingredients rich in calcium (from milkpowders, whey minerals to various typesof whey ingredients) to provide adequatefortification with a highly bioavailablecalcium content. Furthermore, dairycalcium is 100% natural (all natural “clean”label appeal) and contains a range ofother minerals such as phosphorusand magnesium.*Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.2000. 71: 1166-1169.6eJ.6