Be sure to read this to the end. Nyah Levi
May 19, 2004
NUTRITION NEWS FOCUS
"Nutrition news is important. We help you understand it!"

Today's Topic: Calcium is Your Kidney's Friend

Physicians in the U.S. used to routinely recommend low calcium diets
to treat people with kidney stones. The thinking was that since the
stones are mostly calcium, less calcium from the diet would reduce the
chance of deposits in the kidney. It turns out exactly the opposite
is true. Higher dietary calcium helps prevent kidney stones.

The latest study on this assessed 96,000 nurses and found over 1,200
cases of kidney stones. A highly significant 27 percent reduction in
stones was seen in the women consuming the highest amount of calcium
in the diet; supplements did not show a protective effect. In
addition, phytate – a chemical in high fiber foods that binds minerals
– showed a stronger protective effect, reducing stone formation by
37 percent. The study appeared in the April 26, 2004 edition of the
Archives of Internal Medicine.
< http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/co...tract/164/8/885 >

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Although observational studies
like this one cannot prove cause and effect, the results on calcium
agree with many other types of studies. Animal protein and fluid
intake also decreased risk of stone formation, as in other studies.