MELBOURNE, Australia--Consumption of milk fortified with calcium and vitamin D preserved bone mineral density (BMD) in older men, according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research (21:397-405, 2006).
In the two-year, randomized, controlled study, researchers from Deakin University supplemented men greater than 50 years of age with 400 ml of reduced fat (one-percent) ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk fortified with 1,000 mg of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D3 per day; a control group did not receive the fortified milk. Primary endpoints included changes in BMD, serum concentrations of vitamin D, and blood levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH). After two years, the mean percent change in BMD at the femoral neck, total hip and ultradistal radius was 0.9 to1.6 percent less in individuals given fortified milk than in the control group. There was a greater increase in lumbar spine BMD in the fortified milk group after 12 and 18 months, although the difference was not significant after two years. Serum vitamin D levels increased and PTH decreased in the fortified milk group relative to the control group after the first year, and these differences persisted after two years. Body weight remained unchanged in both groups (n=167) at the end of the study.
The researchers concluded supplementing the diet of men greater than 50 years of age with reduced-fat calcium- and vitamin D3-enriched milk may represent a simple, nutritionally sound and cost-effective strategy to reduce age-related bone loss at several skeletal sites susceptible to fracture in the elderly.
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