Milk calcium taken with cheese increases bone mineral density and bone strength in growing rats.
We investigated the calcium bioavailability of milk calcium, taken with or without cheese. Twenty-four 6-week-old male rats for a meal-feeding experiment were trained to consume an AIN-76 diet within 2 h (2 times per day) for 2 weeks. The rats were then divided into three experimental groups, each fed 2 types of experimental diets: Control group, Cheese group, and Ca-Cheese group. The rats were each alternately given 2 types of experimental diets at 2-h meal-feeding for 31 days. The breaking force and energy of the femur in the Ca-Cheese group were significantly higher than in the control group. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine and the femur in the Ca-Cheese group was also significantly higher than in the other two groups. These results indicate that milk calcium taken with cheese increases bone strength and BMD efficiently, results that may be useful for the prevention of osteoporosis.
Kato
Ken
K
Product Planning and Development Division, Snow Brand Frozen Foods Co., Ltd., Kawagoe, Saitama 350-1165, Japan. k-ken@mxp.mesh.ne.jp
Takada
Yukihiro
Y
Matsuyama
Hiroaki
H
Kawasaki
Yoshihiro
Y
Aoe
Seiichiro
S
Yano
Hideo
H
Toba
Yasuhiro
Y
D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001835:Body Weight; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D002136:Calcium, Dietary / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002611:Cheese; D005269:Femur / Q000502:physiology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
D002136:Calcium, Dietary