Calcium Helps Ward Off Colon Cancer
New York – The intake of calcium has been repeatedly proven to build strong bones, decrease the likelihood of osteoporosis, and help the heart and metabolism, but new studies show that calcium can help to ward off colon cancer in women and men, but predominately women.
Why the risk of the cancer drops in women and not as much in men is unclear, but it could be because of the different hormones in men and women.
This new study followed approximately 500,000 people over the course of seven years, examining their health and studying their dietary habits, the data demonstrated that women who took in the most calcium had a twenty three percent less chance of contracting colon cancer than women who ingested the least amount of calcium.
While calcium has been strongly linked to a decrease in colon cancer, it appears to have little or no effect on prostate, breast, and other types of cancer.
All in all, while calcium has been proven to help individuals stay healthy, supplemental calcium is not the answer, but a moderate diet tempered with other healthy vitamins and minerals is.
Lead author Yikyung Park, Sc.D., of the National Cancer Institute, said: “Dairy food, which is relatively high in potentially anticarcinogenic nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D and conjugated linoleic acid, has been postulated to protect against the development of colorectal and breast cancer.
“In conclusion, our findings suggest that calcium intake consistent with current recommendations is associated with a lower risk of total cancer in women and cancers of the digestive system, especially colorectal cancer, in both men and women,” the authors write.