Calcium from Dairy Products and Human Health
2014
Gaucheron, Frederic
The human body contains a large amount of calcium (about 1000 g for a weight of 70 kg). This element is mainly located in bone tissue (99 % of the total body calcium) where it provides the rigidity of the skeleton. The remaining 1% is present in teeth and various fluids, where it plays important physiological roles (blood clotting, muscle contraction…). To ensure these vital functions and prevent deficiency states often found in young and elderly (osteoporosis), the calcium must be present in our food. Milk and dairy products, by their richness in calcium, contribute significantly to this need evaluated at more than 1 g/day. In industrialized countries, more than 2/3 of calcium comes from milk and dairy products with a bioavailability evaluated between 30 to 40%. Recent researches showed also that calcium from dairy products seems reduce hypertensive disorders, renal lithiasis, obesity and colon cancers. In a context of “Nutritional Therapies against Lifestyle Related Disorders”, the quantities, forms, associations of calcium with other compounds in different dairy products will be presented knowing that a good understanding of interactions of calcium at molecular level is necessary to evaluate the effect of this element on the Human health. The actual research questions concerning the dairy calcium will be also discussed.
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