Breakfast or dinner? The optimal timing for taking calcium to ward off the risk of heart disease

Researchers conducted an analysis of calcium consumption and found that distributing it between breakfast and dinner reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study found that reducing calcium intake by 5% at dinner and increasing calcium intake by 5% at breakfast reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by 6%.

The researchers noted that dietary calcium can improve blood lipids, fat mass and blood pressure, which are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide, which includes heart failure, heart attacks and stroke.

The key to absorbing calcium, which is abundant in dairy products, dark leafy greens and some fish, may be the body's 24-hour biological clock.

“From a circadian pattern perspective, research suggests that calcium absorption may be a little higher during the day because some of the hormones required to metabolize Calcium as parathyroid hormone, for example, also tends to be higher during daylight hours."

During the study, researchers examined dietary calcium intake in more than 36,000 American adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2003 and 2018.

The study participants were 17,456 males, 18,708 females, and 4,040 patients with cardiovascular disease.

They were divided into groups according to their different intake of calcium in the morning and evening meals.

Excluded from the study were people under the age of 20, pregnant women, anyone using calcium supplements, those who consumed more than 4,500 calories per day, and those who did not have complete data.

The researchers found that distributing calcium intake over breakfast and dinner was the best way to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But reducing calcium intake at dinner by 5% to eating calcium at breakfast reduced this risk by 6% overall.

The Mayo Clinic recommends that men ages 19 to 70 and women ages 19 to 50 consume 1,000 mg of calcium daily, while men ages 71 and older and women ages 51 and older should get 1,200 mg. .

The recommended upper limit for calcium is 2,500 mg per day for adults aged 19 to 50 years, and 2,000 mg for the elderly.

Richter noted that those who eat a "balanced diet rich in plants, nuts, seeds, and occasional dairy products or fortified dairy alternatives" likely do not need calcium supplements.