Calcium effects on disease studied

There is no need for people to up their calcium dose to stave off osteoporosis in later life, research suggests.

While moderate amounts of calcium (around 700mg a day) are essential, increasing the dose with the hope of cutting the risk of bone disease and fractures offers no extra benefit.

A 100g wedge of Edam cheese contains about 795mg of calcium, while 100g of low fat yoghurt has about 140mg.

A 100g portion of sardines in tomato sauce has about 430mg of calcium, and 100ml of semi-skimmed milk has 120mg.

Dried figs offer 250mg of calcium per 100g portion while 100g of spinach contains 160mg.

In the latest study, Swedish researchers analysed data for more than 60,000 women who were followed up for 19 years.

Of those, 24 per cent suffered some sort of fracture while one in five of a subset of about 5,000 women developed osteoporosis.