In Brief: Calcium RDI
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Calcium RDI: "To achieve maximal calcium retention in adolescence, an intake of 1,300 mg is required for the population mean," Connie Weaver, PhD, Purdue University, suggests at the Fifth Annual Congress on Women's Health, held in Washington, D.C. June 23-25. Thirteen hundred mg of calcium daily would be the level needed for achieving peak bone mass, she says. The current recommended daily intake for teenage girls, 1,200 mg, did not fall within the 95% confidence interval for maximal calcium retention in a small study Weaver conducted at Purdue's "Camp Calcium," during which teenage girls were given varying levels of calcium for three weeks and evaluated to find their level of maximal retention. Weaver is a member of the Food & Nutrition Board panel that is revising the RDIs for calcium and related nutrients. A report from the panel will be released later this summer...