Calcium/Vitamin D Slows Weight Gain

Calcium/vitamin D supplements slow postmenopausal weight gain in women who aren't getting enough calcium.

The finding comes from a detailed, seven-year study of more than 36,000 U.S. women aged 50 to 79 enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative. Half the women took 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day; the other half took identical-looking, inactive placebo pills.

The study proved what many have learned from experience: After menopause,  women tend to gain weight until their mid-60s.  "This study clearly demonstrates what happens to women over time. The most weight gain was in the youngest postmenopausal women," Kaiser Permanente researcher Bette Caan, DrPH, tells WebMD.

But the study also showed that calcium/vitamin D supplements slowed this weight gain -- particularly among women who weren't getting enough calcium to begin with.

"Women not taking enough calcium were getting the greatest benefit. They were 11% less likely to gain weight and more likely to remain weight-stable or lose weight," Caan says. "The effect was not cumulative: Women got the benefit after three years, and then were able to maintain that benefit."

This is good news for women, says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  "The neat thing about this study is there may be a very easy little thing women can do to prevent some of that weight gain after menopause: Keep their calcium up," Bonci tells WebMD.

Caan and colleagues report the finding in the May 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.