Dietary Fibre Calcium Absorption

The study confirmed the effect of high doses of dietary calcium against the risk of colon cancer development.

Dietary fibre calcium absorption. Dietary fiber british spelling fibre or roughage is the portion of plant derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Calcium absorption using a 47 ca tracer method in 9 week old rats from a purified diet containing fibre at a level of 50 g kg was reduced by wheat and wheat tdf fibre preparations and was unaffected by apple orange pea sugarbeet barley pectin and guar gum compared to the cellulose containing diet. Recommended calcium intakes are relatively high because less than one third of dietary calcium is absorbed. Most absorption takes place in the acidic environment of the duodenum via active transport and under the influence of vitamin d.

It was evident that the milk calcium bioavailability of the diets containing two fiber formulations tested at the levels studied was at par with that of control standard diet containing. Dietary fiber can be either insoluble or soluble. Dietary fibre from plants low in phytate bound calcium in proportion to its uronic acid content. This relationship was observed across different levels of dietary fiber and the beneficial effect of dietary calcium depended on the level of dietary fiber suggesting modification effect of calcium and fiber.

Insoluble fiber is found in vegetables whole wheat and other whole grains. Soluble fiber which dissolves in water is generally fermented in the colon into gases and physiologically active by products such as short chain fatty acids produced in the colon by gut bacteria. The 2010 dietary guidelines for americans recommend that a woman consume at least 25 and a man at least 38 grams of dietary fiber daily. If your consumption is in this range and you take in less than 40 grams of fiber daily it won t interfere with absorption of other essential nutrients such as calcium magnesium or zinc but you should add.

However as is true with fiber most americans do not consume enough calcium. Calcium absorption occurs in the digestive system as calcium we receive from food or supplements moves across the gut lining and into the blood. Soluble fiber dissolves in water and insoluble fiber does not. Eating a high fiber whole wheat cereal with milk macaroni and cheese or drinking a tall cold glass of milk with boston baked beans and hot dogs may be great tasting combinations but they do not boost bone building nutrition.

Calcium absorption was also reduced. It has two main components. The alkaline ph in the jejunum and ileum allows primarily passive absorption in small amounts. This binding by the non cellulosic fraction of fibre will reduce the availability of calcium for small intestinal absorption but the colonic microbial digestion of uronic acids will liberate the calcium.