effects of dietary calcium on serum lipids, glucose and insuline in male rats

abstract: introduction & objective: there are different methods for improving hypercholesterolemia, insulin resistance and hypertriglyceridemia, the major risk factors of cardio-vascular disease. calcium, a nutrient essential for many vital functions of the body is now receiving much attention for its possible hypolipidemic effects. the large bodies of studies on the effects of calcium on the serum lipids have shown conflicting results and also there is little evidence for its effects on serum insulin and glucose. materials & methods: in this study, the researchers evaluated the effects of three levels of dietary calcium (0.2, 0.5 and 1.2 gram% diet) on serum cholesterol, hdl-cholesterol, ldl-cholesterol and serum insulin and glucose in male sprague-dawley rats. the amount of fecal fat excretion was measured to determine the possible mechanism of lipid lowering effects of calcium. results: findings showed that increasing dietary calcium lowerd the serum cholesterol (p=0.04), ldl-cholesterol (p=0.02) but had no significant effects on hdl-cholesterol, serum insulin and glucose. there was a dose dependent increase in fecal fat excretion but was not statistically different on a percent basis. conclusion: it can be concluded that calcium is an effective hypocholesterolemic nutrient but its effects on serum triglycerids, glucose and insulin need to be evaluated.