[Calcium and health]

An adequate intake of calcium is only not limited to avoid the risk of osteoporosis and its benefits in longterm bone health, but also it has been linked to protection against various major diseases, such as hypertension, cancer, kidney stones, insulin resistance, diabetes... and several investigations suggest its importance in preventing and controlling obesity. Studies conducted in Spanish representative samples show that a high percentage of adults and children (> 75%) don't achieve the recommended intake of calcium. Moreover, are growing trends among the population suggesting that calcium intake and dairy consumption (main food source of the mineral) are high, and even excessive, in many individuals. This misconception results in that the calcium intake is increasingly far from the recommended one. The maximum tolerable intake of the mineral is fixed at 2.500 mg/day, but this intake is unusual, and it's more disturbing and frequent, to find intakes below the recommended calcium intakes (1.000 and 1.200 mg/day in adults, men and women, respectively). Data from different studies highlight the risk of an inadequate calcium intake and the damages that may affect the health in a long term. It is not about transmitting indiscriminate guidelines in order to increase the intake of calcium / dairy, but the recommended intakes must be met to achieve both the nutritional and health benefits. Also activities for demystification of misconceptions are need, increasingly frequent, that may impair health population.