CALCIUM AND ITS FOOD SOURCES, DAIRY AND SOY FOODS, IN RELATION TO CARDIOMETABOLIC DISEASES

Abstract

Title: Calcium and its food sources, dairy and soy foods, in relation to cardiometabolic diseases. In order to test the association of calcium and its major sources, dairy and soy, on cardiometabolic risk, we used Singapore Chinese Health Study, a population-based cohort of 63,257 Chinese adults. Diet was measured at recruitment using a food-frequency questionnaire, and urine isoflavones were assessed in two nested case-control studies. Mortality was identified via registry linkage, whereas type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension were self-report. We found no significant association between soy intake and urine isoflavones and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Urine isoflavones were also not associated with T2D risk. We found inverse associations between dairy intake and risk of stroke mortality, T2D, and hypertension. Dairy calcium was associated with lower cardiometabolic risk while the associations for non-dairy calcium were not significant. Our findings do not support a preventive role for soy intake but dairy intake may decrease the risk of stroke, T2D, and hypertension independent of its calcium content.