Calcium absorption from small soft-boned fish

The prevalence of osteoporosis in developing countries is low compared to m ost industrialised countries despite an apparent low Ca intake. It is possi ble, however, that food surveys have overlooked important Ca sources in dev eloping countries. Small fish eaten with the bones can be a rich source of Ca, even though Ca from bone may be considered unavailable for absorption. Tn the present study, absorption of Ca from indigenous Bengali small fish w as compared with the Ca absorption from milk. Ca absorption from single meals was determined in 19 healthy men and women (21-28 y). Each subject received two meal types on two separate occasions. Both meals consisted of white wheat bread, butter and ultra pure water with the main Ca source being either small Bengali fish (397 mg Ca in total) or skimmed milk (377 mg Ca in total). The meals were extrinsically labelled w ith Ca-47, and whole-body retention was measured on day 8, 12, 15 and 19 af ter intake of each meal. The labelling procedure was evaluated by an in vit ro method. The calculated absorption of Ca as measured with Ca-47 whole-body retention was 23.8+/-5.6% from the fish meal and 21.8+/-6.1% from the milk meal (mea n +/-SD), which was not significantly different (p=0.52). Even after correc tion for an incomplete isotope exchange, as indicated by the in vitro study , Ca absorption was similar from the two meal types. It was concluded that Ca absorption from small Bengali fish was comparable that from skimmed milk , and that these fish may represent a good source of Ca.