American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 70, No. 2, 302-303,
August 1999
© 1999 American Society for Clinical Nutrition
Reply to WB Grant
Fabrizis L Suarez,
Jacqueline Adshead,
Julie K Furne and
Michael D Levitt
Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center One Veterans Drive Minneapolis, MN 55417 E-mail: Michael.D.Levitt-1{at}tc.umn.edu
Dear Sir:
We emphasize that the sole purpose of our study was to determine whether lactose maldigesters are able to tolerate lactose in dairy products that provide 
1500 mg Ca/d. The results of our study clearly suggested that this is the case (1).
The complex issue of the potential benefit or harm of a dairy-rich diet was not the topic of our study. However, the results of many studies have supported the benefits of a high-calcium diet in the prevention of osteoporosis (2–9) and the evidence in this regard was sufficient to convince a National Institutes of Health consensus conference to recommend that postmenopausal women ingest 1500 mg Ca/d (9).
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Anonymous. Optimal calcium intake. NIH Consens Statement 1994;21:1–31.
