Drink up: Foods high in calcium have been linked to a lower risk of death.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Apart from calcium’s key role in keeping your bones healthy, you don’t hear much else about this mineral. But the connection between calcium and health goes beyond stronger bones: A new study out of Sweden strongly suggests that somewhat large doses of calcium may help you live longer.

THE DETAILS: As reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers at the Karolinski Institute in Stockholm did a baseline analysis of the eating habits of 23,366 Swedish men in 1998. In a follow-up analysis nine years later, after adjusting for other dietary factors, the researchers found that those who consumed the most dietary calcium had experienced a 25 percent lower risk of death from all causes than those who consumed the least calcium. The higher-intake group averaged 1,953 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day, while the lower-intake group averaged 990 mg a day.

WHAT IT MEANS: To help you get a sense of what those levels of calcium mean, here’s what the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends for Americans each day: