Patients with type 2 diabetes excrete less calcium through their urine when on a high-fiber diet which indicates they absorb less of the mineral, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center studied 13 patients with type 2 diabetes who ate either 50 grams of fiber per day or 24 grams per day recommended by the ADA for six weeks, and then switched to the other diet for six weeks.

The results told them that the amount of dietary fiber has a direct impact on calcium absorption.

Since more fiber than what is recommended provides additional benefits in terms of lowering cholesterol and blood sugar level – crucial for diabetics – as well as improving bowel regularity, the researchers suggest increasingly calcium intake.

“Because more calcium equals better bone health, we recommend that people on high-fiber diets [consider] increasing their dietary calcium as well, in order to get the most benefit from both,” says Dr. Abhimanyu Garg, professor of internal medicine and an investigator in the Center for Human Nutrition at UT Southwestern.

The study results appear online in the journal Diabetes Care.