The "aging face" that women are concerned about is caused by a decrease in facial bone density. Professor Motoko Onishi of Chubu University and her colleagues, in collaboration with Sanei Sugar Chemical Co., Ltd., have revealed that "facial bone density," including the upper and lower jaws, begins to decrease from the early stages before menopause. They have also confirmed that the resistant oligosaccharide "maltobionic acid" contributes to the maintenance and improvement of facial bone density.
After menopause, women are at higher risk of osteoporosis, which can lead to back pain, lumbar spine pain, and leg fractures, due to a decline in female hormone secretion, and appropriate calcium intake is considered important for maintaining bone mass. However, recent research has revealed that bone density loss in the face occurs earlier than in the legs and hips, even before menopause.
Maltobionic acid is an oligosaccharide component found in trace amounts in honey, discovered by Sanei Sugar Chemical. This time, 30 female staff members of Chubu University in their 60s to 48s were divided into a group that consumed sweets containing calcium maltobionic acid and a group that consumed sweets that did not contain it, and a clinical trial was conducted in which they consumed the sweets for 24 weeks. A dental X-ray CT device was used to measure the bone density of the face (upper and lower jaws).
As a result, facial bone mineral density decreased in both premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects in the non-maltobionate calcium intake group, whereas facial bone mineral density was maintained in both premenopausal and postmenopausal subjects in the maltobionate calcium intake group, demonstrating a significant improvement.
This suggests that facial bone density measurements using a dental X-ray CT scanner are a useful indicator for understanding bone health after the age of 30. Furthermore, continued intake of calcium maltobionate is expected to suppress the decrease in facial bone density even before menopause, be useful in preventing osteoporosis in the future, and contribute to maintaining one's appearance from a cosmetic standpoint.
