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High-Protein Diet Won't Weaken Your
Bones
As long as you take calcium and vitamin D supplements with
it, study says
By Colette Bouchez
HealthScoutNews Reporter
MONDAY, March 25
(HealthScoutNews) -- Into the
continuing debate over a high-pro tein
diet's link to bone health comes a new
study showing that, when coupled
with adequate calcium and vitamin D,
protein may actually be good for your bones.
For years, scientists have theorized that a high-protein diet could
increase the risk of calcium loss.
But in research reported today in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, doctors say elderly people who ate a diet high
in animal or vegetable protein and took calcium and vitamin D
supplements significantly increased their bone density. They did
better than either those on a low-protein diet who took the same
supplements or those who took no supplements at all.
"We assessed the protein intake of all the participants, and divided
them into three groups -- low, middle and high. And our findings
were that the higher the protein intake, the better the bone density
changes over a period of three years if you were in the
calcium-supplemented group," says study author Dr. Beth
Dawson-Hughes, a Tufts University scientist.
However, in the control group, the higher amounts of protein had
no such positive effect. In fact, Dawson-Hughes says, the more
protein consumed without benefit of calcium supplementation, the
greater the trend toward bone density loss, although that loss was
not considered significant.
She emphasizes that her research does not conclude that a
high-protein diet without calcium increases the risk of bone loss.
Rather, she says, it suggests the "possibility that consuming more
protein can be helpful to bone, as long as you're meeting the
calcium requirements."
For endocrinologist Dr. Loren Wissner Greene, the finding is
intriguing, partly because past research has shown that
high-protein diets can harm bone health, mostly by increasing the
rate of urinary calcium excretion and interfering with calcium
absorption in the intestines.
"But this study proposes the idea that even if protein does have a
negative effect on the bones, you can not only overcome this by
the addition of adequate calcium and vitamin D, but that working
synergistically, these nutrients may even cause the protein to turn
around and become a helpful component," she says.
The latest research, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial,
involved 342 healthy men and women over the age of 65. Each
was given either a supplement containing 500 milligrams of calcium
and adequate vitamin D for absorption or a placebo, which they
took daily for three years.
At the start of the study, and in six- months intervals throughout,
researchers measured the bone density of the participants, using a
system known as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
Measurements were taken at various points in the body, including
the neck and the spine.
Midway through the study, researchers also gave out a
questionnaire to determine intake of both calcium-rich and
high-protein foods.
Only at the conclusion of the study did the researchers find out
who was taking the calcium supplements and who was not. They
then tallied the food questionnaires to determine the amount of
protein each person was consuming, as well as their level of
dietary calcium.
From that they developed the following subgroups: low, medium
and high protein intake, with an average of 870 milligrams of
dietary calcium daily; and low, medium and high protein intake
with an average of 1,300 milligrams of calcium daily with adequate
vitamin D.
After adjusting for influences of age, sex, weight and total calorie
intake, they determined that all those on the high-protein diet who
took the calcium and vitamin D supplements saw positive effects
on bone health. Those who ate the most protein saw the most
dramatic effects, particularly in bone-density measurements of the
neck.
By comparison, those who had no vitamin/mineral supplementation
showed almost no positive changes in bone mass density, no
matter how much their protein intake increased.
In fact, says Dawson-Hughes, there was some evidence to show
that when higher amounts of protein were consumed without the
benefits of calcium and vitamin D, bone health suffered.
What's important to note, she adds, is that even in the group
consuming the greatest amount of protein, the level was not
unusually high, averaging about 96 grams a day. The
recommended amount of daily protein is between 40 grams and
60 grams daily.
For Wissner Greene, the message is that you can't go wrong if you
supplement your diet with calcium and vitamin D.
"No matter how much protein you eat, getting adequate calcium
and vitamin D will be healthy for your bones," she says.
Bones
As long as you take calcium and vitamin D supplements with
it, study says
By Colette Bouchez
HealthScoutNews Reporter
MONDAY, March 25
(HealthScoutNews) -- Into the
continuing debate over a high-pro tein
diet's link to bone health comes a new
study showing that, when coupled
with adequate calcium and vitamin D,
protein may actually be good for your bones.
For years, scientists have theorized that a high-protein diet could
increase the risk of calcium loss.
But in research reported today in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition, doctors say elderly people who ate a diet high
in animal or vegetable protein and took calcium and vitamin D
supplements significantly increased their bone density. They did
better than either those on a low-protein diet who took the same
supplements or those who took no supplements at all.
"We assessed the protein intake of all the participants, and divided
them into three groups -- low, middle and high. And our findings
were that the higher the protein intake, the better the bone density
changes over a period of three years if you were in the
calcium-supplemented group," says study author Dr. Beth
Dawson-Hughes, a Tufts University scientist.
However, in the control group, the higher amounts of protein had
no such positive effect. In fact, Dawson-Hughes says, the more
protein consumed without benefit of calcium supplementation, the
greater the trend toward bone density loss, although that loss was
not considered significant.
She emphasizes that her research does not conclude that a
high-protein diet without calcium increases the risk of bone loss.
Rather, she says, it suggests the "possibility that consuming more
protein can be helpful to bone, as long as you're meeting the
calcium requirements."
For endocrinologist Dr. Loren Wissner Greene, the finding is
intriguing, partly because past research has shown that
high-protein diets can harm bone health, mostly by increasing the
rate of urinary calcium excretion and interfering with calcium
absorption in the intestines.
"But this study proposes the idea that even if protein does have a
negative effect on the bones, you can not only overcome this by
the addition of adequate calcium and vitamin D, but that working
synergistically, these nutrients may even cause the protein to turn
around and become a helpful component," she says.
The latest research, a randomized, placebo-controlled trial,
involved 342 healthy men and women over the age of 65. Each
was given either a supplement containing 500 milligrams of calcium
and adequate vitamin D for absorption or a placebo, which they
took daily for three years.
At the start of the study, and in six- months intervals throughout,
researchers measured the bone density of the participants, using a
system known as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.
Measurements were taken at various points in the body, including
the neck and the spine.
Midway through the study, researchers also gave out a
questionnaire to determine intake of both calcium-rich and
high-protein foods.
Only at the conclusion of the study did the researchers find out
who was taking the calcium supplements and who was not. They
then tallied the food questionnaires to determine the amount of
protein each person was consuming, as well as their level of
dietary calcium.
From that they developed the following subgroups: low, medium
and high protein intake, with an average of 870 milligrams of
dietary calcium daily; and low, medium and high protein intake
with an average of 1,300 milligrams of calcium daily with adequate
vitamin D.
After adjusting for influences of age, sex, weight and total calorie
intake, they determined that all those on the high-protein diet who
took the calcium and vitamin D supplements saw positive effects
on bone health. Those who ate the most protein saw the most
dramatic effects, particularly in bone-density measurements of the
neck.
By comparison, those who had no vitamin/mineral supplementation
showed almost no positive changes in bone mass density, no
matter how much their protein intake increased.
In fact, says Dawson-Hughes, there was some evidence to show
that when higher amounts of protein were consumed without the
benefits of calcium and vitamin D, bone health suffered.
What's important to note, she adds, is that even in the group
consuming the greatest amount of protein, the level was not
unusually high, averaging about 96 grams a day. The
recommended amount of daily protein is between 40 grams and
60 grams daily.
For Wissner Greene, the message is that you can't go wrong if you
supplement your diet with calcium and vitamin D.
"No matter how much protein you eat, getting adequate calcium
and vitamin D will be healthy for your bones," she says.
