Raw Vegans at risk of Osteoporosis and Hip Fractures later in life?
Friday, February 22nd, 2008It has been suggested so…… but can it be true?
Raw Vegans have lower bone mass generally, which is thought to be a risk factor for osteoporosis.
A study found in the Archives of Internal Medicine compared 18 people on strict raw food diets with a group on the standard American diet with its cooked foods, refined foods and animal products. They found that the raw foodists had lower bone mass indeed and lower bone mineral density, but no evidence whatsoever of increased risk of osteoporosis and fractures. With other words: they had healthy bones!
Other studies have shown that there is a direct relation between osteoporosis and consumption of milk products. NOT with plant food diets, but with consumption of MILK. If you look at it, then you will discover that countries with the highest milk consumption and the highest calcium intake also have the highest rate of hip fractures. The more milk consumed, the higher the risk. And surprisingly, in countries where there is no milk consumed, there are no hip fractures.
I am always amazed when I look at the women here (this is Zimbabwe) with their strong bone structures. They don’t drink milk! They hardly get any calcium from their poor diets, but they are strong.
Looking at the evidence, it turns out that those who are consuming animal protein are the ones at risk!
Animal protein causes calcium loss in the urine. Vegetable protein does not do this. The result is a negative calcium balance, because more is lost than is ingested. That is one reason why milk with its high calcium does not offer protection but on the contrary puts you at high risk of osteoporosis!
Other factors which cause loss of calcium in the urine are salt (!), sugar, coffee, alcohol, smoking, and some medications.
On a plant food diet there is a higher absorption rate of calcium, meaning that we absorb more from plant foods than from milk, plus there is less calcium lost in the urine. The end result is a positive calcium balance, meaning that we ingest more than we loose.
Although we need less, we do need calcium though :). Next time you will learn more about the factors which help us to actually utilise the calcium from the foods! There may be enough in our diet, but you need to know what other factors are needed to make it all work!
Jannette Benschop
