Preventing Osteoporosis with Excellent Nutrition
I’m happy to have Dr. Joel Fuhrman here to share about which foods are good and bad for bone health and preventing osteoporosis. Because of the milk industry, so many people believe that milk builds healthy bones, but Dr. Fuhrman is here to explain why that just isn’t true:
Preventing Osteoporosis with Excellent Nutrition
By: Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
Bone health is directly linked to nutrition. Certain foods promote breakdown of bone and osteoporosis. Other foods, such as beans and vegetables, supply your body with the nutrients necessary to build and maintain healthy, strong bones and prevent osteoporosis.
The worst foods for bone health:
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Animal protein and other high protein foods leave acidic residues in the blood, and the body responds by dissolving bone to release basic calcium salts to neutralize the acid, which results in loss of calcium in the urine. Many studies have found animal protein intake to be associated with low bone mass.[i],[ii]In contrast, plant protein intake is associated with decreased hip fractures in the elderly.i Natural plant foods do not leave an acidic residue in the blood or promote urinary calcium excretion.[iii],[iv]
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Saltpromotes the excretion of calcium in the urine.[v] (Careful here! It’s okay to have a small amount of good quality salt, like from miso or shoyu, but most people go way overboard. Check out The Kind Diet or for more info on salt. – AS)
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Caffeine also contributes to urinary calcium loss. High caffeine intake is associated with increased bone loss and osteoporotic fractures.[vi],[vii]
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Soda, including diet and decaffeinated soda, is associated with bone loss.[viii],[ix] Soda consumption increases parathyroid hormone (PTH) in the blood, which increases blood calcium concentrations by stimulating bone breakdown. This increased blood calcium is then excreted in the urine.[x]
The best foods for bone health:
Studies show that individuals with the highest consumption of vegetables have the strongest bones.[xi],[xii]
Whole plant foods are the best foods for bones:
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Beans, seeds, and greens. A diet full of natural plant foods provides the calcium required to build strong bones. Green vegetables in particular are rich calcium sources. For example, one four-ounce serving of steamed kale has just as much calcium as one cup of milk. Broccoli, bok choy, spinach, sesame seeds, and garbanzo beans are also excellent calcium sources. Furthermore, the body absorbs over 50% of the calcium in green vegetables, compared to only 32% of the calcium in milk.[xiii]
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Green vegetables are high in vitamin K, which is a crucial component for maintaining healthy bones.[xiv]
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Nuts and seeds are rich in magnesium, an essential mineral for the formation of bone tissue.[xv] They also help maintain adequate calorie and protein intake, to maintain muscle and bone mass without having to rely on high acid-forming animal products.
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Please share this with your veg and non-veg friends and family!
Do you have more questions about this?
Post them in the comments and I’ll try to answer in a future blog.
Dr. Fuhrman is a best-selling author, nutritional researcher and board certified family physician specializing in nutritional medicine. Learn more by visiting his informative website at DrFuhrman.com and his blog at Diseaseproof.com, and following Dr. Fuhrman on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo source: flickr.com / akeg
[i]Sellmeyer DE, Stone KL, Sebastian A, Cummings SR. A high ratio of dietary animal to vegetable protein increases the rate of bone loss and the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;73(1):118-122.
[ii]Devine A, Dick IM, Islam AF, et al. Protein consumption is an important predictor of lower limb bone mass in elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;81(6):1423-1428.
[iii]Welch AA, Mulligan A, Bingham SA, Khaw KT. Urine pH is an indicator of dietary acid-base load, fruit and vegetables and meat intakes: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk population study. Br J Nutr. 2008 Jun;99(6):1335-43.
[iv]Massey LK.. Dietary animal and plant protein and human bone health: a whole foods approach. J Nutr 2003 Mar;133(3):862S-865S.
[v]Teucher B, Fairweather-Tait S. Dietary sodium as a risk factor for osteoporosis: where is the evidence? Proc Nutr Soc. 2003;62(4):859-866.
[vi]Rapuri PB, Gallagher JC, Kinyamu HK, Ryschon KL. Caffeine intake increases the rate of bone loss in elderly women and interacts with vitamin D receptor genotypes. Am J Clin Nutr. 2001;74(5):694-700.
[vii]Hallström H, Wolk A, Glynn A, Michaëlsson K. Coffee, tea and caffeine consumption in relation to osteoporotic fracture risk in a cohort of Swedish women. Osteoporos Int. 2006;17(7):1055-1064.
[viii]McGartland C, Robson PJ, Murray L, et al. Carbonated soft drink consumption and bone mineral density in adolescence: the Northern Ireland Young Hearts project. J Bone Miner Res. 2003 Sep;18(9):1563-9.
[ix]Mahmood M, Saleh A, Al-Alawi F, Ahmed F. Health effects of soda drinking in adolescent girls in the United Arab Emirates. J Crit Care. 2008 Sep;23(3):434-40
[x]Larson NS, Amin R, Olsen C, Poth MA. "Effect of Diet Cola on urine calcium excretion" ENDO 2010; Abstract P2-198. http://www.endojournals.org/abstracts/P2-1_to_P2-500.pdf
[xi]Tucker KL, Hannan MT, Chen H, et al. Potassium, magnesium, and fruit and vegetable intakes are associated with greater mineral density in elderly men and women. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69(4):727-736.
[xii]New SA, Robins SP, Campbell MK, et al. Dietary influences on bone mass and bone metabolism: further evidence of a positive link between fruit and vegetable consumption and bone health? Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71(1):142-151.
[xiii]Weaver CM, Plawecki KL. Dietary calcium: adequacy of a vegetarian diet. Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59(suppl):1238S-1241S.
[xiv]Feskanich D, Weber P, Willett WC, et al. Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: a prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69(1):74-79.
[xv] Rude RK, Singer FR, Gruber HE. Skeletal and hormonal effects of magnesium deficiency. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Apr;28(2):131-41.
27 comments
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Very interesting ~ but I beg to differ about SPINACH being a good source of Calcium.
Spinach having large amounts of oxalic acid cause our bodies to buffer this acid from our calcium stores. Any vegetable or food that is high in oxalic acid is not a good source of calcium as it uses up alot of our calcium to digest and utilize it.
Perhaps he should have mentioned the nightshade veg. that also prevent calcium absorbtion and deplete our calcium stores. America is a country of Arthritics because we don't eat foods that consistently enrich our cal. stores but deplete it.
See the wonderful book (library) Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, he has a chapter on Calcium via foods for women, men and children that is enlightening.
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I've come across information indicating natto (fermented soybeans) contains a form of vit K that is beneficial to bone health. Two questions for you: how much natto is recommended for seeing benefits and, if one already has osteoporosis is it ever possible to increase bone density from making natto a part of one's diet?
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I have been a fan of Dr.Fuhrman for 4 years and went vegan with him. Glad Alicia is getting to know him but disappointed that the Trop 50 add is on this page as a "related post". So much for removing it.
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Thank you so much for this article. I was diagnosed with osteopenia a couple of years ago so it's important for me to take care of my bones as I'm at greater risk of developing osteoporosis -
Thanks so much for posting something about calcium; it's my single biggest issue with remaining vegan. I do not think the information about kale having as much calcium as a cup of milk is accurate. From my research, a cup of kale (8 ounces) has about half the amount of calcium as a glass of milk (16% DV vs. 30% DV). Collard greens, however, have much more calcium. Since I live "up north," it is extremely difficult to find good, dark leafy greens this time of year despite living near awesome co-ops and grocery stores (e.g., Whole Foods), and I question whether I can possibly get enough calcium from beans, seeds, and subpar greens from Mexico and CA. Those foods really fill you up too, so it's hard to eat a lot of them in one sitting. I did find a great calcium supplement made from food by Nature's Plus (Source of Life Garden), but I've read a lot about how you need to get your calcium directly from food for it to be absorbed properly. I'm at a loss; I don't want to eat dairy and gain weight and support an industry I don't agree with, yet I don't want to miss out on a vital nutrient. Does anyone else have this issue?
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Not sure how far north you live, but here in NH there are plenty of greens options. If you're really struggling though, try the frozen aisle. I buy frozen kale and spinach, which are both great. And so by your calculations, you'd need 16 ounces. That can seem like a lot, but having a big plate as a side dish with dinner will help out a lot and I like to add it into my smoothies in the morning. Blend it up and you really can't even taste it. Another thing I do is drink Vega One. I guess you could call it a supplement, but it's a powdered mix and is full plant-based. I drink the berry one with a bit of flax milk, frozen fruit, and frozen kale blended. It's so good and it's half of everything you'd need in a day. Good luck!
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Thanks, Briana. I had given up on finding frozen greens with calcium (because the DVs were so low), but I decided to go back to Whole Foods and see if they had anything. I found some new Earthbound Farm greens: kale has 10% DV and collards have 20%. I think the kale tastes great, but I don't care much for the collards. It's good to have an alternative while good, fresh greens are still hard to find. I did try the Vega shakes, but it made me sick. I only like their smoothie mix.
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I was reading recently about how dairy is actually not the great source for calcium that people have been led to believe. While there is a lot of calcium in dairy, there's also a component in it (and I forget what it was- I'll see if I can find the article again) that depletes calcium. Basically, drinking milk/dairy for calcium is like someone giving you $100 and then taking $500 from you. Regions that consume the most dairy have the highest rates of osteoporosis and other bone issues.-
Thanks for the reminder, Stefanie. I think I read something about the low absorption in Alicia's book. It's baffling how people continue to be told they'll lose their teeth and have brittle bones if they don't consume dairy.
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Good, fascinating info, Miss Silverstone. Greens and veg are very good for bone strength. Also nuts and seeds? Ok! Have a great day, superhero! X. -
Can all seeds be eaten? For example, I tgought peach, plum, etc. seeds have cyanide in them and should not be eaten. Someone told me that peach, plum, watermellon, etc. seeds are good to eat because they prevent cancer. Therefore, can I or should I eat all seeds?
Thank you
Alice -
Also as far as saying that soda causes osteoporosis, that is like saying that beverages cause osteoporosis. Anything that is carbonated, including water, is soda. He should mention something specific in soda like phosphorus or high fructose corn syrup. Not all sodas have those. Also some sodas have caffeine and/or salt in them. So he already said those substances cause osteoporosis regardless of what they are in. -
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This is kind of odd-- "It’s good to have some good quality salt." On a video about sea salt he says that sea salt is salt with some extra minerals. Then he says that if you add minerals to heroin, it is still heroin. So adding the 2 together means that it is good to have a little good quality heroin.
Salt is not a food. It is an inorganic substance like sand. Organic substances are things that are living or were living. For example petroleum oil is organic. All living things on planet earth are carbon based. They are based on chains of carbon atoms. This is what organic chemistry is about.
OK now on Star Trek there was a rock like creature on another planet that was silicon based (sand is silicon based). So thy healed its wound using plaster of paris. But that is fiction. -
Great info ! A year ago I began my vegan kinder life journey. Thanks to Alicia with The Kind Life and Dr Furhman with Eat to live, I've lost 20 pounds so far and took back the control of my health and life. I still have a long way to go but now I know that what lies ahead is pure compassion and freedom. Hoe to meet you some day ! Big hug from Belgium ;-)
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