WHY ARE VEGETARIANS PROTECTED FROM OSTEOPOROSIS

In 1983, the Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported the results of a study of bone densities in the United States. Researchers at Michigan State and other major universities found that, by the age of 65 in the United States:

• Male vegetarians had an average measurable bone loss of 3%
• Male meat-eaters had an average measurable bone loss of 7%
• Female vegetarians had an average measurable bone loss of 18%
• Female meat-eaters had an average measurable bone loss of 35%

In 1984, another major study of bone densities in the United State was reported by the Medical Tribune. The conclusion was typical of the many such studies: vegetarians were found to have "significantly stronger bone"

At the age of 65, the average meat eating woman in the United States has lost over a third of her skeletal structure. In contrast, older vegetarian women tend to remain active, maintain erect postures, and are less likely to fracture or break bones even with their increased physical activity. If their bones do break or fracture, they heal faster and more completely.

You may wonder, since osteoporosis seems to be caused by excessive dietary protein, why vegetarians seem so protected from its ravages. Isn't it possible to overdose on vegetarian proteins? Even haunted by the protein myth, however, vegetarians tend not to over-consume protein to the extent that meat-eaters do, and this is one reason they do not suffer nearly as much osteoporosis. But even if a vegetarian were to consume as much excess protein as a meat-eater, he or she would still have stronger bones because meat, eggs and fish contribute to osteoporosis in other way - pH of the blood.

Keeping our blood at an essentially neutral pH is a top priority for the body. If our blood were to become too acidic we would die. Accordingly, if the diet contains a lot of acid forming foods, then the body, in its wisdom, withdraws calcium from the bones and uses this alkaline mineral to balance the pH of the blood. As we can see meat, eggs and fish are the most acid-forming foods, and hence the ones that cause calcium to be drawn from the bones to restore the pH balance. Most fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, generally yield an alkaline ash, and so require no depletion of calcium stores from the bones to maintain the neutrality of the blood.

Therefore, it is advisable to consume more vegetarian foods than meat, egg and fish in order to keep our bones stronger and maintain the neutrality of our blood, and subsequently protect us from osteoporosis and other major diseases.

WHAT IS OSTEOPOROSIS AND HOW TO KEEP OUR BONES SOLID?

Osteoporosis is a clinical name given for bone mineral losses (called 'bone re-sorption'). For a person technically to qualify for this label, it means he has lost 50% to 75% of the original bone materials from his skeleton. The loss of calcium and other minerals from the bones is a gradual process which takes a long time before it becomes evident. And it is usually not apparent until loose teeth, receding gums, or a fractured hip show how brittle and chalky the bones have become. As a result, the calcium-deficient bones may break with the slightest provocation, even a mere sneeze may crack a rib.

The reason why the decreasing bone density is hard to be detected is that even in extremes cases of osteoporosis, the calcium level of the blood is usually normal. In the body's ranking of needs, the blood level of calcium takes definite priority over the bone level of calcium. The body needs calcium in the blood for vital operations, such as controlling muscular contractions, blood clotting, transmission of nerve impulses, and other utterly essential tasks. When the body needs to supply calcium to the blood for any reason, it acts as if the bones were a "bank" of stored calcium, and through a series of biochemical reactions, calcium is withdrawn from the calcium bank to be supplied to the blood.

People believe that bones lost calcium only if there were not enough calcium in their diets. For this point of view, and the solution they propose, is to drink higher protein dairy products. However, the modern nutritional research indicates a major flaw in this perspective. In fact, osteoporosis is a disease caused by a number of things, the most important of which is excess dietary protein!

The incidence of osteoporosis correlates directly with protein intake, ie the more excess protein in the diet the greater the incidence of negative calcium balance, and the greater the loss of calcium from the bone. In other words, the more protein in our diet, the more calcium we lose. Therefore, high protein diets in general, and meat based diets in particular, lead to a gradual decrease in bone density, and produce the ongoing development of osteoporosis.

Many studies carried out during the past decades show that the most important dietary change that we can make in order to create a positive calcium balance that will keep our bones solid is not to increase the amount of calcium in our daily diets, but to decrease the amount of protein we take in.