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For years, doctors and scientists have told the public to drink milk, eat dairy products and take calcium supplements to improve bone health and prevent osteoporosis. The problem is they’re wrong. A new book “Building Bone Vitality”, co-authored by Amy Lanou, UNC Asheville assistant professor of health and wellness, and noted health writer Michael Castleman, dispels the calcium myth using the latest clinical studies and medical information.
The authors’ suggested eating plan includes six to nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables and no more than one or two servings of high-protein foods such as meat, dairy and eggs daily. Why? Because protein is composed of amino acids. As the body digests high-protein foods, the blood becomes more acidic, leaching calcium from the bones.
For example, have you ever taken Tums for acid indigestion? Its active ingredient, calcium carbonate, neutralizes stomach acid because it’s highly alkaline. To neutralize excess acid in the bloodstream, the body draws the same compound from bone. A high-protein diet of meat, dairy and eggs draws calcium from bone and eventually causes osteoporosis, the authors say.
Of course, fruits and vegetables also contain some protein, but much less than meat, dairy and eggs. Fruits and vegetables also contain a great deal of alkaline material. When you eat these foods, only a small amount of acid enters the bloodstream along with a great deal of alkaline material, which neutralizes the acid. Therefore, the body does not have to draw calcium compounds out of bone.
“Fruits and vegetables keep calcium in bone where it belongs,” said Lanou.
To further back up their theory, Lanou and Castleman pored over completed human clinical trials and found that they also refute the calcium claim. Since 1975, 140 clinical trials have explored calcium’s effects on osteoporotic fracture risk. Two-thirds of these studies show no benefit from high calcium intake. Overall, the clinical trials dealing with fracture prevention run two-to-one against calcium, the authors noted.
Finally, the authors reviewed research on the impact of exercise on bone health. They found that the consensus of research shows that just 30 to 60 minutes of daily walking is enough exercise to build strong bones.
“The good news is that you don’t have to join a gym or sweat buckets,” said Castleman. “But you do have to walk every day.”
Lanou, who holds a doctorate in human nutrition from Cornell University, joined the UNC Asheville faculty in 2005. She has played an instrumental role in creating programs and coursework for UNC Asheville’s North Carolina Center for Health & Wellness, which focuses on childhood obesity, workplace wellness and healthy aging. Previously, she taught nutrition at Cornell University and Ithaca College. She is the author of “Healthy Eating for Life for Children” and has written or delivered more than 50 scientific articles, reports and presentations on bone health, dairy products or the health benefits of plant foods. Lanou also serves as senior nutrition scientist for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preventative medicine through good nutrition.
Filed under: Health, Nutrition | Tagged: Amy Lanou, Calcium, milk, Osteoporosis
If the amino acids in milk cause the blood the become acidic, wouldn’t the alkalines in milk neutralize the blood, negating the leaching calcium from bones effect?
Yep. Milk is mostly neutral.
My dad a nutritionist always taught that we drank milk for the protein, not the calcium.
Clearly drinking our milk and taking our vitamins is not working. Our bones are like a bank account. We have to deposit minerals and also withdraw them on a daily basis to support the vital functions of our bodies. OsteoDenx™ is a new and natural supplement that supports the “deposits and withdrawal of the minerals we take through our food and through supplements. Read about it: http://www.strongbones123.com
Just goes to show you the benefit of a balanced diet and daily exercise. If we could just get people to that step we’d be much better off.
I always wondered why we push milk for strong bones. Asians don’t drink milk and I don’t think they have any higher rate of osteoporosis. (Not that I know for sure)
About the meat intake, what about cultures like Native Alaskans whose diet is mostly meat? Did/do they have a high rate of osteoporosis?
According to this link, yes, they do:
“Native Eskimos have the highest dietary calcium intake of any other people in the world– above 2000 mg per day from fish bones. Their diet is also the highest in the world in protein- up to 400 g per day primarily from fish (Americans rarely eat quite this much). Native Eskimos have the highest rate of osteoporosis in the world.”
https://www.msu.edu/~corcora5/food/vegan/osteo.html
I don’t claim to know anything about the source of the quote.
OK. So, our body takes calcium carbonate from our bones to neutralize the amino acids found in meat. We should eat more vegetables and fruits, because they’re not acidic, and less meat, because it is acidic.
???
I’m really confused. I was under the impression that most fruits and vegetables (tomatoes, apples, citrus fruits, onions, etc.) were acidic–often more acidic than meats.
Besides, our stomachs are very acidic (more acidic than most foods that we eat). I would imagine that anything passing through the stomach also ends up being acidic (or at least less basic) naturally.
(pH of food from the FDA (cached): http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:gOn-RF7hlYsJ:vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~comm/lacf-phs.html+ph+of+fruit&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)
Jen,
“As the body digests high-protein foods, the blood becomes more acidic, leaching calcium from the bones.” They are not saying that milk is more acidic than, say, lemons. They are saying that as it digests your blood becomes more acidic.