This diet is bad for your bones, new study finds

© Shutterstock
green herbal dinner with vegan food supplements

There are many benefits of becoming a vegetarian or vegan. Along with the moral arguments for giving up meat, a diet high in plant-based foods can also support your immune system, improve your heart health, and even extend your lifespan.

Unfortunately, meatless diets also have some drawbacks. A new longitudinal study from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) at the University of Oxford has found that people who do not eat meat, especially vegans, are at significantly higher risk of bone fractures . (Related: 52 Life-Changing Cooking Tips For Easier Cooking.)

Looking at the medical records of nearly 55,000 healthy people – a mix of meat eaters, pescatarians, vegetarians and vegans – over an average of 18 years, researchers identified 3,941 bone fractures. Among these, vegans with lower intakes of calcium and protein suffered 43% more bone fractures than meat eaters.

These numbers get more extreme when you look at specific types of fractures. Vegans were 2.3 times more likely to have hip fractures than their meat-eating counterparts, and twice as likely to experience leg fractures. Pescatarians and vegetarians are not spared either: Pescatarians are 26% and vegetarians 25% more likely to suffer from hip fractures than meat eaters.

The good news for vegans is that there are steps they can take to improve their bone health. In fact, supplements for frequently missed nutrients like calcium and protein are essential for a healthy vegan diet. Lead author of the study, Tammy Tong, tells New Scientist, “Unless they are actively taking supplements, vegans are unlikely to get enough calcium from food alone.

In fact, the disparity between the amount of fractures decreased significantly when the researchers took into account the different levels of calcium and protein in the participants’ diets and took into account their BMI (vegans tend to have a Lower BMI, which can increase the risk of a fracture.) So if your diet is light in meat, making sure you’re getting enough protein and calcium and keeping your weight in a healthy range can seriously improve health. of your bones.

For more on how to get key nutrients while sticking to a plant-based diet, check out our dietitian-recommended supplements that vegans need in their diets. And don’t forget to Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest health and nutrition news straight to your inbox.

Read the original article on Eat This, Not That!