Food Intake and Hip Fracture

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Hi folks:

Vegans will like this one:

" Worldwide incidence of hip fracture in elderly women: relation to

consumption of animal and vegetable foods. "

Frassetto LA, Todd KM, RC, Sebastian A.

Department of Medicine and General Clinical Research Center,

University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.

" BACKGROUND: Hip fracture, a major health problem in elderly persons,

varies in incidence among the populations of different countries and

is directly related to animal protein intake, a finding that suggests

that bone integrity is compromised by endogenous acid production

consequent to the metabolism of animal proteins. If that is so,

vegetable foods might provide a countervailing effect, because they

are a rich source of base (bicarbonate) in the form of metabolizable

organic anions, which can neutralize protein-derived acid and supply

substrate (carbonate) for bone formation. METHODS: We analyzed

reported hip fracture incidence (HFI) data among countries (N = 33)

in women aged 50 years and older, in relation to corresponding

country-specific data on per capita consumption of vegetable and

animal foods as reported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization. RESULTS: HFI varied directly with total (r = +.67, p

< .001) and animal (r = +.82, p < .001) protein intake and inversely

with vegetable protein intake (r = .37, p < .04). The countries in

the lowest tertile of HFI (n = 11) had the lowest animal protein

consumption, and invariably, vegetable protein (VP) consumption

exceeded the country's corresponding intake of animal protein (AP):

VP/AP > 1.0. By contrast, among the countries in the highest tertile

of HFI, animal protein intake exceeded vegetable protein intake in

nearly every case (10 of 11 countries). Among all countries, HFI

correlated inversely and exponentially with the ratio of

vegetable/animal protein intake (r = -.84, p < .001) and accounted

for 70% of the total variation in HFI. Adjusted for total protein

intake, vegetable food consumption was an independent negative

predictor of HFI. All findings were similar for the subset of 23

countries whose populations are predominantly Caucasian. CONCLUSION:

The findings suggest that the critical determinant of hip fracture

risk in relation to the acid-base effects of diet is the net load of

acid in the diet, when the intake of both acid and base precursors is

considered. Moderation of animal food consumption and an increased

ratio of vegetable/animal food consumption may confer a protective

effect. "

PMID: 11034231

Rodney.