Bone loss is a substantial problem for the elderly. Poor diet, lack of physical activity and hormonal changes all conspire to increase the rate of bone resorption as we age and this generally tips the mineral balance of the bone into negative. Over time this can significantly increase the risk of fractures, particularly of the weight bearing bones of the body such as the spine and femoral neck, due to a gradual bone loss. Nutrition and physical activity play a role in allowing a maintenance of a greater amount of bone mass and a good quality diet as well as physical weight bearing activity are important strategies for bone health. In terms of diet, high quality plant based diets are beneficial because they allow the acid base balance of the body to be maintained in the correct range. Acidification of the blood is increasingly being seen as a causative factor in the resorption of minerals from bones and preventing this with a plant based diet is paramount in correct bone health.
Maintaining adequate calcium intake is also important to bone health, and although dairy foods are often considered by the layman as important sources of calcium, plant based diets are high in calcium and may be superior at supplying calcium compared to high dairy diets. A number of studies have looked at the benefits of calcium supplementation with regard to bone loss, and generally the results of the studies have been inconclusive. However, calcium cannot be effectively absorbed without adequate vitamin D status, and the addition of vitamin D supplements to calcium may improve the benefits. For example, in one study1 published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers administered 500 mg of calcium along with 700 IU of vitamin D in the cholecalciferol form (vitamin D3) to a group of 176 men and 213 women for 6 months. During this time the bone health of the subjects was monitored through use of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.
The results of the study showed that calcium and vitamin D supplementation increased the bone mineral densities of the femoral neck and the spine in comparison to the placebo. In addition, total body bone mineral density was also increased compared to the placebo. Therefore these results suggest that calcium and vitamin D supplements may be beneficial to elderly subjects by allowing an increase bone mineral density. One thing that was important about this study was that the amount of vitamin D used was greater than in many previous studies. Studies that have found little effect for calcium and vitamin D have generally been those that have used lower levels of vitamin D, and this may not be adequate to correct the underlying vitamin D deficiencies experienced by most individuals not regularly exposed to sunlight. Current research suggests that the recommended vitamin D levels in the diet are too low and studies based on administering the recommended amount of vitamin D therefore do not show benefits.
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