The author reviews an article by Alexy, et al, in the same issue of AJCN comparing the beneficial effects of dietary protein on bone health to the negative effects of the acid load caused by protein in the diet. The issue of whether protein builds up or tears down bones is unresolved.
Alexy’s group took careful notes on a group of adolescents for four years, comparing protein content of the subject’s diets to forearm bone measurements on computed tomography. The diet protein varied with bone growth and mineral composition. Protein content of the diet also contributed in a negative way by increasing to the acid content of the body that tears down bone.
The author tries to find a high protein diet that would have an alkalinizing effect in order to maximize bone growth and prevent age-related bone problems. The author sees the net effect of the building up and the tearing down results of dietary protein as being something that can be altered by selection of foods.
CONCLUSION: The author believes that the diet that would benefit human bones would be like that of the prehistoric hunter gatherers. It would consist of increased amounts of bicarbonate precursor foods like leafy green vegetables, stalks, roots, tubers and fruit. There would be reduced amounts of fats, oils, refined carbohydrates and grains.
PMID: 16280420.
Summary #080.
