VIDEO: Vegan vs Omnivore

This video is extremely short, but I found what it said interesting and I may do a review of the study mentioned in a later post. It's only slightly protein related because the omnivores in the study consumed diary products. Long story short, the study showed that there was no difference in bone mineral density between the two groups.

VIDEO: High Dietary Protein and Bone Health

High Protein, Liver, Kidney and Bone Health

This is another video that I found very interesting. It says a lot in a short amount of time! The study mentioned in the video is listed in the references below.
The man in the video briefly talks about two specific studies; the one I listed below and another from the Framingham Osteoporosis Study (which I will review in a later post). The main study mentioned was a year long study in which they took 2 groups, one high protein (30%) and one low protein (15%). The results showed that there were NO negative health outcomes to the liver, kidney or bone in the high protein group. He doesn't state what study/research it was, however, he states that it has been shown that a high protein diet is better than a high carbohydrate diet. High CHO diets have been linked to an increase in weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease.   

 

References

 Li Zhaoping, Treyzon Leo, Chen Steve, Yan Eric, Thames Gail, Carpenter Catherine L. (2010). Protein-enriched meal replacements do not adversely affect liver, kidney or bone density: an outpatient randomized controlled trial. Nutrition Journal.(9)72. doi:  10.1186/1475-2891-9-72

Study Review

image source: http://www.webmd.com/osteoporosis/ss/slideshow-osteoporosis-overview

The following is my review of a study published in Osteoporosis International in 2011 titled Does dietary protein reduce hip fracture risk in elders? The Framingham osteoporosis study by D. Misra, S. D. Berry, K. E. Broe, R. R. McLean, L. A. Cupples, K. L. Tucker, D. P. Kiel & M. T. Hannan.

Introduction

This article was part of the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. The Framingham Osteoporosis Study is a large, population-based study of elderly men and women. There have been numerous studies previous conducted on the association between dietary protein and bone mineral density. However, the results have been unclear or conflicting. This study examined the the relationship between dietary protein intake and the incidence of hip fracture in elderly men and women.

Methods

The Framingham Study started in 1948 with the enrollment of two thirds of the households in Framingham, MA between the ages of 28-62. The purpose was to study the risks factors of heart disease over 60 years with biennial examinations. The current study obtained it's test subjects from the 1988-1989 baseline exam attendees that completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire (126 questions). They excluded participants with a previous history of hip fracture. This yielded a sample of 946 study subjects. They obtained protein intakes, and other baseline information (smoking, physical activity, calcium and vit D intakes, etc from the FFQ. Femoral neck BMD was obtained by Lunar dual photon absorptiometry.

Results

Over an 11.6 year follow up of the 946 subjects, 100 suffered hip fractures (80 females, 20 males). Increased protein intake showed a mild protective effect, however it was not statistically significant.

Commentary 

I'm not sure what to make of this study. I'm a little skeptical of studies based on questionnaires due to the inherent errors from subjects not being 100% truthful. I was a little confused by the 1000 year incident rate information. Also, the fact that all the subjects were taken from the same geographical location limits it's ability to represent a larger, worldwide population. 
  

References

Misra D., Berry S. D., Broe K. E., McLean R. R., Cupples L. A., Tucker K. L., Kiel D. P., & Hannan M. T. (2011). Does dietary protein reduce hip fracture risk in elders? The Framingham osteoporosis study. Osteoporos Int . 22:345–349. DOI 10.1007/s00198-010-1179-4

NEWS: Healthy Muscle Mass and Bones

image source: sacbee.com

The following news article is from the Science Daily website "Healthy muscle mass linked to healthy bones, but there are gender differences" (Mayo Clinic 2012). I attempted to track down the original article, but was only able to obtain the abstract and not the full article.
One thing of particular note that I found interesting was;

The study found that muscle mass is associated with bone strength at particular places in the body. In women, muscle mass was strongly connected to cortical health at load-bearing locations such as the hip, lumbar spine and tibia. Researchers also found that muscle mass was associated with the microarchitecture of trabecular bone in women's forearms, a non-load-bearing site, at higher risk of fracture following menopause. The higher the level of the circulating protein, IGFBP-2, the lower relative muscle mass overall, they discovered.

"We found IGFBP-2, which has already been linked to osteoporotic fractures in men, is a negative biomarker of muscle mass in both sexes," Dr. LeBrasseur says. "This finding could potentially be used to determine people who are at a particular risk for falls and associated fractures."(Mayo Clinic 2012)

References

Mayo Clinic (2012, June 20). Healthy muscle mass linked to healthy bones, but there are gender differences. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 5, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2012/06/120620133349.htm#.UHYmaLH9Fho.blogger  

LeBrasseur Nathan K., Achenbach Sara J., Melton L. Joseph, Amin Shreyasee, Khosla Sundeep. (2012). Skeletal muscle mass is associated with bone geometry and microstructure and serum IGFBP-2 levels in adult women and men. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.1666

VIDEO: Protein and Bone Health

Osteoporosis and Protein Mediated Effects on Bone Health

I thought this video was pretty cool and worth the 3 minutes! However, I would advise setting it to full screen before viewing. The video briefly describes (to catchy music- "Jailhouse Rock") osteoporosis and then describes the benefits of dietary protein on bone health.

Protein Intake and Bone Health

Image from robbwolf.com

This week I went about researching protein intake and bone health. The general argument is that too much dietary protein causes your blood/cells to become acidic and to remedy that your body leaches calcium from your bones. This is a common argument that those against the popular Paleo Diet use to discredit the validity of the dietary lifestyle (e.g. http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/jun/paleo2.htm). 
In my search I came across one of my favorite sites http://www.robbwolf.com. Robb's book The Paleo Solution is the first one I read about the Paleo lifestyle. He's also kind of a local guy to me (I grew up less than an hour north of where he lived in Chico, CA. He now lives in Reno, NV). My quick Google search for "protein intake and bone health" lead me to this entry in his blog: http://robbwolf.com/2009/03/19/paleo-vs-osteoporosis/. 
The question that the entry was based upon was asking about the association between osteoporosis and gluten (a plant [wheat] protein!), but in his answer to that question Robb touches on the debate about protein intake and bone health. Robb even quotes Loren Cordain's (author of The Paleo Diet) arguments in favor of protein intake supporting bone health (http://thepaleodiet.com/nutritional-tools/acid-base-balance/).
I like Robb Wolf's writing style; he worked for a number of years as a research biochemist so he understands the literature. However, he writes in such a way that he takes some of the driest reading ever and makes it not only easy to understand but entertaining as well!

(Note: If you were curious about the title of my blog "Caveman Candy"...it should be obvious at this point that it is in reference to the Paleo Diet. Besides, I thought it was a catchy name! ;] )

VIDEO: Is Protein Bad to the Bone?

This short little video says a lot in 33 seconds! The review article mentioned can be found here: "Dietary protein and bone health: a systematic review and meta-analysis (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/90/6/1674.long)