According to the most extensive study yet regarding vegetarian and vegan diets and their risk of fracturing bones, people who don’t eat meat are more at risk of breaking bones, particularly their hips. The effect may be caused by a lack of protein and calcium in their diet, but they also tend to be skinnier, which means they have less flesh to cushion a fall.
Previous studies have shown that meat-eaters have stronger bones than vegetarians, though it was unclear whether it affected their risk of fractures.
The new research, published in BMC Medicine, acquired data from a long-running study called EPIC-Oxford, initially set up to determine if diet influences the risk of cancer by monitoring the health of around 65K people in the UK from 1993 onwards. The EPIC-Oxford study recorded people’s diet and tracked their health via hospital records.
From 1993 to 2010, vegans had broken a hip at more than twice the rate of meat-eaters, while fish eaters and vegetarians had a smaller increase in risk, around 25%. Also, vegans were found to have a higher risk of breaking other bones in the body.
Vegans’ overall risk level was relatively small – about an extra twenty bones broken per 1K people over a decade. However, the fracture rate is most likely higher in the elderly, who break hips more often. Tammy Tong at the University of Oxford notes that the participants’ average age at the start was 45.
While the researchers analyzed people’s diets, they found that meat-eaters consumed more protein and calcium. Calcium is a significant component of bones, while protein may help calcium absorption. “Unless they are actively supplementing, it’s quite unlikely that vegans will have a sufficient intake of calcium just from the diet,” explained Tong.
Today, however, it’s possible for vegans and vegetarians to have higher calcium levels than in the ’90s. “In the 1990s, there was less fortification of plant milks,” she added.
Heather Russell, a dietitian at the UK’s Vegan Society, said:
It’s certainly possible to look after your bones on a well-planned vegan diet, but people need information to make healthy choices.
Analyzing the same group of people also showed that being vegetarian is linked with:
- An estimated 10% lower risk of cancer after fifteen years
- Around a 20% lower rate of heart disease
- A 20% higher risk of a stroke
The discovery doesn’t mean you should turn into a carnivore; instead, it highlights the importance of making sure you consume enough calcium and protein to strengthen your bones.
