More on Bone Health (and paleo musings)

[Polly]

Mornin' All!

My recent Nutrition Action newsletter started an article with an interesting question: which food may weaken your bones and muscles, boosting your long-term risk of hip or spinal fractures? Is it 1) an apple, 2) a bagel, or 3) a chunk of cheese. Answer - It’s the bagel!

Recent studies suggest that too many grain foods may lead to bone and muscle loss by creating an acid load on the body. Up until now, this theory has mainly been found in the alternative press, but it is now mainstream. A professor of medicine at Tufts U. has been doing research into the acid/base balance of the diet. A diet high in acid producing foods causes the body to breakdown bone and muscle in order to neutralize the excess acid. This becomes even more of a problem as we age due to declining kidney function.

The foods that make the body acidic are not necessarily the ones that “seem” acidic, like an orange. In fact, when fruits and vegetables are metabolized by the body, they break down into bicarbonate, an alkali, which helps neutralize any excess acid. Meat, poultry, and fish are acid-producing. So are grains. (BTW, dairy also creates an acid load). So we can see why the American diet leads to osteoporosis. In order to protect our bones it is preferable to eat animal protein rather than the inferior grain protein, and in fact, most people already do not get enough optimal protein. So the recommendation is to cut down on grains and maybe even dairy.

I find this interesting in light of the paleo diet guidelines, which recommend that we get about half of our calories from animal protein and half from fruits/veggies. Of course, no grains or dairy are recommended on this diet. It would seem to promote a very healthy acid/base balance. This makes so much sense to me - as you know, I have questioned for years why the countries with the highest dairy consumption have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. It would be interesting to follow folks on the paleo diet long-term to see if they have a lower incidence of osteoporosis.

Here are some numbers….the higher the negative number, the more alkaline (and therefore better for our bones): apricots -6.7, watermelon -5. 3, spinach -12.6, zucchini, -4.1, carrot -3.8, pear -4.8, orange -4.2, kiwi -6.1, red wine -3.5 and white wine -1.8 (hooray)

On the acid-producing side: beef 11.2, chicken 12.4, turkey, 14.1, haddock 9.7, rolled oats 8.7, eggs 4.1, hard cheese 5.1, cottage cheese 9.6, white rice 2.7, one slice white bread 1.6.

Of course, excess salt is a problem too - it causes calcium to leech out of the bones. An interesting hypothesis of the above researcher (Dr. Dawson-Hughes) is that vitamin D may not function well in an acid environment - they are testing this now on animal models.

Initially, it may be a challenge to eat as many fruits/veggies as are optimal (Some are now saying up to 11 servings a day) because of the fiber. However, once the gut is healed, most can find a large variety of fruits/veggies that they can tolerate. Once again, it appears that for so many of us, our bodies (genes) are best suited to the paleo diet.

Love,

Polly

P.S. Mary Beth, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this, and of course, anyone else!

[Martha]

That's interesting, Polly. Thanks for posting it. I'm always interested in knowing the why of things, like why certain foods are good or us or not good for us. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 50 (at what I intended to be a base-line bone density test!), so I am always on the lookout for things to do to keep it from getting worse.

[Rosie]

Polly, I'm a bit confused. For acid-producing foods, is the higher positive number more acid, or is the lower number more acid? It appears that the scale has "neutral" at 0, with alkaline going one direction from 0 into negative numbers and acid starting from 0 and going the other direction with positive numbers. But then that would say that bread is less acid-producing than turkey, which doesn't make sense with the discussion.......

The whole concept of an acid/base balance in the body makes a lot of sense, as our modern diet surely doesn't help. Do you know where fats fit into this, as you didn't specifically address that category of food?

Rosie

[Polly]

Hi Rosie!

Great question! I had to check the original article again. The foods with highest negative values are the most alkaline-producing, while those with the highest positive values are the most acid-producing. Yes, all animal flesh is significantly acid-producing by itself. But the acid load is multipled when people also eat lots of grains and dairy.

Fats and sugars are generally neutral.

Love,

Polly

[tex]

Polly,

Very interesting, but it certainly makes sense. I'm glad to see that someone is finally getting around to scientifically researching why the paleo diet works, (because it certainly seems intuitive that it should work).

It's kind of surprising that turkey is significantly "worse" than beef, but I suppose that's just the way the cookie crumbles. As you say, it's the net result of the mix that counts, in the long run, and the paleo diet was just fine, until grains were added, to tip the balance in the wrong direction. The overall dose, is what determines the final pH balance.

Thanks for some very illuminating information.

Love,
Tex

[mbeezie]

Very interesting Polly. I subsribed to Nutrition Action for years but recently stopped getting it so I didn't read this article. They have lots of wonderful info on the latest research but I believe they push grains a little too much - maybe in light of this info they will ease up on those recommendaitons.

I have thought about the acid base balance and bone health issue since going paleo. Even though I eat much more meat now, in looking at total grams I probably eat only slightly more than I used to. I used to eat lots of dairy, grains and legumes (was vegetarian at one point), all of which have some protein and but only a little fat. My total carb intake has decreased but my fat intake has increased (from meat), so overall I think the fat/carb/protein composition of my diet is better for acid base balance. Since Joe's investigative research on the Betty Crocker products I have now decreased my grain consumption to just a few plain rice products occasionally to add some bulk to certain dishes. I really do feel better eating paleo and the extra fiber no longer affects me.

I have also pondered how other cultures who avoid dairy have better bone health. I think the issue involves more than diet though. Their diets are better but they also probably get more weight bearing exercise from walking everywhere and also probably do not use tobacco and alcohol to the degree we do in this country. Seems we do it all wrong where bone health is concerned.

Thanks for sharing Polly!

Hugs,

Mary Beth