From: russ@wpg.com (Russell Lawrence)
Subject: Re: True Vegeterian - is it OK?
Organization: WP Group
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:16:51 GMT

From article <95160013@otter.hpl.hp.com>, by tgg@otter.hpl.hp.com (Tom Gardner):
> Calcium deficiency leads to osteoporosis, which is particularly relevant
> during pregnany and old age.
> ...
> Watch out for propaganda from people who are ignorant, or who have hidden 
> agendas. Determine the _facts_, so far as is possible, and form your own
> judgement.


Is osteoporosis common among vegetarians, as opposed to meat-eaters?

Dean Ornish sheds some light on this topic in his book, _Reversing 
Heart Disease_ :

====================================================================
"Question:  Will I get enough calcium on the [vegetarian] Reversal 
 Diet?

"In brief, yes, you will get enough calcium on the Reversal Diet, 
and a calcium supplement is unnecessary.  

"In countries where the majority of people eat a diet similar to 
the Reversal Diet, the incidence of osteoporosis is quite low, 
even though average calcium intakes are lower than in this 
country.  Osteoporosis is a disease caused by bone 
demineralization.  

"Calcium levels are regulated very carefully by your body, so the 
amount of calcium in your bloodstream is kept in a very narrow 
range.  Calcium deficiencies usually are caused by two factors: 
too little calcium in the diet, or too much excretion of calcium 
in your urine.  

"If either of these occurs, then your body begins to absorb 
calcium out of your bones in order to maintain a constant calcium 
level in your bloodstream.  Over time, your bones can become 
demineralized, leading to osteoporosis...  

"The real cause of osteoporosis in this country is not 
insufficient calcium intake, it's excessive excretion of calcium 
in the urine.  Even calcium supplementation is often not enough 
to make us for the increased calcium excretion.  Vegetarians, in 
contrast, excrete much less calcium, and this is why they have 
very low rates of osteoporosis even though their dietary intake 
of calcium is lower than those on a meat-eating diet.  

"At the University of Texas Medical School at Dallas, scientists 
conducted a study reported in the Journal of Clinical 
Endocrinology and Metabolism in 1988.  They compared urinary 
excretion of normal subjects who were given two different diets: 
one diet contained only vegetable protein while the other diet 
contained only animal protein.  Both diets had the SAME AMOUNT 
OF PROTEIN [my emphasis], sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphate, 
and magnesium.  

"Urinary calcium excretion was 50% greater on the animal protein 
diet than on the vegetable protein diet.  The authors concluded 
that the inability of the subjects to compensate for the animal 
protein-induced loss of calcium in their urine might predispose 
them to develop osteoporosis as well as kidney stones.  pp 300-301

References:

Ornish, Dean.  _Reversing Heart Disease_.  Random House (Ballantine
Books): NY, 1990.

Breslau et al.  "Relationship of animal protein-rich diet to
kidney stone formation".  _Journal of Clinical Endocrinology
and Metabolism_. 1988, pp 140-146.

Marsh et al.  "Vegetarian lifestyle and bone mineral density".
_American Journal of Clinical Nutrition_.  1988, pp 837-841.


-- 
Russell Lawrence, WP Group, New Orleans (504) 443-5000
russ@wpg.com   uunet!wpg!russ
Newsgroups: sci.med.nutrition