In older people with osteoporosis , higher protein intake ( ≥ 0.8-g/kg body weight/day , i.e. , above the current RDA ) is associated with higher BMD , a slower rate of bone loss , and reduced risk of hip fracture , provided that dietary calcium intakes are adequate .
Intervention with dietary protein supplements attenuate age-related BMD decrease and reduce bone turnover marker levels , together with an increase in IGF-I and a decrease in PTH .
There is no evidence that diet-derived acid load is deleterious for bone health .
Thus , insufficient dietary protein intakes may be a more severe problem than protein excess in the elderly .
A summary of systematic review s and meta-analyses addressing the benefits and risks of dietary protein intakes  for  bone health in adults suggests that dietary protein levels even above the current RDA may be beneficial in reducing bone loss and hip fracture risk , provided calcium intakes are adequate .
Several systematic review s and meta-analyses have addressed the benefits and risks of dietary protein intakes for bone health in adults .
Adequate supplies of dietary protein are required for optimal bone growth and maintenance of healthy bone .
Variation in protein intakes within the “ normal ” range accounts for 2–4 % of BMD variance in adults .
Milk supplementation of the diet of postmenopausal Chinese women on a low calcium intake retards bone loss.
The Chinese diet is low in calcium ( less than 500 mg/day on average ) , and previous observational studies have suggested an association between a low calcium intake and risk of hip and vertebral fracture . In this study , we r and omly assigned 200 postmenopausal Chinese women ( age range , 55 - 59 years ) to receive 50 g of milk powder containing 800 mg of calcium per day or to a control group . The following are the mean percentage changes ( and SEs ) in height and bone mineral density ( BMD ) over 24 months : for height , -0.1 + /- 0.2 cm in the milk supplementation group and -0.2 + /- 0.1 cm in the control group ; for BMD at the total hip , -0.06 + /- 0.22 % in the milk supplementation group and -0.88 + /- 0.26 % in the control group ; for BMD at the spine ( L1-L4 ) , -0.56 + /- 0.29 % in the milk supplementation group and -1.5 + /- 0.29 % in the control group ; for total body BMD , -0.32 + /- 0.16 % in the milk supplementation group and -1.2 + /- 0.19 % in the control group ( p < 0.05 by analysis of covariance [ ANCOVA ] for repeated measures for height and BMD at all sites ) . The milk supplementation group had less loss in terms of both height and BMD than the control group ( p < 0.05 by ANCOVA for repeated measures ) . Serum parathyroid hormone ( PTH ) concentration was lower and serum 25-hyroxyvitamin D [ 25(OH)D ] level was higher in the milk supplementation group than the control group at 12 months ( p < 0.05 by paired t-test ) . We conclude that supplementing the diet of postmenopausal Chinese women with high calcium milk powder retards bone loss
In older people with osteoporosis , higher protein intake ( ≥ 0.8-g/kg body weight/day , i.e. , above the current RDA ) is associated with higher BMD , a slower rate of bone loss , and reduced risk of hip fracture , provided that dietary calcium intakes are adequate .
Intervention with dietary protein supplements attenuate age-related BMD decrease and reduce bone turnover marker levels , together with an increase in IGF-I and a decrease in PTH .
There is no evidence that diet-derived acid load is deleterious for bone health .
Thus , insufficient dietary protein intakes may be a more severe problem than protein excess in the elderly .
A summary of systematic review s and meta-analyses addressing the benefits and risks of dietary protein intakes  for  bone health in adults suggests that dietary protein levels even above the current RDA may be beneficial in reducing bone loss and hip fracture risk , provided calcium intakes are adequate .
Several systematic review s and meta-analyses have addressed the benefits and risks of dietary protein intakes for bone health in adults .
Adequate supplies of dietary protein are required for optimal bone growth and maintenance of healthy bone .
Variation in protein intakes within the “ normal ” range accounts for 2–4 % of BMD variance in adults .