Eating to Build Strong Bones
Vitamin C from fruits and vegetables may protect against bone loss

(HealthDay News) -- You can add one more health benefit to the list of reasons to eat fruits and vegetables. Researchers have found that they can help older men keep their bones healthy.

High in fiber, low in calories and rich in vitamins and minerals, vegetables and fruits have been shown to reduce the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers and more.

Now Tufts University researchers have reported that vitamin C, a prime component of many fruits and vegetables, protects against inflammation, which contributes to bone absorption and bone loss, as well as being essential for the creation of collagen, which helps strengthen bones.

The vitamin C finding showed "that bone mineral density, bone status and fracture risk are related to many more nutrients than just calcium," Katherine Tucker, a professor of nutritional epidemiology at Tufts and an author of the study, told HealthDay.

Research had stressed the benefits of fruits and vegetables, Tucker said, but hadn't singled out the effects of vitamin C.

Vitamin C supplements also benefited some of the men in the study, but it is too soon to recommend the use of such supplements, she said.

The study had one strange finding. Women, whose bone-loss issues associated with osteoporosis are more common and well known than those of men, did not get the same benefits from vitamin C as the men.

"We don't really have a clear explanation for that," Tucker said. "We did expect it to be helpful in both men and women."

Another unexpected finding was that vitamin C didn't offer as much protection to men who were smokers, Tucker said.

Dr. Mone Zaidi, director of the bone health program at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, said that the study is one of many over the last decade that have shown a link between vitamin C and protection against bone loss, but that still more study is needed.

Zaidi said that laboratory experiments have shown that vitamin C inhibits bone reabsorption, but to confirm that vitamin C protects men and women against bone loss as they age, he said that a randomized, double-blind, large clinical trial is needed.

Getting such a study off the ground, though, will be difficult, Zaidi said, because vitamin C cannot be patented, and so drug companies, which usually pay for this type of study, aren't interested.

In the meantime, eating a diet rich in vitamins and minerals should at least help in other ways -- and those concerned about bone health can consider adding regular exercise to their daily regimen as well.

According to the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, bone, like muscle, is living tissue that responds to exercise by becoming stronger.

Studies have shown that young women and men who exercise regularly have greater bone density and strength than those who do not. For most people, bone mass peaks by the late 20s. But, after age 30, women and men can help prevent bone loss with regular exercise.

The best exercise for bones is what's called weight-bearing exercise -- exercise that forces you to work against gravity, such as walking, hiking, jogging, climbing stairs, playing tennis, dancing and lifting weights. Swimming and bicycling might be good for your heart and lungs, but they aren't weight-bearing exercises.

On the Web

To learn more about bone health, visit the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

SOURCES: HealthDay News; Katherine Tucker, Ph.D., Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; Mone Zaidi, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine and physiology, and director, Mount Sinai Bone Program, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; October 2008, Journal of Nutrition; Produce for Better Health Foundation (www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org)
Author: Dennis Thompson
Publication Date: Sept. 30, 2009
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