Re: protein and bone health

Trying to figure what amount and type of protein are good/bad for bone health.studies are hard to understand....can you boil down what they mean in practical terms.

The study is very misleading overall.  Let's start with what they are claiming.  In short they are saying that foods such as animal proteins will cause excess acidity leading to bone demineralization.  But this can be buffered with foods high in alkaline minerals like potassium such as fruits and vegetables, or with mineral salts.

The first problem with this claim is that diet has very little direct influence on blood pH.  I have addressed this several times in the past.  But the primary means of pH regulation in the body is from respiration.  And there are many other pH regulators. So buffering by bone minerals is a last resort by the body.

Secondly, the make mention of phosphates as an acid.  Excess phosphorus can lead to bone loss, but this is not due to an acidity.  Excess phosphorus stimulates parathyroid hormone release, which in turn releases calcium from the bone to maintain calcium homeostasis in the blood.

And they mention mineral salts.  Sodium chloride is a mineral salt that has been shown to cause bone loss in excess despite having the alkaline sodium.

Bottom line is that they reading in to a lot of things that are not there.