X-Message-Number: 26295
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 05:36:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: healthy diet makes osteoporosis unlikely

[ Non-western diets high in fruits and vegetables, but low in
calcium offer virtual immunity against osteoporosis. Part of the
reason for this immunity appears to be that a number of fruit
and vegetable items such as grapes, natto(fermented soy), onion,
plums, pomegranate, and soymilk all help to build bone. Contrary to
popular belief, most studies find that dairy has little effect. Flax
is a dud. Even vitamin D offers contraditory evidence. Finally red meat
and popular soft drinks like Coke may harm bones.]

J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2000 Apr;46(2):78-83.
Resveratrol attenuates ovariectomy-induced hypertension and bone
loss in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.
    We examined the effect of resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxy
stilbene), a phenolic compound found in the skins of most grapes,
on blood pressure and bone loss in ovariectomized (OVX),
stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP).
Nineteen-week-old female SHRSP were divided into a
sham-ovariectomized (sham) group fed a control diet and two OVX
groups fed either a control diet (OVX-Cont) or a diet
supplemented with resveratrol (5 mg/kg per d; OVX-Resv).
Ovariectomy induced significant increases in systolic blood
pressure (SBP). Resveratrol lowered the SBP by 15%) by the third
week of administration, and this effect was maintained throughout
the study. Resveratrol treatment also significantly enhanced
endothelium-dependent vascular relaxation in response to
acetylcholine (ACh) in OVX rats. Finally, femur breaking energies
measured for the resveratrol-treated (OVX-Resv) group were
significantly higher than those of the resveratrol-untreated
(OVX-Cont) group. While no significant differences in calcium,
magnesium and phosphorus content were found between the femurs of
OVX-Cont and OVX-Resv rats, the femur hydroxyproline content in
the OVX-Resv group was significantly higher than of the OVX-Cont
group. We conclude that, in OVX-SHRSP, resveratrol acts by a
similar mechanism to mammalian estrogens, lowering blood pressure
by increasing dilatory responses to ACh. The present study also
demonstrated that resveratrol was able to prevent
ovariectomy-induced decreases in femoral bone strength.

J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2004 Apr;50(2):114-20
Promotion of bone formation by fermented soybean (Natto) intake in
premenopausal women.
    A therapeutic agent of vitamin K2 is approved for the treatment
of osteoporosis in Japan. However, little is known about the
efficacy of dietary intake of vitamin K2 for bone health. We
compared the effects of various levels of fermented soybeans (Natto)
intake, which contains plenty of vitamin K2, on bone stiffness and
bone turnover markers in healthy premenopausal women. Seventy-three
healthy premenopausal women were randomly divided into four groups
matched for age and parity categories. Natto was supplied as follows:
Group 1 (no intake), Group 2 (once per month), Group 3 (once per week)
and Group 4 (three times per week). Subjects took Natto at a lunch
for 1 y, and the stiffness index by quantitative ultrasound and bone
turnover markers were assessed at baseline, 6 mo and 1 y. There was
no statistical difference in the stiffness index during the 1 y
observation. However, bone specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP) in
Group 4 was higher than that in Group 3 at 1 y and undercarboxylated
osteocalcin (Glu) in Group 4 was significantly lower than those in
Groups 1, 2 and 3 at 6 mo. Logistic regression analysis showed that
the risk of reduction of bone formation markers declined to 0.07 in
Group 4 based on that in Group 1. In premenopausal women who had to
keep the stiffness index as high as possible before menopause, Natto
intake may have contributed to the promotion of bone formation.

J Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2000 Dec;1(2):137-40.
Some vegetables (commonly consumed by humans) efficiently modulate
bone metabolism.
    We have hypothesized that some vegetables which are part of
the regular human diet may contain modulators of bone metabolism.
To mimic a typical Western diet with large proportions of refined
components, rats were pair-fed a semi-purified diet to which, in
the treated animals, the dried material under investigation was
added. Effects are expressed as % of untreated control. Bone
parameters in rats were assessed in the proximal tibia by pQCT.
Bone resorption (BR) was assessed by the urinary excretion of
[3H]-tetracycline from prelabeled rats. Daily administration of
1 g of onion during 4 weeks increased total bone mineral content
by 17.4% (p<0.05), trabecular bone mineral density by 13.6%
(p<0.05). One g of onion/day administered to male rats blunted BR
by 23-/+5% (p<0.05). Daily administration of onion to
ovariectomized rats inhibited BR in a dose-dependent manner. At
the highest dose (1.5 g of onion) BR was inhibited by 26-/+4%
(p<0.01) as compared to 24-/+3% (p<0.001) for estradiol
(27microg/kg/day). An additional 13 vegetables displayed
significant effects on BR at the dose of 1g/day. Interestingly,
1g/day of soy did not inhibit BR in this model. Also, skimmed milk,
meat and egg (all 1 g/day) were ineffective. Thus, common
vegetables consumed by humans potently modulate bone metabolism in
the rat. This opens the possibility to develop the basis for a
low-cost, safe and effective nutritional approach to osteoporosis.

J Womens Health Gend Based Med. 2002 Jan-Feb;11(1):61-8.
Dried plums improve indices of bone formation in postmenopausal
women.
    Menopause drastically increases the risk of osteoporosis. Aside
from drug therapy, lifestyle and nutritional factors play an
important role in the maintenance of skeletal health. Our recent
findings suggest that dried plums, a rich source of phenolic and
flavonoid compounds, are highly effective in modulating bone mass in
an ovarian hormone-deficient rat model of osteoporosis. The objective
of this study was to examine whether the addition of dried plums to
the diets of postmenopausal women positively influences markers of
bone turnover. Fifty-eight postmenopausal women not on hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) were randomly assigned to consume either
100 g dried plums or 75 g dried apples daily for 3 months. Both dried
fruit regimens provided similar amount of calories, fat, carbohydrate,
and fiber. Serum and urinary biochemical markers of bone status were
assessed before and after treatment. In comparison with corresponding
baseline values, only dried plums significantly increased serum levels
of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and bone-specific alkaline
phosphatase (BSAP) activity. Higher levels of both serum IGF-I and
BSAP are associated with greater rates of bone formation. Serum and
urinary markers of bone resorption, however, were not affected by
either dietary regimen. The results of this study suggest that dried
plums may exert positive effects on bone in postmenopausal women.
Longer duration studies are needed to confirm the beneficial effects
of dried plum on bone mineral density (BMD) and the skeletal health
of postmenopausal women.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 May;92(1):93-101
Pomegranate extract improves a depressive state and bone properties
in menopausal syndrome model ovariectomized mice.
    Pomegranate is known to contain estrogens (estradiol, estrone,
and estriol) and show estrogenic activities in mice. In this study,
we investigated whether pomegranate extract is effective on
experimental menopausal syndrome in ovariectomized mice.
Prolongation of the immobility time in forced swimming test, an
index of depression, was measured 14 days after ovariectomy. The
bone mineral density (BMD) of the tibia was measured by X-ray
absorptiometry and the structure and metabolism of bone were also
analyzed by bone histomorphometry. Administration of pomegranate
extract (juice and seed extract) for 2 weeks to ovariectomized mice
prevented the loss of uterus weight and shortened the immobility time
compared with 5% glucose-dosed mice (control). In addition,
ovariectomy-induced decrease of BMD was normalized by administration
of the pomegranate extract. The bone volume and the trabecular number
were significantly increased and the trabecular separation was
decreased in the pomegranate-dosed group compared with the control
group. Some histological bone formation/resorption parameters were
significantly increased by ovariectomy but were normalized by
administration of the pomegranate extract. These changes suggest that
the pomegranate extract inhibits ovariectomy-stimulated bone turnover.
It is thus conceivable that pomegranate is clinically effective on a
depressive state and bone loss in menopausal syndrome in women.

Eur J Nutr. 2004 Aug;43(4):246-57. Epub 2004 Apr 14
Soymilk or progesterone for prevention of bone loss--a 2 year
randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
    BACKGROUND: Given concerns over the use of hormone replacement
therapy (HRT), women are seeking natural alternatives to cope with
the symptoms and effects of menopause. The bone sparing effects of soy
protein and its isoflavones is well established in animal studies,
while 5 previous human studies on soy and bone have yielded variable
outcomes due in part to their short duration of study. Progesterone
has been suggested as a bone-trophic hormone, but the effect of
long-term, low dose transdermal progesterone is unknown. AIM: The aim
of the study was to compare for the first time the long-term effects
of soymilk, with or without isoflavones with natural transdermal
progesterone, or the combination, on bone mineral density in the
lumbar spine and hip. METHODS: Postmenopausal, Caucasian women with
established osteoporosis or at least 3 risk-factors for osteoporosis,
were randomly assigned, double-blind to one of four treatment-groups:
soymilk containing isoflavones (soy+, n = 23), transdermal
progesterone (TPD+, n = 22), or the combination of soy+ and TDP+,
(n = 22) or placebo (isoflavone-poor soymilk, soy/ and
progesterone-free-cream TDP/, n = 22). All subjects received
comparable intakes of calcium, minerals and vitamins. Bone mineral
content (BMC) and density (BMD) were measured in lumbar spine and
hip by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) at baseline and
after 2 years. FINDINGS: The percentage change in lumbar spine BMD
and BMC respectively, did not differ from zero in the soy+ group
(+1.1%, +2.0%) and TDP+ group (/1.1%, +0.4 %) but significant bone
loss occurred in the control group (/4.2%,/4.3 %) and the combined
treatment group (/2.8%, /2.4 %). No significant changes occurred for
femoral neck BMD or BMC. INTERPRETATION: Daily intake of two glasses
of soymilk containing 76 mg isoflavones prevents lumbar spine bone
loss in postmenopausal women. Transdermal progesterone had
bone-sparing effects but when combined with soy milk a negative
interaction between the two treatments occurs resulting in bone-loss
to a greater extent than either treatment alone.

[continued]

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26295