OK you'll probably hear this as there is a new study out that shows
that the bones of some vegans tested were 5% less dense than
non-vegans. This lead to no greater incidence of broken bones. I'd
just like to add a quote from the lead researcher:
Tuan Nguyen, the study’s lead researcher, is quoted by AFP as stating
of the results, “The results suggest that vegetarian diets,
particularly vegan diets, are associated with lower bone mineral
density… But the magnitude of the association is clinically
insignificant.”
http://www.wiredprnews.com/2009/07/05/meat-free-diets-may-lead-to-weaker-bones_2\
00907054448.html
There has been research done on vegans Vs meat eaters & the results
are there bones are the same as meat eaters (
http://www.physorg.com/news159098801.html ) Infact some of the
researchers are the same, but this study will get much less exposure
than this study I suspect.
Why the difference in bone density? I'll tell you my thoughts. Nuns
are likely to do manual labour. Basically they'll be lifting &
carrying. I know a lot of vegans & many don't eat right or exercise.
Heavy (for you) weight training, getting vitamin D & generally eating
right are vital activities for every human. In my view heavy lifting
& diet are the 2 vital factors to health & weight control. Cardio
work, etc are bonuses above that, it's the weight bearing work (that
keeps the lean muscle on your body) & dietary intake (keeping the fat
off &/or adding the muscle mass) that are the 2 biggest factors in
keeping your whole body running smoothly. Yes, I do employ cardio
work, but given a choice of only doing one type of training I would
prioritise weight bearing & keep an eye on my diet. Obviously
employing all 3 gives you the best of everything, but many people are
happy enough going to the gym, hitting the treadmill for 30 minutes &
think they've done a workout! Then they pat themselves on the back &
go eat a pizza (because they've 'earned it'). Here's a funny little
video about pizza eating versus running on a treadmill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQbuzsY_34Q (you can also watch the
other 3 in the series as well if you need more convincing).

I'll put the 2 abstracts of the studies below. I thought you'd be
interested as this is bound to cause media distortion & you can now
point out that actually although that study may have showed some
difference, a specific study of vegans Vs meat-eaters showed they
didn't (& it was done by some of the same researchers)

Pete Ryan www.veganbodybuilding.org

PS Notice the low amount of calcium the vegan nuns eat, under half the UK RDA!
~~~~~
http://tinyurl.com/qojuha

1: Osteoporos Int. 2009 Apr 7.
Veganism, bone mineral density, and body composition: a study in
Buddhist nuns.
Ho-Pham LT, Nguyen PL, Le TT, Doan TA, Tran NT, Le TA, Nguyen TV.

Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

This cross-sectional study showed that, although vegans had lower
dietary calcium and protein intakes than omnivores, veganism did not
have adverse effect on bone mineral density and did not alter body
composition. INTRODUCTION: Whether a lifelong vegetarian diet has any
negative effect on bone health is a contentious issue. We undertook
this study to examine the association between lifelong vegetarian diet
and bone mineral density and body composition in a group of
postmenopausal women. METHODS: One hundred and five Mahayana Buddhist
nuns and 105 omnivorous women (average age = 62, range = 50-85) were
randomly sampled from monasteries in Ho Chi Minh City and invited to
participate in the study. By religious rule, the nuns do not eat meat
or seafood (i.e., vegans). Bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar
spine (LS), femoral neck (FN), and whole body (WB) was measured by DXA
(Hologic QDR 4500). Lean mass, fat mass, and percent fat mass were
also obtained from the DXA whole body scan. Dietary calcium and
protein intakes were estimated from a validated food frequency
questionnaire. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between
vegans and omnivores in LSBMD (0.74 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.14
g/cm(2); mean +/- SD; P = 0.18), FNBMD (0.62 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.63 +/-
0.11 g/cm(2); P = 0.35), WBBMD (0.88 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.90 +/- 0.12
g/cm(2); P = 0.31), lean mass (32 +/- 5 vs. 33 +/- 4 kg; P = 0.47),
and fat mass (19 +/- 5 vs. 19 +/- 5 kg; P = 0.77) either before or
after adjusting for age. The prevalence of osteoporosis (T scores </=
-2.5) at the femoral neck in vegans and omnivores was 17.1% and 14.3%
(P = 0.57), respectively. The median intake of dietary calcium was
lower in vegans compared to omnivores (330 +/- 205 vs. 682 +/- 417
mg/day, P < 0.001); however, there was no significant correlation
between dietary calcium and BMD. Further analysis suggested that whole
body BMD, but not lumbar spine or femoral neck BMD, was positively
correlated with the ratio of animal protein to vegetable protein.
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that, although vegans have much
lower intakes of dietary calcium and protein than omnivores, veganism
does not have adverse effect on bone mineral density and does not
alter body composition.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

http://tinyurl.com/p3lrb7

1: Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul 1.
Effect of vegetarian diets on bone mineral density: a Bayesian
meta-analysis.
Ho-Pham LT, Nguyen ND, Nguyen TV.

Department of Internal Medicine, Pham Ngoc Thach University of
Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

BACKGROUND: The association between vegetarian diets and bone
mineral density (BMD) is controversial because of conflicting findings
from previous studies. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to
estimate the effect of vegetarian diets on BMD by using a
meta-analytic approach. DESIGN: A systematic electronic literature
search was conducted to identify all relevant articles on the
association between vegetarian diet and BMD. Nine studies of 2749
subjects (1880 women and 869 men) were included in the analysis.
Traditional and Bayesian methods of meta-analysis were applied to
synthesize the data. RESULTS: Overall, BMD was approximately 4% lower
in vegetarians than in omnivores (95% CI: 2%, 7%) at both the femoral
neck and the lumbar spine. Compared with omnivores, vegans had a
significantly lower lumbar spine BMD (6% lower; 95% CI: 2%, 9%), which
was more pronounced than in lactoovovegetarians (2% lower; 95% CI: 1%,
4%). The probability that BMD was >/=5% lower in vegetarians than in
omnivores (or approximately 0.3 SD) was 42% for the femoral neck and
32% for the lumbar spine. There was no evidence of publication bias.
There was a moderate degree of between-study heterogeneity; the
coefficient of heterogeneity varied between 46% and 51%. CONCLUSION:
The results suggest that vegetarian diets, particularly vegan diets,
are associated with lower BMD, but the magnitude of the association is
clinically insignificant.