USA: Higher protein intake (15% TEI) in older adults leads to better outcomes for optimal bone health, finds a recent study inThe Journals of Gerontology. Better outcomes include higher bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine, whole body, and the hip, and a lower risk of vertebral fracture. Dietary recommendations may underestimate the protein requirement in older adults for optimal bone health. Ashley A Weaver, Wake Forest School of Medicine,Winston-Salem, NC, and colleagues sought to determine associations of protein intake with BMD and fracture in earchers prepared a food frequency questionnaire for assessing protein as a percentage of total energy intake (TEI) in 2,160 old community-dwelling white and black older adults.For the purpose, the reser adults (73.5±2.8 years; 51.5% women; 35.8% black) in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition prospective cohort. Lumbar trabecular, cortical, and integral BMD was assessed by computed tomography at baseline and 5 years, and femoral neck, hip, and whole body BMD was assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at baseline and 4 years. Fragility fractures over 5 years were adjudicated from self-report data collected every 6 months. Associations with tertiles of protein intake were assessed using analysis of covariance for BMD and multivariate Cox regression for fracture, adjusting for confoundersKey findings of the study include:
Participants in the upper protein tertile (≥15% TEI) had 1.8-6.0% higher mean hip and lumbar spine BMD compared to the lower protein tertile (<13% TEI).
Protein intake did not affect change in BMD at any site over the follow-up period.
Participants in the upper protein tertile had a reduced risk of clinical vertebral fracture over five years of follow-up (Hazard Ratio: 0.36 vs. lower protein tertile).
Older adults with higher protein intake (≥15% TEI) had higher BMD at the hip, whole body, and lumbar spine, and a lower risk of vertebral fracture," wrote the authors.
Reference:The study titled, "Effect of dietary protein intake on bone mineral density and fracture incidence in older adults in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study," is published in theJournals of Gerontology: Series A.DOI: https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/advance-article/doi/10.1093/gerona/glab068/6157088