EATING your fruit, vegies, fish and whole grains can boost bone health and prevent fractures in some women.
That's according to a new study, which suggests a diet rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients may reduce bone loss in some women.
New research from the Ohio State University found a link between nutrition and osteoporosis.
The study was led by Tonya Orchard, an assistant professor of human nutrition at the university, and the findings were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Density.
The researchers used data from the landmark Women's Health Initiative (WHI) observation study to compare levels of inflammatory elements in the diet to bone mineral density and fractures.
The WHI is the largest health study of post-menopausal women ever conducted in America. Women were enrolled in the study between 1993 and 1998.
Researchers used the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and correlated the measurements with the risk of hip, lower-arm and total fracture using data from the longitudinal study.
They found women with the least-inflammatory diets (based on the DII) lost less bone density during the six-year follow-up period than peers with the most-inflammatory diets. This was despite the fact that they started off with lower bone density overall.
The scientists also found an association between highly inflammatory diets and fracture - but only in post-menopausal white women under the age of 63.
"This suggests that a high-quality, less-inflammatory diet may be especially important in reducing hip fracture risk in younger women," the researchers wrote.
Rebecca Jackson, the study's senior author and director of Ohio State's Center for Clinical and Translational Science, said the new findings support a growing body of evidence that factors that increase inflammation can increase osteoporosis risk.
