Low-Carbo Diet, Did Not Increase Bone Loss

Filed in archive Studies on June 5, 2006

According to a 3-month study of rheumatologists at the University of South Florida, a strict low-carbohydrate diet (in adults following Adkins-type diet for weight loss) had no effect on bone loss.

Low-carbo diets are popular as weight loss technique that critics think may hve harmful side effects like increased risk of osteoporosis. Mainly because when calories from carbohydrates are replaced with more consumption of high-protein foods (meat and eggs), the body's acid balance is altered. Such imbalance could lead to increased bone turnover (more rapid depletion than formation of bone), therefore increasing the risk for osteoporosis.

This new study contradicts previous studies linking low-carbo diet to compromised bone health:

"That's not what our study found," said lead author John D. Carter, assistant professor in the Division of Rheumatology, USF College of Medicine. "Patients on the low carbohydrate diet did lose weight, but the diet did not appear to compromise bone integrity or lead to bone loss."

Earlier animal studies suggested that low carbohydrate, high protein diets could adversely affect bone quality. "I was surprised by the results," Dr. Carter said. "People on low carbohydrate diets absorb less calcium through the gut and excrete more calcium in the urine, so you'd expect they would be leaching their bones."

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