Vegan diet linked to poorer bone health in new study

The vegan diet is on-trend. How this type of diet affects health is the subject of scientific studies.Scientific evidence suggests that a vegan diet might be associated with impaired bone health.  

Researchers at  German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) compared the bone health of 36 vegans, as well as 36 people following a mixed-food diet with an ultrasound measurement of the heel bone. They found that on average, people following a vegan diet had lower ultrasound values compared to the other group thereby indicating poorer bone health.

In the study, the scientists also determined biomarkers in blood and urine. This aims to identify nutrients that might be related to diet and bone health. Out of 28 parameters of nutritional status and bone metabolism, it was possible to identify twelve biomarkers most strongly associated with bone health - for example, the amino acid lysine and vitamins A and B6. The results show that in most cases, the combination of these biomarkers was present in lower concentrations in vegans. This could be a possible explanation for the poorer bone health. "A vegan diet is often considered health-conscious. However, our scientific findings indicate that a vegan diet does affect bone health," says BfR President Professor Dr. Andreas Hensel.