Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Dietary protein and bone health across the life-course: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis over 40 years

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Osteoporosis International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of published papers assessing dietary protein and bone health. We found little benefit of increasing protein intake for bone health in healthy adults but no indication of any detrimental effect, at least within the protein intakes of the populations studied. This systematic review and meta-analysis analysed the relationship between dietary protein and bone health across the life-course. The PubMed database was searched for all relevant human studies from the 1st January 1976 to 22nd January 2016, including all bone outcomes except calcium metabolism. The searches identified 127 papers for inclusion, including 74 correlational studies, 23 fracture or osteoporosis risk studies and 30 supplementation trials. Protein intake accounted for 0–4% of areal BMC and areal BMD variance in adults and 0–14% of areal BMC variance in children and adolescents. However, when confounder adjusted (5 studies) adult lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD associations were not statistically significant. There was no association between protein intake and relative risk (RR) of osteoporotic fractures for total (RR(random) = 0.94; 0.72 to 1.23, I2 = 32%), animal (RR (random) = 0.98; 0.76 to 1.27, I2 = 46%) or vegetable protein (RR (fixed) = 0.97 (0.89 to 1.09, I2 = 15%). In total protein supplementation studies, pooled effect sizes were not statistically significant for LSBMD (total n = 255, MD(fixed) = 0.04 g/cm2 (0.00 to 0.08, P = 0.07), I2 = 0%) or FNBMD (total n = 435, MD(random) = 0.01 g/cm2 (−0.03 to 0.05, P = 0.59), I2 = 68%). There appears to be little benefit of increasing protein intake for bone health in healthy adults but there is also clearly no indication of any detrimental effect, at least within the protein intakes of the populations studied (around 0.8–1.3 g/Kg/day). More studies are urgently required on the association between protein intake and bone health in children and adolescents.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cao JJ, Johnson LK, Hunt JR (2011) A diet high in meat protein and potential renal acid load increases fractional calcium absorption and urinary calcium excretion without affecting markers of bone resorption or formation in postmenopausal women. J Nutr 141:391–397

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Arnett TR, Dempster DW (1986) Effect of pH on bone resorption by rat osteoclasts in vitro. Endocrinology 119:119–124

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Mangano KM, Walsh SJ, Kenny AM, Insogna KL, Kerstetter JE (2014) Dietary acid load is associated with lower bone mineral density in men with low intake of dietary calcium. J Bone Miner Res 29:500–506

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Massey LK (2003) Dietary animal and plant protein and human bone health: a whole foods approach. J Nutr 133:862S–865S

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Darling AL, Millward DJ, Torgerson DJ, Hewitt CE, Lanham-New SA (2009) Dietary protein and bone health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 90:1674–1692

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shams-White MM, Chung M, Du M et al (2017) Dietary protein and bone health: a systematic review and meta-analysis from the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Am J Clin Nutr 105:1528–1543

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Wu AM, Sun XL, Lv QB, Zhou Y, Xia DD, Xu HZ, Huang QS, Chi YL (2015) The relationship between dietary protein consumption and risk of fracture: a subgroup and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Sci Rep 5:9151

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Wallace TC, Frankenfeld CL (2017) Dietary protein intake above the current RDA and bone health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Am Coll Nutr:1–16

  9. Santesso N, Akl EA, Bianchi M, Mente A, Mustafa R, Heels-Ansdell D, Schunemann HJ (2012) Effects of higher- versus lower-protein diets on health outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Clin Nutr 66:780–788

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Shams-White MM, Chung M, Fu Z, Insogna KL, Karlsen MC, LeBoff MS, Shapses SA, Sackey J, Shi J, Wallace TC, Weaver CM (2018) Animal versus plant protein and adult bone health: a systematic review and meta-analysis from the National Osteoporosis Foundation. PLoS One 13:e0192459

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Team RC (2014) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. . 3.1.2 edn

  12. Laliberté E (2011) Metacor: Meta-analysis of correlation coefficients, R package version 1.0–2. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=metacor. Accessed 10 April 2017

  13. Schwarzer G (2007) Meta: an R package for meta-analysis. R News 7:40–45

    Google Scholar 

  14. Viechtbauer W (2010) Conducting Meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. J Stat Softw 36:1–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Möbius TWD (2014) Metagen: inference in Meta analysis and Meta regression. R package version 1.0. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=metagen. Accessed 10 April 2017

  16. Higgins JP, Thompson SG, Deeks JJ, Altman DG (2003) Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses. BMJ 327:557–560

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Egger M, Davey Smith G, Schneider M, Minder C (1997) Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. BMJ 315:629–634

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Jadad AR, Moore RA, Carroll D, Jenkinson C, Reynolds DJ, Gavaghan DJ, McQuay HJ (1996) Assessing the quality of reports of randomized clinical trials: is blinding necessary? Control Clin Trials 17:1–12

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Wells GA, Shea B, O’Connell D, Peterson J, Welch V, Losos M, Tugwell P (2014) The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for assessing the quality of nonrandomised studies in meta-analyses. http://www.ohri.ca/programs/clinical_epidemiology/oxford.asp. Accessed 11 April 2017

  20. Moher D, Cook DJ, Eastwood S, Olkin I, Rennie D, Stroup DF (1999) Improving the quality of reports of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials: the QUOROM statement. Quality of Reporting of Meta-analyses. Lancet 354:1896–1900

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Alexy U, Remer T, Manz F, Neu CM, Schoenau E (2005) Long-term protein intake and dietary potential renal acid load are associated with bone modeling and remodeling at the proximal radius in healthy children. Am J Clin Nutr 82:1107–1114

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Alissa EM, Qadi SG, Alhujaili NA, Alshehri AM, Ferns GA (2011) Effect of diet and lifestyle factors on bone health in postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Metab 29:725–735

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Alissa EM, Alnahdi WA, Alama N, Ferns GA (2014) Relationship between nutritional profile, measures of adiposity, and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Saudi women. J Am Coll Nutr 33:206–214

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Beasley JM, Ichikawa LE, Ange BA, Spangler L, LaCroix AZ, Ott SM, Scholes D (2010) Is protein intake associated with bone mineral density in young women? Am J Clin Nutr 91:1311–1316

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Beasley JM, LaCroix AZ, Larson JC et al (2014) Biomarker-calibrated protein intake and bone health in the Women’s Health Initiative clinical trials and observational study. Am J Clin Nutr 99:934–940

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Bounds W, Skinner J, Carruth BR, Ziegler P (2005) Current research - the relationship of dietary and lifestyle factors to bone mineral indexes in children. J Am Diet Assoc 105:735–741

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Budek AZ, Hoppe C, Michaelsen KE, Bugel S, Molgaard C (2007) Associations of total, dairy, and meat protein with markers for bone turnover in healthy, prepubertal boys. J Nutr 137:930–934

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Budek AZ, Hoppe C, Ingstrup H, Michaelsen KF, Bugel S, Molgaard C (2007) Dietary protein intake and bone mineral content in adolescents—the Copenhagen cohort study. Osteoporos Int 18:1661–1667

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Chan R, Woo J, Lau W, Leung J, Xu L, Zhao XH, Yu W, Lau E, Pocock N (2009) Effects of lifestyle and diet on bone health in young adult Chinese women living in Hong Kong and Beijing. Food Nutr Bull 30:370–378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Chan R, Woo J, Leung J (2011) Effects of food groups and dietary nutrients on bone loss in elderly Chinese population. J Nutr Health Aging 15:287–294

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Chevalley T, Bonjour JP, Ferrari S, Rizzoli R (2008) High-protein intake enhances the positive impact of physical activity on BMC in prepubertal boys. J Bone Miner Res 23:131–142

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Chevalley T, Bonjour JP, van Rietbergen B, Ferrari S, Rizzoli R (2014) Tracking of environmental determinants of bone structure and strength development in healthy boys: an eight-year follow up study on the positive interaction between physical activity and protein intake from prepuberty to mid-late adolescence. J Bone Miner Res 29:2182–2192

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Chiu JF, Lan SJ, Yang CY, Wang PW, Yao WJ, Su LH, Hsieh CC (1997) Long-term vegetarian diet and bone mineral density in postmenopausal Taiwanese women. Calcif Tissue Int 60:245–249

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Coin A, Perissinotto E, Enzi G, Zamboni M, Inelmen EM, Frigo AC, Manzato E, Busetto L, Buja A, Sergi G (2008) Predictors of low bone mineral density in the elderly: the role of dietary intake, nutritional status and sarcopenia. Eur J Clin Nutr 62:802–809

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Cooper C, Atkinson EJ, Hensrud DD, Wahner HW, O'Fallon WM, Riggs BL, Melton LJ 3rd (1996) Dietary protein intake and bone mass in women. Calcif Tissue Int 58:320–325

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS (2002) Calcium intake influences the association of protein intake with rates of bone loss in elderly men and women. Am J Clin Nutr 75:773–779

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Devine A, Dick IM, Islam AFM, Dhaliwal SS, Prince RL (2005) Protein consumption is an important predictor of lower limb bone mass in elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr 81:1423–1428

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Ekbote VH, Khadilkar AV, Chiplonkar SA, Khadilkar VV (2011) Determinants of bone mineral content and bone area in Indian preschool children. J Bone Miner Metab 29:334–341

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Fairweather-Tait SJ, Skinner J, Guile GR, Cassidy A, Spector TD, MacGregor AJ (2011) Diet and bone mineral density study in postmenopausal women from the TwinsUK registry shows a negative association with a traditional English dietary pattern and a positive association with wine. Am J Clin Nutr 94:1371–1375

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Freudenheim JL, Johnson NE, Smith EL (1986) Relationships between usual nutrient intake and bone-mineral content of women 35-65 years of age—longitudinal and cross-sectional analysis. Am J Clin Nutr 44:863–876

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Geinoz G, Rapin CH, Rizzoli R, Kraemer R, Buchs B, Slosman D, Michel JP, Bonjour JP (1993) Relationship between bone-mineral density and dietary intakes in the elderly. Osteoporos Int 3:242–248

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Genaro PD, Pinheiro MD, Szejnfeld VL, Martini LA (2015) Dietary protein intake in elderly women: association with muscle and bone mass. Nutr Clin Pract 30:283–289

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Gregg EW, Kriska AM, Salamone LM, Wolf RL, Roberts MM, Ferrell RE, Anderson SJ, Kuller LH, Cauley JA (1999) Correlates of quantitative ultrasound in the women's healthy lifestyle project. Osteoporosis Int 10:416–424

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Gunn CA, Weber JL, Kruger MC (2014) Diet, weight, cytokines and bone health in postmenopausal women. J Nutr Health Aging 18:479–486

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Hannan MT, Tucker KL, Dawson-Hughes B, Cupples LA, Felson DT, Kiel DP (2000) Effect of dietary protein on bone loss in elderly men and women: the Framingham osteoporosis study. J Bone Miner Res 15:2504–2512

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Henderson NK, Price RI, Cole JH, Gutteridge DH, Bhagat CI (1995) Bone-density in young-women is associated with body-weight and muscle strength but not dietary intakes. J Bone Miner Res 10:384–393

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Hernandezavila M, Stampfer MJ, Ravnikar VA, Willett WC, Schiff I, Francis M, Longscope C, Mckinlay SM (1993) Caffeine and other predictors of bone-density among premenopausal and perimenopausal women. Epidemiology 4:128–134

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Hirota T, Nara M, Ohguri M, Manago E, Hirota K (1992) Effect of diet and lifestyle on bone mass in Asian young women. Am J Clin Nutr 55:1168–1173

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Ho SC, Woo J, Lam S, Chen Y, Sham A, Lau J (2003) Soy protein consumption and bone mass in early postmenopausal Chinese women. Osteoporosis Int 14:835–842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Ho SC, Chan SG, Yip YB, Chan CSY, Woo JLF, Sham A (2008) Change in bone mineral density and its determinants in pre- and perimenopausal Chinese women: the Hong Kong perimenopausal women osteoporosis study. Osteoporosis Int 19:1785–1796

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Ho-Pham LT, Nguyen PLT, Le TTT, Doan TAT, Tran NT, Le TA, Nguyen TV (2009) Veganism, bone mineral density, and body composition: a study in Buddhist nuns. Osteoporos Int 20:2087–2093

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Ho-Pham LT, Vu BQ, Lai TQ, Nguyen ND, Nguyen TV (2012) Vegetarianism, bone loss, fracture and vitamin D: a longitudinal study in Asian vegans and non-vegans. Eur J Clin Nutr 66:75–82

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Hoppe C, Molgaard C, Michaelsen KF (2000) Bone size and bone mass in 10-year-old Danish children: effect of current diet. Osteoporos Int 11:1024–1030

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Horiuchi T, Onouchi T, Takahashi M, Ito H, Orimo H (2000) Effect of soy protein on bone metabolism in postmenopausal Japanese women. Osteoporos Int 11:721–724

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  55. Hu T, Rianon NJ, Nettleton JA, Hyder JA, He J, Steffen LM, Jacobs DR, Criqui MH, Bazzano LA (2014) Protein intake and lumbar bone density: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). Brit J Nutr 112:1384–1392

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Ilich JZ, Brownbill RA, Tamborini L (2003) Bone and nutrition in elderly women: protein, energy, and calcium as main determinants of bone mineral density. Eur J Clin Nutr 57:554–565

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Iuliano-Burns S, Stone J, Hopper JL, Seeman E (2005) Diet and exercise during growth have site-specific skeletal effects: a co-twin control study. Osteoporos Int 16:1225–1232

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Jaime PC, Latorre Mdo R, Florindo AA, Tanaka T, Zerbini CA (2006) Dietary intake of Brazilian black and white men and its relationship to the bone mineral density of the femoral neck. Sao Paulo Med J 124:267–270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Jones G, Riley MD, Whiting S (2001) Association between urinary potassium, urinary sodium, current diet, and bone density in prepubertal children. Am J Clin Nutr 73:839–844

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Knurick JR, Johnston CS, Wherry SJ, Aguayo I (2015) Comparison of correlates of bone mineral density in individuals adhering to lacto-Ovo, vegan, or omnivore diets: a cross-sectional investigation. Nutrients 7:3416–3426

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  61. Kumar A, Mittal S, Orito S, Ishitani K, Ohta H (2010) Impact of dietary intake, education, and physical activity on bone mineral density among north Indian women. J Bone Miner Metab 28:192–201

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Lacey JM, Anderson JJB, Fujita T, Yoshimoto Y, Fukase M, Tsuchie S, Koch GG (1991) Correlates of cortical bone mass among premenopausal and postmenopausal Japanese women. J Bone Miner Res 6:651–659

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Langsetmo L, Barr SI, Berger C et al (2015) Associations of protein intake and protein source with bone mineral density and fracture risk: a population-based cohort study. J Nutr Health Aging 19:861–868

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  64. Lau EMC, Kwok T, Woo J, Ho SC (1998) Bone mineral density in Chinese elderly female vegetarians, vegans, lacto-vegetarians and omnivores. Eur J Clin Nutr 52:60–64

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. Libuda L, Alexy U, Remer T, Stehle P, Schoenau E, Kersting M (2008) Association between long-term consumption of soft drinks and variables of bone modeling and remodeling in a sample of healthy German children and adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr 88:1670–1677

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Libuda L, Wudy SA, Schoenau E, Remer T (2011) Comparison of the effects of dietary protein, androstenediol and forearm muscle area on radial bone variables in healthy prepubertal children. Br J Nutr 105:428–435

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Loenneke JP, Balapur A, Thrower AD, Syler G, Timlin M, Pujol TJ (2010) Short report: relationship between quality protein, lean mass and bone health. Ann Nutr Metab 57:219–220

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Macdonald HM, New SA, Fraser WD, Campbell MK, Reid DM (2005) Low dietary potassium intakes and high dietary estimates of net endogenous acid production are associated with low bone mineral density in premenopausal women and increased markers of bone resorption in postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 81:923–933

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Meng X, Zhu K, Devine A, Kerr DA, Binns CW, Prince RL (2009) A 5-year cohort study of the effects of high protein intake on lean mass and BMC in elderly postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res 24:1827–1834

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Metz JA, Anderson JJ, Gallagher PN Jr (1993) Intakes of calcium, phosphorus, and protein, and physical-activity level are related to radial bone mass in young adult women. Am J Clin Nutr 58:537–542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Michaelsson K, Holmberg L, Mallmin H, Wolk A, Bergstrom R, Ljunghall S (1995) Diet, bone mass, and osteocalcin: a cross-sectional study. Calcif Tissue Int 57:86–93

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  72. Nakamura K, Hori Y, Nashimoto M, Okuda Y, Miyazaki H, Kasai Y, Yamamoto M (2004) Dietary calcium, sodium, phosphorus, and protein and bone metabolism in elderly Japanese women: a pilot study using the duplicate portion sampling method. Nutrition 20:340–345

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Neville CE, Robson PJ, Murray LJ, Strain JJ, Twisk J, Gallagher AM, McGuinness M, Cran GW, Ralston SH, Boreham CAG (2002) The effect of nutrient intake on bone mineral status in young adults: the Northern Ireland young hearts project. Calcif Tissue Int 70:89–98

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. New SA, BoltonSmith C, Grubb DA, Reid DM (1997) Nutritional influences on bone mineral density: a cross-sectional study in premenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 65:1831–1839

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Oh SM, Kim HC, Rhee Y, Park SJ, Lee HJ, Suh I, Feskanich D (2013) Dietary protein in relation to bone stiffness index and fat-free mass in a population consuming relatively low protein diets. J Bone Miner Metab 31:433–441

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  76. Orozco Lopez P, Ruiz Gil E, Nolla Sole JM (1998) Are food intake and life styles related with bone mass in fertile women? An Med Interna 15:63–69

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. Orwoll ES, Weigel RM, Oviatt SK, Meier DE, McClung MR (1987) Serum protein concentrations and bone mineral content in aging normal men. Am J Clin Nutr 46:614–621

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  78. Pearce MS, Relton CL, Groom A, Peaston RT, Francis RM (2010) A lifecourse study of bone resorption in men ages 49-51years: the Newcastle thousand families cohort study. Bone 46:952–956

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  79. Promislow JH, Goodman-Gruen D, Slymen DJ, Barrett-Connor E (2002) Protein consumption and bone mineral density in the elderly : the rancho Bernardo study. Am J Epidemiol 155:636–644

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Quintas ME, Ortega RM, Lopez-Sobaler AM, Garrido G, Requejo AM (2003) Influence of dietetic and anthropometric factors and of the type of sport practised on bone density in different groups of women. Eur J Clin Nutr 57(Suppl 1):S58–S62

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  81. Rapuri PB, Gallagher JC, Haynatzka V (2003) Protein intake: effects on bone mineral density and the rate of bone loss in elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr 77:1517–1525

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Rubinacci A, Porrini M, Sirtori P, Galli L, Tessari L (1992) Nutrients, anthropometric characteristics and osteoporosis in women in the recent and late postmenopausal period. Minerva Med 83:497–506

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. Sahni S, Broe KE, Tucker KL, McLean RR, Kiel DP, Cupples LA, Hannan MT (2014) Association of total protein intake with bone mineral density and bone loss in men and women from the Framingham offspring study. Public Health Nutr 17:2570–2576

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  84. Tanaka M, Itoh K, Abe S, Imai K, Masuda T, Koga R, Itoh H, Kinukawa N, Matsuyama T, Nakamura M (2001) Relationship between nutrient factors and osteo-sono assessment index in calcaneus of young Japanese women. Nutr Res 21:1475–1482

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  85. Teegarden D, Lyle RM, McCabe GP, McCabe LD, Proulx WR, Michon K, Knight AP, Johnston CC, Weaver CM (1998) Dietary calcium, protein, and phosphorus are related to bone mineral density and content in young women. Am J Clin Nutr 68:749–754

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  86. Thorpe M, Mojtahedi MC, Chapman-Novakofski K, McAuley E, Evans EM (2008) A positive association of lumbar spine bone mineral density with dietary protein is suppressed by a negative association with protein sulfur. J Nutr 138:80–85

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  87. Tylavsky FA, Anderson JJ (1988) Dietary factors in bone health of elderly lactoovovegetarian and omnivorous women. Am J Clin Nutr 48:842–849

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  88. Vatanparast H, Bailey DA, Baxter-Jones ADG, Whiting SJ (2007) The effects of dietary protein on bone mineral mass in young adults may be modulated by adolescent calcium intake. J Nutr 137:2674–2679

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  89. Wang MC, Villa ML, Marcus R, Kelsey JL (1997) Associations of vitamin C, calcium and protein with bone mass in postmenopausal Mexican American women. Osteoporosis Int 7:533–538

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  90. Wang MC, Moore EC, Crawford PB, Hudes M, Sabry ZI, Marcus R, Bachrach LK (1999) Influence of pre-adolescent diet on quantitative ultrasound measurements of the calcaneus in young adult women. Osteoporos Int 9:532–535

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  91. Weikert C, Walter D, Hoffmann K, Kroke A, Bergmann MM, Boeing H (2005) The relation between dietary protein, calcium and bone health in women: results from the EPIC-Potsdam cohort. Ann Nutr Metab 49:312–318

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  92. Whiting SJ, Boyle JL, Thompson A, Mirwald RL, Faulkner RA (2002) Dietary protein, phosphorus and potassium are beneficial to bone mineral density in adult men consuming adequate dietary calcium. J Am Coll Nutr 21:402–409

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  93. Yazdanpanah N, Zillikens MC, Rivadeneira F, De Jong R, Lindemans J, Uitterlinden AG, Pols HAP, Van Meurs JBJ (2007) Effect of dietary B vitamins on BMD and risk of fracture in elderly men and women: the Rotterdam study. Bone 41:987–994

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  94. Zhang Q, Ma GS, Greenfield H, Zhu K, Du XQ, Foo LH, Hu XQ, Fraser DR (2010) The association between dietary protein intake and bone mass accretion in pubertal girls with low calcium intakes. Brit J Nutr 103:714–723

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  95. Abelow BJ, Holford TR, Insogna KL (1992) Cross-cultural association between dietary animal protein and hip fracture: a hypothesis. Calcif Tissue Int 50:14–18

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  96. Dargent-Molina P, Sabia S, Touvier M, Kesse E, Breart G, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC (2008) Proteins, dietary acid load, and calcium and risk of postmenopausal fractures in the E3N French women prospective study. J Bone Miner Res 23:1915–1922

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  97. Feskanich D, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA (1996) Protein consumption and bone fractures in women. Am J Epidemiol 143:472–479

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  98. Frassetto LA, Todd KM, Morris RC Jr, Sebastian A (2000) Worldwide incidence of hip fracture in elderly women: relation to consumption of animal and vegetable foods. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 55:M585–M592

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  99. Key TJ, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Roddam AW, Neale RE, Allen NE (2007) Calcium, diet and fracture risk: a prospective study of 1898 incident fractures among 34 696 British women and men. Public Health Nutr 10:1314–1320

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  100. Meyer HE, Pedersen JI, Loken EB, Tverdal A (1997) Dietary factors and the incidence of hip fracture in middle-aged Norwegians. A prospective study. Am J Epidemiol 145:117–123

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  101. Misra D, Berry SD, Broe KE, McLean RR, Cupples LA, Tucker KL, Kiel DP, Hannan MT (2011) Does dietary protein reduce hip fracture risk in elders? The Framingham osteoporosis study. Osteoporosis Int 22:345–349

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  102. Munger RG, Cerhan JR, Chiu BC (1999) Prospective study of dietary protein intake and risk of hip fracture in postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 69:147–152

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  103. Mussolino ME, Looker AC, Madans JH, Langlois JA, Orwoll ES (1998) Risk factors for hip fracture in white men: the NHANES I epidemiologic follow-up study. J Bone Miner Res 13:918–924

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  104. Sahni S, Cupples LA, McLean RR, Tucker KL, Broe KE, Kiel DP, Hannan MT (2010) Protective effect of high protein and calcium intake on the risk of hip fracture in the Framingham offspring cohort. J Bone Miner Res 25:2770–2776

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  105. Sellmeyer DE, Stone KL, Sebastian A, Cummings SR (2001) A high ratio of dietary animal to vegetable protein increases the rate of bone loss and the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women. Study of osteoporotic fractures research group. Am J Clin Nutr 73:118–122

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  106. Zhong Y, Okoro CA, Balluz LS (2009) Association of total calcium and dietary protein intakes with fracture risk in postmenopausal women: the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Nutrition 25:647–654

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  107. Zhang X, Shu XO, Li H, Yang G, Li Q, Gao YT, Zheng W (2005) Prospective cohort study of soy food consumption and risk of bone fracture among postmenopausal women. Arch Intern Med 165:1890–1895

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  108. Chevalley T, Bonjour JP, van Rietbergen B, Ferrari S, Rizzoli R (2011) Fractures during childhood and adolescence in healthy boys: relation with bone mass, microstructure, and strength. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 96:3134–3142

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  109. Farrin N, Ostadrahimi AR, Mahboob SA, Kolahi S, Ghavami M (2008) Dietary intake and serum bone related chemistry and their correlations in postmenopausal Iranian women. Saudi Med J 29:1643–1648

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  110. Kim J, Lim SY, Kim JH (2008) Nutrient intake risk factors of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr 17:270–275

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  111. Martinez-Ramirez MJ, Delgado-Martinez AD, Ruiz-Bailen M, de la Fuente C, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Delgado-Rodriguez M (2012) Protein intake and fracture risk in elderly people: a case-control study. Clin Nutr 31:391–395

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  112. Nieves JW, Grisso JA, Kelsey JL (1992) A case-control study of hip fracture—evaluation of selected dietary variables and teenage physical-activity. Osteoporosis Int 2:122–127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  113. Park YJ, Lee SJ, Shin NM, Shin H, Kim YK, Cho Y, Jeon S, Cho I (2014) Bone mineral density, biochemical bone turnover markers and factors associated with bone health in young Korean women. J Korean Acad Nurs 44:504–514

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  114. Perez Durillo FT, Torio Durantez J, Villarejo Villar AB, Sanchez Vico AB, Cueto Camarero Mdel M, Durillo JP (2011) Comparative study of dietary intake and nutritional status in elderly women with and without hip fracture. Aten Primaria 43:362–368

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  115. Preisinger E, Leitner G, Uher E, Alacamlioglu Y, Seidl G, Marktl W, Resch KL (1995) Nutrition and osteoporosis: a nutritional analysis of women in postmenopause. Wien Klin Wochenschr 107:418–422

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  116. Samieri C, Ginder Coupez V, Lorrain S, Letenneur L, Alles B, Feart C, Paineau D, Barberger-Gateau P (2013) Nutrient patterns and risk of fracture in older subjects: results from the Three-City study. Osteoporos Int 24:1295–1305

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  117. Wengreen HJ, Munger RG, West NA, Cutler DR, Corcoran CD, Zhang J, Sassano NE (2004) Dietary protein intake and risk of osteoporotic hip fracture in elderly residents of Utah. J Bone Miner Res 19:537–545

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  118. Alekel DL, St Germain A, Pererson CT, Hanson KB, Stewart JW, Toda T (2000) Isoflavone-rich soy protein isolate attenuates bone loss in the lumbar spine of perimenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 72:844–852

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  119. Aoe S, Toba Y, Yamamura J, Kawakami H, Yahiro M, Kumegawa M, Itabashi A, Takada Y (2001) Controlled trial of the effects of milk basic protein (MBP) supplementation on bone metabolism in healthy adult women. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 65:913–918

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  120. Aoe S, Koyama T, Toba Y, Itabashi A, Takada Y (2005) A controlled trial of the effect of milk basic protein (MBP) supplementation on bone metabolism in healthy menopausal women. Osteoporosis Int 16:2123–2128

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  121. Arjmandi BH, Khalil DA, Smith BJ, Lucas EA, Juma S, Payton ME, Wild RA (2003) Soy protein has a greater effect on bone in postmenopausal women not on hormone replacement therapy, as evidenced by reducing bone resorption and urinary calcium excretion. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88:1048–1054

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  122. Ceglia L, Harris SS, Abrams SA, Rasmussen HM, Dallal GE, Dawson-Hughes B (2009) Potassium bicarbonate attenuates the urinary nitrogen excretion that accompanies an increase in dietary protein and may promote calcium absorption. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94:645–653

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  123. Cuneo F, Costa-Paiva L, Pinto-Neto AM, Morais SS, Amaya-Farfan J (2010) Effect of dietary supplementation with collagen hydrolysates on bone metabolism of postmenopausal women with low mineral density. Maturitas 65:253–257

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  124. Dalais FS, Ebeling PR, Kotsopoulos D, McGrath BP, Teede HJ (2003) The effects of soy protein containing isoflavones on lipids and indices of bone resorption in postmenopausal women. Clin Endocrinol 58:704–709

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  125. Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS, Rasmussen H, Song LY, Dallal GE (2004) Effect of dietary protein supplements on calcium excretion in healthy older men and women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89:1169–1173

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  126. Evans EM, Racette SB, Van Pelt RE, Peterson LR, Villareal DT (2007) Effects of soy protein isolate and moderate exercise on bone turnover and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women. Menopause 14:481–488

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  127. Hunt JR, Johnson LK, Fariba Roughead ZK (2009) Dietary protein and calcium interact to influence calcium retention: a controlled feeding study. Am J Clin Nutr 89:1357–1365

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  128. Ince BA, Anderson EJ, Neer RM (2004) Lowering dietary protein to U.S. recommended dietary allowance levels reduces urinary calcium excretion and bone resorption in young women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89:3801–3807

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  129. Jenkins DJ, Kendall CW, Vidgen E, Augustin LS, Parker T, Faulkner D, Vieth R, Vandenbroucke AC, Josse RG (2003) Effect of high vegetable protein diets on urinary calcium loss in middle-aged men and women. Eur J Clin Nutr 57:376–382

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  130. Kenny AM, Mangano KM, Abourizk RH, Bruno RS, Anamani DE, Kleppinger A, Walsh SJ, Prestwood KM, Kerstetter JE (2009) Soy proteins and isoflavones affect bone mineral density in older women: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr 90:234–242

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  131. Kerstetter JE, Mitnick ME, Gundberg CM, Caseria DM, Ellison AF, Carpenter TO, Insogna KL (1999) Changes in bone turnover in young women consuming different levels of dietary protein. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 84:1052–1055

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  132. Kerstetter JE, Bihuniak JD, Brindisi J, Sullivan RR, Mangano KM, Larocque S, Kotler BM, Simpson CA, Cusano AM, Gaffney-Stomberg E, Kleppinger A, Reynolds J, Dziura J, Kenny AM, Insogna KL (2015) The effect of a whey protein supplement on bone mass in older Caucasian adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 100:2214–2222

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  133. Khalil DA, Lucas EA, Juma S, Smith BJ, Payton ME, Arjmandi BH (2002) Soy protein supplementation increases serum insulin-like growth factor-I in young and old men but does not affect markers of bone metabolism. J Nutr 132:2605–2608

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  134. Lampl M, Johnston FE (1978) The effects of protein supplementation on the growth and skeletal maturation of New Guinean school children. Ann Hum Biol 5:219–227

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  135. Martin-Bautista E, Martin-Matillas M, Martin-Lagos JA, Miranda-Leon MT, Munoz-Torres M, Ruiz-Requena E, Rivero M, Quer J, Puigdueta I, Campoy C (2011) A nutritional intervention study with hydrolyzed collagen in pre-pubertal spanish children: influence on bone modeling biomarkers. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 24:147–153

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  136. Roughead ZK, Johnson LK, Lykken GI, Hunt JR (2003) Controlled high meat diets do not affect calcium retention or indices of bone status in healthy postmenopausal women. J Nutr 133:1020–1026

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  137. Schurch MA, Rizzoli R, Slosman D, Vadas L, Vergnaud P, Bonjour JP (1998) Protein supplements increase serum insulin-like growth factor-I levels and attenuate proximal femur bone loss in patients with recent hip fracture. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med 128:801–809

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  138. Shapses SA, Robins SP, Schwartz EI, Chowdhury H (1995) Short-term changes in calcium but not protein intake alter the rate of bone resorption in healthy subjects as assessed by urinary pyridinium cross-link excretion. J Nutr 125:2814–2821

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  139. Spence LA, Lipscomb ER, Cadogan J, Martin B, Wastney ME, Peacock M, Weaver CM (2005) The effect of soy protein and soy isoflavones on calcium metabolism in postmenopausal women: a randomized crossover study. Am J Clin Nutr 81:916–922

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  140. Tkatch L, Rapin CH, Rizzoli R, Slosman D, Nydegger V, Vasey H, Bonjour JP (1992) Benefits of oral protein supplementation in elderly patients with fracture of the proximal femur. J Am Coll Nutr 11:519–525

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  141. Toba Y, Takada Y, Matsuoka Y et al (2001) Milk basic protein promotes bone formation and suppresses bone resorption in healthy adult men. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 65:1353–1357

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  142. Uenishi K, Ishida H, Toba Y, Aoe S, Itabashi A, Takada Y (2007) Milk basic protein increases bone mineral density and improves bone metabolism in healthy young women. Osteoporos Int 18:385–390

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  143. Vupadhyayula PM, Gallagher JC, Templin T, Logsdon SM, Smith LM (2009) Effects of soy protein isolate on bone mineral density and physical performance indices in postmenopausal women—a 2-year randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Menopause 16:320–328

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  144. Yamamura J, Aoe S, Toba Y, Motouri M, Kawakami H, Kumegawa M, Itabashi A, Takada Y (2002) Milk basic protein (MBP) increases radial bone mineral density in healthy adult women. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 66:702–704

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  145. Zhu K, Meng X, Kerr DA, Devine A, Solah V, Binns CW, Prince RL (2011) The effects of a two-year randomized, controlled trial of whey protein supplementation on bone structure, IGF-1, and urinary calcium excretion in older postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res 26:2298–2306

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  146. Zou ZY, Lin XM, Xu XR, Xu R, Ma L, Li Y, Wang MF (2009) Evaluation of milk basic protein supplementation on bone density and bone metabolism in Chinese young women. Eur J Nutr 48:301–306

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  147. Ministry of Health (2014) Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand: Nutrients, Protein. https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/protein. Accessed 22nd February 2019

  148. EFSA (2012) Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for protein. EFSA J 10:2557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  149. IOM (2005) Dietary reference intakes for energy, carbohydrate, fiber, fat, fatty acids, cholesterol, protein and amino acids. The National Academies Press, Washington D.C

    Google Scholar 

  150. Fung TT, Meyer HE, Willett WC, Feskanich D (2017) Protein intake and risk of hip fractures in postmenopausal women and men age 50 and older. Osteoporos Int 28:1401–1411

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  151. Langsetmo L, Shikany JM, Cawthon PM, Cauley JA, Taylor BC, Vo TN, Bauer DC, Orwoll ES, Schousboe JT, Ensrud KE, for the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Research Group (2017) The association between protein intake by source and osteoporotic fracture in older men: a prospective cohort study. J Bone Miner Res 32:592–600

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  152. Durosier-Izart C, Biver E, Merminod F, van Rietbergen B, Chevalley T, Herrmann FR, Ferrari SL, Rizzoli R (2017) Peripheral skeleton bone strength is positively correlated with total and dairy protein intakes in healthy postmenopausal women. Am J Clin Nutr 105:513–525

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  153. Chevalley T, Bonjour JP, Audet MC, Merminod F, van Rietbergen B, Rizzoli R, Ferrari S (2017) Prepubertal impact of protein intake and physical activity on weight-bearing peak bone mass and strength in males. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 102:157–166

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  154. Isanejad M, Sirola J, Mursu J, Kroger H, Tuppurainen M, Erkkila AT (2017) Association of protein intake with bone mineral density and bone mineral content among elderly women: the OSTPRE fracture prevention study. J Nutr Health Aging 21:622–630

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  155. Konig D, Oesser S, Scharla S, Zdzieblik D, Gollhofer A (2018) Specific collagen peptides improve bone mineral density and bone markers in postmenopausal women—a randomized controlled study. Nutrients 10

  156. Steell L, Sillars A, Welsh P, Iliodromiti S, Wong SC, Pell JP, Sattar N, Gill JMR, Celis-Morales CA, Gray SR (2018) Associations of dietary protein intake with bone mineral density: an observational study in 70,215 UK biobank participants. Bone 120:38–43

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  157. Mejia W, Cordoba D, Duran P, Chacon Y, Rosselli D (2018) Effect of daily exposure to an isolated soy protein supplement on body composition, energy and macronutrient intake, bone formation markers, and lipid profile in children in Colombia. J Diet Suppl 1-13

  158. Langsetmo L, Shikany JM, Burghardt AJ et al (2018) High dairy protein intake is associated with greater bone strength parameters at the distal radius and tibia in older men: a cross-sectional study. Osteoporos Int 29:69–77

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  159. Johansson J, Hult A, Morseth B, Nordstrom A, Nordstrom P (2018) Self-reported protein intake and properties of bone in community-dwelling older individuals. Arch Osteoporos 13:10

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  160. Kim BJ, Lee SH, Isales CM, Koh JM, Hamrick MW (2018) The positive association of total protein intake with femoral neck strength (KNHANES IV). Osteoporos Int 29:1397–1405

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  161. Cauley JA, Cawthon PM, Peters KE, Cummings SR, Ensrud KE, Bauer DC, Taylor BC, Shikany JM, Hoffman AR, Lane NE, Kado DM, Stefanick ML, Orwoll ES, for the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) Study Research Group (2016) Risk factors for hip fracture in older men: the osteoporotic fractures in men study (MrOS). J Bone Miner Res 31:1810–1819

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  162. Mangano KM, Sahni S, Kiel DP, Tucker KL, Dufour AB, Hannan MT (2017) Dietary protein is associated with musculoskeletal health independently of dietary pattern: the Framingham third generation study. Am J Clin Nutr 105:714–722

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Helen Lambert for her help with translation of papers.

Awards

ALD received a Young Investigator Travel Award from the 10th International Symposium on the Nutritional Aspects of Osteoporosis Conference in Hong Kong, 28th November to 1st December 2017 for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. L. Darling.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

SS has received institutional grants from Dairy Management Inc. and she serves as a member of the National Dairy Council’s Nutrition Research Scientific Advisory Committee. SLN has received consultancy fees from the following companies/organisations: National Dairy Council UK, Yoplait, Kelloggs, Danone, Nestle. All other authors have nothing to declare.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(PDF 1126 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Darling, A.L., Manders, R.J.F., Sahni, S. et al. Dietary protein and bone health across the life-course: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis over 40 years. Osteoporos Int 30, 741–761 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-019-04933-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-019-04933-8

Keywords

Navigation