OT: More on cola's contribution to osteoporosis ...

Whistle
1

A couple of years ago, some research came out showing that active teenage girls who drank cola were significantly more likely to suffer bone fractures than girls who didn’t drink cola. The researchers hypothesized that the girls were drinking less milk and thereby not getting enough calcium.

I had heard and read that it was the phosphoric acid in cola responsible for the weakening of bones. The logic goes like this: You go to the store and buy a product that will wash the lime deposits off your bathroom shower walls. You spray the stuff on, the lime fizzes off and goes down the drain. What’s in the lime removing cleaning product? Phosphoric acid, same is in colas. What is lime? Calcium carbonate, same as is in bone. So when you drink cola on a regular basis, you’re fizzing your bones away and pissing them down the drain.

That was the logic before the aforementioned study’s researchers concluded it was the lack of dietary calcium that was responsible. The research did find a credible link between cola consumption and bone fractures in teenage girls.

Now additional, credible research has revived concerns about the phosphoric acid content in colas.

Carbonated Beverage Consumption and Bone Mineral Density
Presented at the 25th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research; Sept. 21, 2003.
K. L. Tucker, L. Troy, K. Morita, L. A. Cupples, M. T. Hannan, D. P. Kiel.
USDA HNRCA Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA, Hebrew Rehab Center for Aged, Boston, MA, USA.

Here’s the abstract:

http://www.abstractsonline.com/viewer/viewAbstractPrintFriendly.asp?CKey={1DC2928A-DE6C-4C95-9D8E-7AA0654390C2}&MKey={231F6D2C-6C94-4A1C-8C62-10CC89E46254}&AKey={D0C01D4F-E23B-45E2-ACD4-0AF8AC866B8B}&SKey={32A38C6C-FCF4-4564-978A-A9A79C30053A}

2

I recall an urban myth blaming the carbonation for this. Made me wonder about beer, but not enough to give it up!

3

Do they make a 0 calorie milk?

4

i think sugar does the same,it reduces calcium. alternative sweets like in diet coke are synthetic. you won’t get fat, but they cause more warm then sugar.
but there’s a lot of natural alternatives like: agave syrup, wheat syrup, maple syrup,…

5

No, Cranberry.

However, the study found that soft drinks without phosphoric acid were not associated with an increased risk of losing bone mineral density.

I’m assuming the caffiene is part of why you drink colas. If you don’t mind artificial sweeteners as a way to avoid calories, you could switch to artificially sweetened Mountain Dew. Or, you could switch to artificially sweetened canned iced tea. The polyphenols in tea have been found to have health benefits.

Best wishes,
Jerry

P.S. I take a “Let’s do what we can do” approach, rather than an absolutist approach. At least, it should be fairly easy to switch to something without phosphoric acid, and the tea may actually have some benefits. I agree that avoiding artificial sweeteners is a good idea, but any change for the better is worth making. If too much sacrifice is demanded, there tends to be no change made.

6

The fake sugars have also been shown to cause cancer in mice and kill them. The long term affects on people aren’t perfectly clear.

7

This is silly. Everything you eat must be processed through you digestive tract. It is all broken down to basic material BEFORE it even comes close to the other parts of your body. I believe you would have to drink A LOT of the stuff to overcome your bodies ability to neutralize the phos. acid.

It is my guess that it has more to do with the DIET associated with the drinking of soda pop than anything else. The burgers, fries, chips and other junk food that gets consumed instead of the fruits and veggies that would have the Ca needed.

As far as displacing the calcium in milk goes, my wife has read studies that say that show that the Ca in milk is barely assimilatable if at all. For various reasons we have not purchased milk in over a year. We recently had some comprehensive blood work done. Our calcium levels were right in the middle of the acceptable range.

8

Those rats who got cancer from aspartame were fed astronomically high amounts, more (proportionally speaking) than you’d get if you drank 3 cans of diet coke a day.

If you ask me, all that’s been proven is that research causes cancer in rats.

I still think you’re better off drinking plain old water than probably anything else. Maybe unsweetened tea. I actually like unsweetened green tea, but I don’t get it that often.

Norcal- I wouldn’t trust those “studies” that say your body can’t absorb the calcium in milk. A lot of them are bunk published by the animal rights front and are completely innacurate. If we couldn’t assimilate the calcium in milk, why would we feed it to our infants who have fast-growing bones? Milk is, however high in cholesterol, fat, protien, and sugars, and I honestly don’t recommend a diet high in dairy unless you actually want those lovehandles…

9

Quote @ Jerry Freeman

I’m assuming the caffiene is part of why you drink colas. If you don’t mind artificial sweeteners as a way to avoid calories, you could switch to artificially sweetened Mountain Dew. Or, you could switch to artificially sweetened canned iced tea. The polyphenols in tea have been found to have health benefits.

When I first started drinking diet pop (specifically Diet Coke or mabey Diet Dr. Pepper) it was because it didn’t have any calories (even though I’m still a fat cow), but now I’ve grown so fond of the taste it that I can’t stand regular pop. It tastes foreign.

10

The first part of your comment is true, as far as I know, of sacharine, which was taken off the market, and cyclomates, also taken off the market. I’m not aware of any research that shows aspartame or acesulfame K causes cancer, but there are plenty of health concerns about them. There may also be legitimate health concerns about stevia, which is derived from a natural herb. So I emphatically agree with the second part of your statement.

Here’s some background:

http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/3_19.htm

My biggest concern about aspartame is that it’s component building blocks are neurotransmitters. I’m not comfortable about putting a sythetic product into my body that might alter my brain chemistry in unknown ways.

I’ve seen credible research showing that aspartame intake was associated with relapses of clinical depression in susceptable patients.

Best wishes,
Jerry

11

Also, a lot of vegetables are high in calcium, esp. the dark green leafy bits, and you don’t have to worry about them padding your thighs. :slight_smile:

12

I think the bubbles from beer are the result of natural fermentation and not calcium carbonate. At least the good beers and not some of the “beer food products” out there.

Switch to beer! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:


I just bought a twelve pack of Saranac beer labeled ‘Adirondack Trail Mix’ because it combines a number of varietes in one box. Very nice, and good wholesome food too.

13

Quote @ TelegramSam

Those rats who got cancer from aspartame were fed astronomically high amounts, more (proportionally speaking) than you’d get if you drank 3 cans of diet coke a day.

What if you drink 25? :roll:

Quote @ NorCalMusiscian

It is my guess that it has more to do with the DIET associated with the drinking of soda pop than anything else. The burgers, fries, chips and other junk food that gets consumed instead of the fruits and veggies that would have the Ca needed.

I haven’t eaten cow-burger in years. I hardly ever eat fried food. I do live on Fritos, though. Gotta give you that one.

Quote @ Jerry Freeman

I’ve seen credible research showing that aspartame intake was associated with relapses of clinical depression in susceptable patients.

Me, too. :cry:

14

25!?! Yeesh! I’d just hate to see what the CAFFIENE must be doing to you, nevermind the aspartame! :astonished:

Switch to wa-wa!

15

Addiction is hard to overcome. I don’t think I’m addicted to the caffeine. I think I’m addicted to the fake sugar.

I don’t really drink 25. It’s closer to like 6…or something.

16

This is addressed in the abstract. The empirical fact is, the researchers found an association between phosphoric acid containing soft drink consumption and reduced bone mineral density, and they did not find an association with non-phosphoric acid containing soft drinks. You can read the abstract to see what other factors were investigated and compared among the groups studied.

It’s my understanding that research has repeatedly shown a positive link between milk consumption in children and adolescents and bone health in later years. In the same group of papers as the one we’re talking about, btw, was an article reporting that cheese consumption was positively linked to improved bone mineral status.

Adherants of anti-dairy ideologies routinely try to debunk the nutritional value of dairy products, but mainstream nutritional research doesn’t bear them out. If you have credible research, published in mainstream, peer-reviewed nutritional or medical journals, I would like to see it. If I’m mistaken, it’s important for me to discover the actual facts.

Best wishes,
Jerry

17

whew. Only 6. Okay. You had me worried. :poke:

18

Please read the abstract.

The comments trying to attribute the negative effect to otherwise unhealthy diet indicate you either didn’t read, didn’t understand, or chose to disregard the information provided. Any study of this type would be dismissed immediately and rejected for publication if it didn’t carefully investigate such obvious potentially confounding factors.

Best wishes,
Jerry

19

Although there are problems associated with caffiene, recent research indicates it may not be as serious a health factor as previously thought. Unless there’s a problem with hypertension, anxiety, insomnia, or something where caffiene might be directly involved, I wouldn’t be too worried.

Of course it would be good to do with less caffiene, but it’s my recollection that a Finnish study (they do some excellent nutritional research there) found no correlation between caffiene consumption and long term morbidity or mortality. If anyone has other information, of course, please post it.

Best wishes,
Jerry

20

Well I’m not saying caffiene will kill you, but 25 cans of diet coke a day’s worth would probably have you feeling a bit jittery.