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High protein intake decreases fracture risk
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The risks for major osteoporotic fracture, low-trauma fracture and hip fracture decrease with higher total protein consumption in older men, study data show.
Lisa Langsetmo, PhD, MSc, of the division of epidemiology and community health, University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues evaluated data from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study on 5,875 men (mean age, 73.6 years) to determine the association between protein intake and incident fracture and whether the relationships vary by protein source or by skeletal site.
The risks for major osteoporotic fracture (HR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.84-1), low-trauma fracture (HR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99) and hip fracture (HR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.73-0.95) were decreased with higher total protein intake. Higher total protein intake was also associated with a nonstatistically significant decreased risk for non-hip, non-spine fracture, but no association was observed for the risk for clinical spine fracture.
The risk for hip fracture was decreased with increased dairy protein (HR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.65-0.98) and non-dairy animal protein (HR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.72-0.97), but not with increased plant-source protein.
“Inadequate protein intake is common in older men, as energy intake (hence absolute protein intake) declines with age,” Langsetmo told Endocrine Today. “Our study showed that increased protein intake in community-dweilling older men was associated with a lower risk of fractures, particularly hip fractures. The association depended on source of protein. Dairy protein and nondairy animal protein, but not plant protein, were associated with fracture risk. Our study was an observational study, and thus further research is necessary to identify underlying biological pathways specifically related to amino acid profiles and micronutrients.” – by Amber Cox
For more information:
Lisa Langsetmo, PhD, MSc, can be reached at langs005@umn.edu.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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