Caffeine, sugar and bone loss

You’ve been told that coffee is unhealthy, but how unhealthy?

A study has found that drinking either a caffeinated drink (coffee, tea or caffeinated soft drinks) or a sugary drink cause calcium loss to increase by 25%. The same study found that when sugar was added into caffeinated drink, calcium and bone loss doubled.

Another study showed that high caffeine consumption seems to cause bone loss in elderly women who don’t get enough calcium. As long as elderly women get the recommended 1200mg of calcium a day, it is still safe for them to drink up to 300mg caffeine or about 18 oz of coffee or its equivalent.

At the time of writing, the link between caffeine intake and bone loss is not that significant.

Compared to other factors like female gender, smoking, excessive alcohol intake, low body weight, coffee intake may not seem to be a significant risk factor for osteoporosis. This would probably matters most when coffee intake is high (e.g. four or more cups of coffee daily) and calcium intake is low.

A good piece of advice would be to ensure that you will get sufficient calcium intake from your diet. Experts suggest that 1000 to 1500mg calcium per day. One glass of cow’s milk has 276 mg calcium. However, many people nowadays are lactose intolerant or allergic to cow’s milk. When dairies are important sources of calcium, there are other sources available:

• Green peas
• Goat's Milk some people find that goat’s milk is easier to digest. One cup of goat’s milk has 327mg calcium.
• Oranges One cup of freshly squeezed orange juice give you 72mg calcium and lots of Vitamin C too.
• Seaweed has up to 14 times the calcium of milk, and a balanced combination of magnesium, phosphorus, potassium,, sodium, iron and trace minerals for stronger bones.
• Calcium supplements Many opt for this. However, it is important to ensure that there is high calcium bioavailability with the supplements taken. Food source calcium is easier to be digested and absorbed due to their high vitamin D and magnesium content.

Sources:

Massey, l.k. Acute effects of dietary caffeine and sucrose on urinary mineral excretion in healthy adolescents. Nutr. Res 8(9): 1988
Harris S. & Dawson-Hughes B. Caffeine and bone loss in healthy postmenopausal women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1994, Vol 60, 573-578