Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

Eat to Live 85

slightly higher rate of fractures than women who drank little or no

milk.

This does not mean that dairy causes osteoporosis. However, it

does suggest that dairy products are not protecting us from osteo-

porosis as we have been indoctrinated to believe since childhood. On

the contrary, studies show fruits and vegetables are protective against

osteoporosis.^68

Osteoporosis has a complex etiology that involves other factors

such as dietary acid-alkaline balance, trace minerals, phytochemicals

in plants, exercise, exposure to sunlight, and more. Dr. Campbell,

head of nutritional research at Cornell and of the China Project, re-

ported, "Ironically, osteoporosis tends to occur in countries where

calcium intake is highest and most of it comes from protein-rich

dairy products. The Chinese data indicate that people need less cal-

cium than we think and can get adequate amounts from vegetable

source plant food." He told the New York Times that there was basi-

cally no osteoporosis in China, yet the calcium intake ranged from

241 to 943 mg per day (average, 544). The comparable U.S. calcium

intake is 841 to 1,435 mg per day (average, 1,143), mostly from dairy

sources, and, of course, osteoporosis is a major public health problem

here.

To understand the causes of osteoporosis, one must comprehend

the concept of negative calcium balance. Let's say you consume about

1,000 mg of calcium a day. About a third of the calcium ingested gets

absorbed. So if you absorb about 300 mg, the remaining 700 mg

remains in the digestive tract and passes out with your stool. If, in

this same twenty-four-hour period, you excreted 350 mg of calcium

in your urine, would you be in a negative or positive calcium bal-

ance?

NEGATIVE BALANCE POSITIVE BALANCE

Ingested 1,000 mg^500 mg

Absorbed 300 mg^200 mg

Excreted^350 mg^100 mg

Retained - 50 mg +^100 mg

A negative calcium balance means more calcium is excreted in

the urine than is absorbed through digestion. A positive calcium bal-

ance means more calcium is absorbed than is excreted. A negative

balance over time results in bone loss, as the additional calcium must

come from our primary calcium storehouse, our bones.