Cola Drinks and Osteoporosis

A new report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition comes to help us in our diatribe against Coco-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. Not only do these sugar-laden drinks add ‘empty’ calories, but they also increase the chances of women getting osteoporosis. Tufts university researchers obtained completed food-frequency questionnaires from over 2,500 people in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, and correlated the findings with results from X-ray absorptiometry of the spine at three different levels and at three different hip sites.

The volunteers in the study were just below 60, and 55% of them were women. The women drank, on average, 5 carbonated drinks a week, with 4 of them being colas. The men drank 6 carbonated rinks a week, with 5 of them being colas.

Cola intake was associated with significantly decreased bone mineral density at each hip site though not in the spine in the women, and at neither spine nor hip sites in the men. And the more cola that women drank, the lower their bone mineral density was; but non-cola carbonated beverages had no such effect. Diet cola and decaff cola had similar but not statistically significant effects.

Calcium intake in these volunteers was apparently slightly reduced in both sexes, compared with recommended daily intake levels. However, the investigators do not think that this played a major role in the results obtained. They are more inclined to blame the phosphoric acid contained in colas. Another expert believes the caffeine in the cola drinks may be responsible, interfering with the absorption of calcium. Clearly, further studies are needed.

It’s not just the kids who need to avoid too many colas, clearly. O.J. or green tea would be better be a better refreshment of choice for the boomer generation, too.