Associations Between Daily Food and Nutrient Intake and Bone Mineral Density in Men Aged 50 Years and Older

Osteoporosis is a rising problem, as the older age population is increasing due to prolongation of life. Genetic and environmental factors play key roles in bone metabolism, and diet is also an important factor. We investigated the relationship among factors affecting bone mineral density (BMD), including daily food intake and nutrient intake in men aged >50 years. Seventy-eight men, who visited the health promotion center at one of the university medical centers, were divided into normal and osteopenia groups according to their BMD. The body weight of the normal group was significantly higher than that of the osteopenia group. The osteopenia group showed significantly higher carbohydrate intake and lower calcium and vegetable calcium intake compared to those in the normal group. Lumbar spine BMD was negatively correlated with energy, fat, vitamin B1, and sodium intake in the normal group. Additionally, femoral neck BMD was negatively correlated with total animal protein, energy, protein, fat, phosphorous, iron, animal iron, potassium, vitamin B1, B2, B6, and niacin intake. Lumbar spine BMD was positively correlated with fruit, calcium, vegetable calcium, animal calcium, and vitamin C intake in the osteopenia group. Femoral neck BMD was negatively correlated with meat, dairy product, total animal protein, plant protein, animal protein, vitamin A, and cholesterol intake. A stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that several dietary factors affected BMD, including energy, fat, vitamin B1, B2, B6, niacin, sodium, protein, iron, animal iron, phosphorous, potassium, and animal protein in the normal group and zinc, calcium, vegetable calcium, animal calcium, vitamin C, fruit, protein, animal protein, meat, dairy product, carbohydrates, cholesterol, vegetables, mushrooms, and seasonings in the osteopenia group. These results indicate that adequate nutrient intake plays an important role maintaining optimum bone health in middle aged men.

Associations of Lifestyle Behaviors, Dietary Habits and Bone Mineral Density in Men Aged 50 Years and Older

Lifestyle behaviors including dietary habits are well known to play key roles in bone metabolism. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among the factors affecting bone mineral density (BMD) including age, anthropometric parameters, lifestyle behaviors, and dietary habits of men aged more than 50 years. Ninety-one men, who visited health promotion center at one of the university medical centers, were divided into two groups according to the BMD: normal and osteopenia. The BMD of femoral neck in the osteopenia group was significantly lower than that of the normal group (0.77 +/- 0.28 vs. 0.98 +/- 0.08 g/cm2). The proportion of the regular exercisers was significantly lower in the osteopenia group than in the normal group (p = 0.027). In the osteopenia group, the femoral neck BMD was significantly decreased in smokers and coffee drinkers compared to no-smokers and no-coffee drinkers. The femoral neck BMD was increased among those who consume breakfast and beans and bean products more frequently and those with a greater meal regularity. In the normal group, the lumbar spine BMD was significantly increased among those with frequent consumption of beans and bean products. The lumbar spine BMD was significantly correlated with exercise (r = 0.263), and the femoral neck BMD with weight (r = 0.284), BMI (r = 0.324), relative body weight (r= 0.294), exercise (r = 0.269) and frequency of beans and bean products consumption (r = 0.216). These results indicate that lifestyle behaviors and dietary habits play important roles in maintaining optimum bone health in the middle-aged men.