Does drinking coffee affect the strength and health of your bones?

BONES, SOLID BODY STRUCTURE

The skeletal system is a kind of structure to which muscles and tendons are attached. It carries the whole body and protects the organs. To maintain our health, we try to protect our bones. Since we were little, our mothers told us to drink milk. Milk contains calcium. It supports the structure, strength and health of our bones.

It seems that more than milk, we now drink coffee as adults. We don't eat peel-and-stick and milk for breakfast, but a cup of coffee. We have come to love this black drink and many of us don't even start our day without it. Itis therefore understandable that pharmacological studies are being carried out on the effect of coffee on our bones.

CAFFEINE VERSUS CALCIUM

Coffee drinking has been attributed by many studies as a negative factor for bone building. Data has been collected on theeffect of caffeine on the reduction of calcium in the body. This finding should have led to the assumption that calcium-deficient bones are thinner and more fragile. Thus, the researchers attributed the increased brittleness and osteoporosis of bones to coffee drinking.

A more pragmatic view of these ongoing studies was provided in 2017 by Dr. Connie M. Weaver. Her examination did not confirm a negative effect of coffee on bone health. However, she agrees with the claim that coffee intake promotes urinary calcium excretion. As she reported in NYTimes.com.

WITH COFFEE A DIET RICH IN CALCIUM

As is well known, coffee consumption is associated with more frequent urination. Inaddition to its stimulating effects, caffeine has a diuretic effect on our body. By urinating, substances are flushed out of the body. Both the unnecessary or harmful ones and, unfortunately, the positive ones, such as the aforementioned calcium. It is therefore logical that drinking coffee increases calcium leaching. However, it can easily be replenished.

If you care about your health, you should treat yourself to a balanced diet with plenty of calcium. Therefore, you don't have to worry about thinning bones from a lack of calcium after drinking coffee. On the contrary, new research points out the positive effects of coffee for healthy bones.

CAFFEINE, THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN COFFEE

The main substance in coffee is caffeine. No other substance in coffee, whether we're talking about the plant, the bean or the drink, has such pronounced effects. Scientific research into the effects of caffeine on humans is inconsistent. Because each person is unique, so ishis or her ability to absorb caffeine. For this reason, research on caffeine consumption uses a per capita rather than per individual weight.

Ingested caffeine is metabolized by the body. Digestive enzymes convert each molecule of caffeine. The result of these breakdown processes in our body is the conversion of caffeine into a number of new substances. There are about 25 of these and theyare called metabolites.

EFFECT OF CAFFEINE ON BONE DENSITY

In the latest study, the effect of caffeine on bone density was analysedin a sample of 564 people from Hong Kong . A deeper analysis identified 3 metabolites of caffeine that are associated with an increase in bone mineral density.

Source: Yin-Pan Chau, Philip CM Au, Gloria HY Li, Chor-Wing Sing, Vincent KF Cheng, Kathryn CB Tan, Annie WC Kung, Ching-Lung Cheung, Serum Metabolome of coffee consumption and its association with bone mineral density: TheHong Kong Osteoporosis Study, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism , Volume 105, Issue 3, March 2020, Pages e619 - e627, https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgz210