Hi Joan,
Just got back from a tour through PubMed on the issue. You're right, it appears to be difficult to get enough calcium in the diet without eating either dairy products or bones. Vegan or macrobiotic vegetarians appear to have statistically significantly more osteoporosis than lacto-vegetarians or omnivores.
Interestingly, lactovegetarians appear to have statistically less bone loss than omnivores, probably because the sulfur in animal flesh causes the urine to be significantly more acid, which the body neutralizes by drawing out calcium from the bones. So, it's not just a high protein diet that causes osteoporosis, it's a high-animal flesh diet.
On the other hand, vegetarians of all types have significantly less obesity, atherosclerosis, kidney stones, etc. etc. etc.
Thanks for raising these issues.
BTW, dark leafy greens are a significant part of the sub-Saharan African diet, so they get a lot of calcium and iron. When I was pregnant, I alway ate two cups of turnip, mustard or collard greens a day. Funny, what I think of as Southern cooking is what others call soul food, but it is just food to me. The only places I see greens being served outside the South are places that have black customers. Since most black people can't digest milk, maybe they crave greens for the calcium and iron and magnesium and all the other goodies in them. I love, love, love a mess of greens and corn bread. My kids won't touch them, although they will eat broccoli. |
