A healthy weight-reduction plan and lifestyle habit is crucial for bone strength. Nevertheless, a latest study has found that a vegetarian weight-reduction plan, despite the fact that considered helpful for stopping several diseases reminiscent of cancer, blood pressure and diabetes, can result in an increased risk of hip fracture in each men and ladies.

Studies have shown that vegetarian women were at an increased risk of hip fracture, although the precise reasons weren’t known. Because the studies evaluating the impact of a vegetarian weight-reduction plan on men’s bone strength were inconclusive and small-scale, a team from the University of Leeds, the U.K., decided to conduct a large-scale study.

The researchers evaluated 413,914 participants from a UK Biobank project and picked up details of their weight-reduction plan. The participants were classified as regular meat eaters (who ate meat five or more times every week), occasional meat eaters(who ate lower than five times every week), pescatarians (who ate fish but not meat) and vegetarians (who consumed dairy products). There have been 3,503 cases of hip fracture in them.

The chance of hip fractures in vegetarians was 50% higher, while pescatarians had a rather greater risk (8%) than regular meat eaters.

“Hip fractures are a growing problem in an aging society, and may trigger debilitating health conditions and a lack of quality of life,” study lead James Webster, a doctoral researcher within the School of Food Science and Nutrition, said in a news release.

Nevertheless, the study doesn’t undermine the general health advantage of a vegetarian weight-reduction plan.

“The health advantages of a vegetarian weight-reduction plan, including a lower risk of cancer and heart problems, should outweigh any increases in hip fracture risk. This study shows that whilst vegetarians face a greater risk of hip fracture than meat eaters – at 50% – this translates to simply 3 more hip fractures per 1000 people over 10 years,” Webster said.

Researchers imagine that despite the advantages of a vegetarian weight-reduction plan, the probabilities of not getting adequate protein from food would be the reason for decreased bone strength.

“Our evaluation suggests that low BMI could also be a key consider why their risk is higher. Moreover, vegetarians were about 17% less prone to meet protein recommendations than meat eaters. So, vital messages from our study are that vegetarians need to make sure they’re getting a balanced weight-reduction plan with enough protein and maintain a healthy BMI. This may help vegetarians to take care of healthy bones and muscles,” Webster added.

Published by Medicaldaily.com