Vegan Diet and Bone Health-Results from the Cross-Sectional RBVD Study

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 13; no. 2; p. 685
• Main Authors: Menzel, Juliane, Abraham, Klaus, Stangl, Gabriele I, Ueland, Per Magne, Obeid, Rima, Schulze, Matthias B, Herter-Aeberli, Isabelle, Schwerdtle, Tanja, Weikert, Cornelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.02.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Amino acids; Attenuation; Biomarkers; Biomarkers - analysis; Body Mass Index; Bone; Bone Density; bone health; Broadband; BUA; Calcaneus; Calcaneus - diagnostic imaging; Calcium; Calcium (urinary); Comparative analysis; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diet; Diet, Vegan - adverse effects; Dietary minerals; Education; Fatty acids; Female; Fibroblast growth factor 23; Fibroblasts; Folic acid; Fractures; Glutamine; Growth factors; Homocysteine; Humans; Iodine; Klotho protein; Laboratories; Leucine; Lysine; Magnesium; Male; Middle Aged; Nutrition; Nutrition research; Nutritional Status - physiology; Omega-3 fatty acids; Omnivores; Parameters; Plasma; QUS; Rankings; Retinene; SOS; Thyroid; Thyroid-stimulating hormone; Thyrotropin; Ultrasonic attenuation; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonography; Ultrasound; Urine; vegan; Veganism; Vegetarian diet; Vegetarianism; Vitamin A; Vitamin B6; Germany; reduced rank regression; RRR; SOS; bone health; diet; vegan; biomarker; QUS; BUA
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu13020685

Scientific evidence suggests that a vegan diet might be associated with impaired bone health. Therefore, a cross-sectional study ( = 36 vegans, = 36 omnivores) was used to investigate the associations of veganism with calcaneal quantitative ultrasound (QUS) measurements, along with the investigation of differences in the concentrations of nutrition- and bone-related biomarkers between vegans and omnivores. This study revealed lower levels in the QUS parameters in vegans compared to omnivores, e.g., broadband ultrasound attenuation (vegans: 111.8 ± 10.7 dB/MHz, omnivores: 118.0 ± 10.8 dB/MHz, = 0.02). Vegans had lower levels of vitamin A, B2, lysine, zinc, selenoprotein P, n-3 fatty acids, urinary iodine, and calcium levels, while the concentrations of vitamin K1, folate, and glutamine were higher in vegans compared to omnivores. Applying a reduced rank regression, 12 out of the 28 biomarkers were identified to contribute most to bone health, i.e., lysine, urinary iodine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, selenoprotein P, vitamin A, leucine, α-klotho, n-3 fatty acids, urinary calcium/magnesium, vitamin B6, and FGF23. All QUS parameters increased across the tertiles of the pattern score. The study provides evidence of lower bone health in vegans compared to omnivores, additionally revealing a combination of nutrition-related biomarkers, which may contribute to bone health. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.