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There’s more than one way to keep bones healthy

21st June 2014 Print
Bone structure

We’ve all heard that we should drink milk to keep our bones healthy, but a new study has shown that perhaps there’s more than one kind of ‘milk’ we should be drinking.

A recent study, published in The Journal of Nutrition, looked at the effect on bones, in animal models, of diets that included either milk protein or soy protein.

The researchers found that when dairy milk protein was added to a restricted diet bone health improved – as they expected.

There were some surprising results seen with soy protein however, which was not previously thought to have the same positive effects as dairy milk on bones.

Many of the bone health variables that the researchers looked at where unexpectedly effected in a more positive manner when soy milk was added to the diet rather than dairy milk, although the reverse was true in a few cases. When the scientists explored why this might be it appeared that soy may have been increasing calcium absorption.

What this means

On first glance it appears that this means soy milk will be better for bones that dairy, but it’s important to remember that the researchers where just looking at the ‘protein’ from milk rather than the milk as a whole and dairy milk generally contains a lot more calcium than soy milk. So these results don’t necessarily mean soy is better overall for bone health.

There is a happy medium available however - Vivesoy drinks are fortified with extra calcium however and are now available from Tesco, Waitrose, Ocado and Amazon and come in six great flavours – vanilla, chocolate, cappuccino, original, light and unsweetened.

For more details, visit vivesoy.co.uk.

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Bone structure