OSTEOPOROSIS: Can the Cola

Watch what you drink

BY:MYRA DEMBROW

Since you are what you eat, you are what you drink. And women who drink a lot of cola are at a higher risk of suffering from osteoporosis, according to a recent Tufts University study of more than 2,500 women with an average age of 59.

The researchers, whose report was published in the October 2006 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found a direct link between bone density and the amount of cola consumed. Women who drank cola daily had lower density levels than those who drank cola weekly, and women who drank it once a week had lower density levels than those who didn’t drink it at all. It didn’t matter if the cola was regular or diet, but the effects were less strong for decaffeinated colas.

“If you’re worried about osteoporosis, it’s probably a good idea to switch to another beverage or to limit your cola,” says lead researcher Katherine Tucker, PhD, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at Tufts and senior scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

About 10 million Americans—mostly women—have osteoporosis. An additional 34 million are likely to develop the disease because they have low bone mass.