A lower Mediterranean diet in calories, combined with regular exercise, helped elderly women lose weight without causing loss of bone density, suggest new research.
Weight loss, especially rapid or significant weight loss, is known to reduce bone mineral density and increase the risk of fracture. Elderly women are more prone to bone loss due to estrogen drops during menopause.
Of the 10 million Americans with osteoporosis – a “silent” disease that weakens the bones and rarely causes symptoms – More than 80% are womenA quarter of which are 65 years of age or over, according to the women’s health office of the Food and Drug Administration.
However, lifestyle changes could compensate for these negative effects by preventing muscle loss, which plays a major role in global bone strength, said Jesús García Gavilán, co-owner of the study and biostatician at the University of Rovira I Virgili in Spain.
Research, published in the journal Jama Network Open, is based on a 2023 Study This revealed a diet and exercise with a similar calorie lowered the total body and the visceral fat (fat surrounding the organs) in the same study group.
In the new research, 924 Spanish adults aged 55 to 75 who are overweight or have obesity, and have a metabolic syndrome – a group of conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar – have been separated into two groups.
A group followed a Mediterranean diet with a reduction in calories by 30% and gradually increased its physical activity to respond to international recommendations for their age group.
The exercise routine consisted of:
- 45 -minute physicians, six days a week.
- Exercises of strength, flexibility and balance three days a week.
- Resistance training sessions of 30 to 40 minutes two days a week.
Residents of the control group followed a Mediterranean regime without restrictions or exercise recommendations.
A Mediterranean regime consists mainly of foods, fish and healthy fats such as olive oil.
Each participant had their own daily calorie intake according to their weight, size and sex, said Gavilan. They reduced their calories by reducing meats and sausages, sugars, white bread, wrapped fruit juices and sugary drinks.
All the participants received special x -rays that measured their bone mineral density in their femur and their lumbar column at the start of the study, then follow -up after three years.
Overall, bone density has improved the most in the lumbar column among people in the diet group and low -calorie exercise, Gavilán said. Women have received the most advantages with an improvement of 1.8% of the bone density of the lumbar column.
Dr. Dolore Shoback, endocrinologist at UCSF Health, which was not involved in the study, described this a “very modest effect” compared to the improvements you see with the drugs used to treat osteoporosis. Studies have found Increase in bone density in the lumbar column From 3 to 13% after a year of treatment with these drugs.
She said it is probably because the participants in the study did not have much bone loss from the start, and they did not lose so much weight either. Residents of the intervention group have lost 3% of their total body weight over three years, which is equivalent to around three pounds on average, said Gavilán.
However, experts say that the study highlights the diet of crucial roles and the exercise playing to alleviate the effects that rapid weight loss has on bone health – a phenomenon that more people experience with the use of weight loss drugs.
How weight loss affects bone health
The risk of bone loss increases when a person drops a lot of weight in a short period of time, said Dr. Kristi Tough Desapri, internal medical doctor and osteoporosis expert in the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation. Rapid weight loss means that there is less resistance on the bone because someone loses muscle with fat, said Desapri, who was not involved in the study.
The risk of bone loss depends on many factors, such as age, body weight, levels of physical activity and food. Hormonal changes associated with weight loss, as well as a lack of calcium and vitamin D in limited calorie diets can also contribute to bone loss, depending on research.
Weight loss of 10% can cause bone loss of 1% to 2% in different areas of the body, says research. The number of bone loss can double or triple in people with bariatric surgery or use weight loss drugs such as semaglutide, active ingredient for Ozempic and Wegovy of Novo Nordisk, said Aapri.
A study published last year revealed that people who used GLP-1 drugs without exercising has undergone a significant decrease in the bone density of their hip and their spine; When exercise was added to the mixture, the bone mass was protected.
Shoback said that the new study’s exercise diet could “be a great commitment every day” so that older adults follow realistically, but this could be useful for young adults who run a high risk of metabolic syndrome and can undergo rapid weight loss with drugs.
Although the study was conducted in Spain, experts say that the diet and the exercise plan could benefit adults in the United States
In the United States, there is now a large push for proteins and supplements, said Desapri.
“But when we are talking about obesity, metabolic syndrome and weight loss, the Mediterranean diet has already been validated as a lifestyle that can make the difference,” she said.
The working group on American preventive services, an independent group of experts who recommend health screening, says that Women 65 and over should receive a bone density analysis for osteoporosis.
The risk of osteoporosis can be lowered by remaining physically active, not smoking, by limiting alcohol consumption and obtaining enough vitamin D and calcium in food and salmon, or supplements, said Shoback.
Hormonotherapy is another effective way to reduce bone loss after menopause.
“The lifestyle combined with a healthy diet – if people can do it, it will help them a lot for so many complications that come in your own way,” said Shoback.