I heard that drinking coffee can cause osteoporosis?

This is the 4499th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

In the era of self-media, for the sake of traffic economy, creators’ exaggerated expressions and dissemination have really increased people’s anxiety. Among them, some self-media are particularly fond of spreading “health anxiety”:

A woman in her 30s suffered from severe osteoporosis. When questioned by the doctor, she told the truth. It turned out that she drank coffee as water every day...

As a result, the aunties and mothers in the community were "excited" again. You know, in Shanghai, coffee is not exclusive to Lujiazui white-collar workers. The sophisticated community aunties also drink coffee every day! After sending the "divine beast" to school and finishing the housework, they ushered in leisure time. Several girlfriends made an appointment with the "Star Dad" near their home and started the "Shanghainese + coffee" mode...

But once the news that "drinking coffee causes osteoporosis" came out, it seemed that it was hard to find "Star Dads" in the community. On the contrary, more people came to the clinic for consultation. "Does drinking coffee make bones brittle?" At the peak, I might answer this question 20 to 30 times a day. Since we need style and health, let's discuss today: Does drinking coffee cause osteoporosis?

I'm not trying to scare you, it's true.

In fact, the relationship between coffee and osteoporosis has always been controversial.

It is true that coffee contains more caffeine.

If your body cannot metabolize the caffeine you consume in time, the caffeine that remains in the body for a long time may have a certain impact on bone health.

Research reports indicate that caffeine increases calcium excretion in urine and promotes calcium secretion and precipitation in the small intestine, and this effect is proportional to the amount of caffeine intake. Generally speaking, caffeine intake greater than 300 mg per day, or 3-4 cups of coffee per day, increases the risk of osteoporosis. Especially for middle-aged and elderly women, if they drink more than 4 cups of coffee per day, the risk of hip fracture will increase by 69%.

Coffee ≠ Caffeine

But! Coffee is a drink and caffeine is a substance.

In other words, there are many other drinks or foods that contain caffeine, not just coffee!

In daily life, tea, cola, chocolate, milk tea, and even some medicines contain caffeine. Even if some people do not drink coffee, long-term drinking of cola, strong tea or certain medicines will also have an adverse effect on bone health. Therefore, the key is that caffeine plays a role in this.

And let's dig a little deeper. What kind of person is this if a person habitually drinks large amounts of coffee over a long period of time?

The most likely reasons are: staying up late, irregular diet, irregular living habits, no sun exposure on weekdays... These situations will lead to a significant lack of dietary calcium and vitamin D intake. Under the combined effect of these unfavorable factors, osteoporosis is extremely likely to occur.

Therefore, the occurrence of osteoporosis may not be entirely the fault of coffee. With a rigorous scientific attitude, we cannot easily say that drinking coffee can cause osteoporosis.

Don't stop eating because of choking

Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to say goodbye to coffee to avoid osteoporosis.

Besides the risk of osteoporosis caused by caffeine, coffee as a beverage may have unexpected benefits for your body, such as:

1. The famous Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition once had a document showing that consuming caffeine half an hour before aerobic exercise can significantly increase the rate of fat burning.

2. The American Journal of Clinical Oncology once published an article stating that coffee may be beneficial for the pre-treatment of postmenopausal breast cancer/melanoma/liver cancer/prostate cancer/colon cancer, etc. More importantly, coffee is also considered to have a positive effect in preventing Alzheimer's disease.

3. Almost all authoritative medical journals, such as the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology and the Journal of the American Medical Association, have published studies showing that coffee has positive effects on cardiovascular health.

(It should be noted here that the benefits of these coffees refer to drinking freshly ground coffee or pure coffee, not instant coffee.)

So the question is, since coffee has so many benefits, and I don’t want to increase my risk of osteoporosis, what should I do?

First, make some small changes

On average, the caffeine in each cup of coffee will only increase the calcium loss by 2-3 mg. If you add more pure milk (not creamer or non-dairy creamer) when drinking coffee, for example, to make a cup of strong latte, the calcium obtained from the milk will be enough to make up for the calcium loss caused by caffeine, and the extra calcium will be more than enough!

Secondly, it is a question of time and quantity

The best time to drink coffee is between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., and it is best to drink it after breakfast or lunch to reduce gastrointestinal irritation. It is best not to drink coffee in the afternoon or after dinner, as the caffeine metabolism of middle-aged and elderly people is slow, which may affect sleep at night.

Do not drink more than three cups of coffee a day (about 200 ml per cup), and control caffeine intake within 210-400 mg. In addition, get more sun exposure, drink more milk, and consume more high-quality protein and vitamin D and vitamin K. The risk of osteoporosis caused by coffee can be basically offset, and you can also reap the benefits that coffee brings to the cardiovascular system.

Here is a data from the Run Run Shaw Hospital affiliated to Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Let's take a look at the caffeine content of a large cup of coffee (about 473 ml) in a common coffee shop for reference:

I hope that through today's article, you can have a more objective and scientific understanding of coffee. At the same time, I also want to tell the aunts and mothers in the community that coffee can be drunk with confidence, but no more than three cups a day. After all, only by tasting the bitterness of coffee can you feel the sweetness of life!

Author: Xinjing Town Community Health Service Center, Changning District, Shanghai

Zhou XiangjunDeputy Chief Physician