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COFFEE LINKED TO BONE LOSS, BUT NOT IN MILK DRINKERS.

Most studies of the health risks of coffee and caffeine have focused on cardiovascular disease, but some data indicate that these substances promote osteoporosis. This analysis assessed caffeinated coffee consumption and bone-mineral density in 980 white postmenopausal women from the Rancho Bernardo Heart & Chronic Disease Study, a population-based study of an upper-middle-class community.

In their dietary history, 88 percent of the women reported drinking caffeinated coffee regularly at some time during their lives; 53 percent were currently drinking it daily. Bone-mineral density at the total hip, femoral neck, greater trochanter, and lumbar spine decreased with increasing lifetime intake of caffeinated coffee after adjustment for age and other osteoporosis risk factors. However, this relation was not found in women who reported drinking at least one glass of milk per day between the ages of 20 and 50.

Comment: These data are consistent with animal and human studies that indicate that caffeinated coffee can lead to reduced bone mineral density, but suggest that milk consumption can offset the increase. This study did not analyze the relation between osteoporosis and decaffeinated coffee.

— TH Lee

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine February 15, 1994

Citation(s):

Barrett-Connor E et al. Coffee-associated osteoporosis offset by daily milk consumption: the Rancho Bernardo study. JAMA 1994 Jan 26 271 280-283.

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