Sorting Dietary Advice for Bone Health

Abstract

Healthcare professionals are consistently bombarded with conflicting messages about the role of diet in bone health. Yet, few resources are available that compile the broad scope of dietary factors that influence bone health. This article evaluates the evidence on the association of diet and exercise with bone health, with the aim to provide a resource for healthcare professionals and researchers in the field. This review also highlights gaps in knowledge, provides dialogue around why some studies exhibit conflicting outcomes, and showcases why many remaining questions likely cannot be answered with the current evidence to date. The best evidence to date supports obtaining recommended dairy and calcium intakes for building bone in early life and mitigating bone loss with age. However, nutrients do not solely work in isolation, and there is growing evidence that many other nutrients and dietary bioactives play a synergistic role in supporting bone health. Large randomized controlled trials, particularly in traditionally underserved subpopulations (eg, people of color, transgender individuals, older adults, etc), are needed to fully elucidate the effects of diet and exercise on bone health across the lifespan.