Adding THIS to our diets may help osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a chronic health problem as people age. According the European Journal of Rheumatology in 2016, osteoporosis is a disease which leads to “low bone mass, deterioration of bone tissues, and disruption of bone microarchitecture: it can lead to compromised bone strength and an increase in the risk of fractures” [1]

In other words, a loss or deterioration of bone mass. And with that, an increase in bone and hip fractures. Not great for quality of life.

And yet it affects at least 10 million men in the U.S. according health.gov. [2]

As I was reaching in my pantry this week, something caught my eye in there and I wanted to do a little more research.

The subject: green tea.

Now, this has usually been touted as a great thing to be drinking, but I was actually surprised about the potential benefits of this for bone health.

You see, bone is active tissue. It’s very much alive! And there are cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Osteoblasts create bone (like “blasting” something with water) and osteoclasts break it down. Both are necessary for healthy bones.

And that’s a very rudimentary way of understanding how bone metabolism works.

As we age, oxidative stress leads to increased death of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, which obviously leads to less healthy bones. Oxidative stress is usually thought to be countered by antioxidants.

Green tea contains lots of antioxidants, and by drinking it, it is theorized that this oxidative stress is reduced. In this way, it may help support bone health.

A review of studies done all the way back in 2009 by Shen, Yeh, Cao and Wang found that generally-speaking, studies found that drinking green tea mitigated bone loss as people age. And additionally, that animal studies supported that green tea may be beneficial for bone health. [3] As with all sciences, we have to be cautious on conclusions. However, this could be a great thing to add more of as one ages.

For me, I know I’ll be drinking this on the regular for a long time!

*Nothing in this article should be taken as medical advice. All information is purely for educational purposes. You should consult with a doctor before implementing anything within this article.

[1] Sözen, Tümay et al. “An overview and management of osteoporosis.” European journal of rheumatology vol. 4,1 (2017): 46-56. doi:10.5152/eurjrheum.2016.048

[2] https://health.gov/healthypeople/about/workgroups/osteoporosis-workgroup

[3] Shen, Chwan-Li et al. “Green tea and bone metabolism.” Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) vol. 29,7 (2009): 437-56. doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2009.06.008