Avoiding High-Fat Foods May Help Protect Bones.

2001 JAN 18 - (NewsRx.com) -- Everyone knows that eating fatty foods may cause high cholesterol and heart disease, but University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have now learned that unhealthy eating and high cholesterol may also contribute to osteoporosis.

The UCLA researchers found that a high-fat diet dramatically reduced bone density and bone mineral in an animal model. The new study points to the possibility that high cholesterol may play a role in the development of osteoporosis. The study, published in the December 2000 issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, could lead to new treatment options for osteoporosis, a disease that annually causes more than one million fractures, affecting both men and women.

"Until very recently, cholesterol was not considered important in bone health," said Farhad Parhami, principal investigator and assistant professor, UCLA Division of Cardiology. "We hope this study will begin to break new ground in better understanding the relationship between high cholesterol and osteoporosis."

During the study, UCLA researchers fed one group of mice a high-fat diet, which elevates cholesterol levels, while a second group of mice received a normal diet. After seven months, researchers found a 43% decrease in mineral content and 15% decrease in bone density in the femoral bones of mice placed on the high-fat diet compared with the group on a normal diet. The researchers also found a 35% decrease in mineral content in the vertebrae of mice fed the high-fat diet compared to mice receiving a normal diet.

A previously reported study by these UCLA researchers also found that the number of ...