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Soft Drinks, Soft Bones?

Aired January 28, 2004 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We know that soft drinks aren't exactly the best thing for your health, but a new study gives us another reason we might want to limit our intake.
Dietician Lisa Drayer is here to explain why.

Morning -- Lisa.

LISA DRAYER, DIETICIAN: Good morning, Carol.

That's right, you want to cross cola off of your OK list if you want to protect your bones. That's according to researchers from Tufts (ph) University who studied over 2,500 men and women. And they found that women who drank more than one 12 ounce cola beverage per day had up to 5 percent lower bone mineral density in their hip compared to women who had less than one of these beverages per week.

LIN: Well what's actually in soda that harms your bones?

DRAYER: You know researchers think that it's the phosphoric acid in colas, specifically colas, because they didn't find the same results among those who drank non-cola carbonated beverages like orange soda or ginger ale. So it contains phosphoric acid, which is an acid that prevents calcium, the important mineral for bone protection, prevents calcium from being absorbed in the body. It also may negatively affect hormones that are involved in calcium metabolism.

LIN: Wow, so does it matter if they are diet sodas or regular colas?

DRAYER: It's a good question. Actually, the results were seen among all cola drinkers, whether individuals drank diet-free cola or caffeine-free cola. I'm sorry, diet cola or caffeine free, it really didn't matter. As long as it was cola, these results were seen.

I should also say it debunked a common hypothesis that maybe it's not the cola, per se, but the fact that cola replaces milk in the diet of many older Americans. But the researchers found that the milk intake was generally the same among cola drinkers and those who abstained from cola was pretty low.

LIN: Right. Well what if you have your cola but you take calcium supplements and drink more milk, I mean wouldn't it kind of balance out in the end?

DRAYER: That is true. And in fact, Carol, I want to talk about four quick nutrients that you also want to watch out for in addition to cola. The first is Retinol. This is also known as preformed Vitamin A. This is what we find in supplements, in fortified foods. You want to be careful. A recent study found that those with the highest intake of Vitamin A, over 6,000 international units, had double the risk of hip fractures as compared to those with the lowest intake.

You also want to be careful of caffeine. Too much caffeine can also cause calcium loss from the body, but you can add some milk to your money coffee to offset this effect. So you want to be careful of that.

Also sodium, too much sodium in the diet can cause calcium to be lost from the body. And alcohol, you want to limit your alcoholic beverages. No more than one drink per day for women, no more than two for men, it can also weaken the bones.

LIN: OK. All right, Lisa, what do you have on tap for tomorrow?

DRAYER: Well tomorrow, Carol, we're going to talk about nutritional factors that can protect you against osteoporosis, important nutrients that you want to have in your diet in order to stave off this disease.

LIN: Sounds good. Thanks, Lisa, we'll look forward to it.

DRAYER: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com








Aired January 28, 2004 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We know that soft drinks aren't exactly the best thing for your health, but a new study gives us another reason we might want to limit our intake.
Dietician Lisa Drayer is here to explain why.

Morning -- Lisa.

LISA DRAYER, DIETICIAN: Good morning, Carol.

That's right, you want to cross cola off of your OK list if you want to protect your bones. That's according to researchers from Tufts (ph) University who studied over 2,500 men and women. And they found that women who drank more than one 12 ounce cola beverage per day had up to 5 percent lower bone mineral density in their hip compared to women who had less than one of these beverages per week.

LIN: Well what's actually in soda that harms your bones?

DRAYER: You know researchers think that it's the phosphoric acid in colas, specifically colas, because they didn't find the same results among those who drank non-cola carbonated beverages like orange soda or ginger ale. So it contains phosphoric acid, which is an acid that prevents calcium, the important mineral for bone protection, prevents calcium from being absorbed in the body. It also may negatively affect hormones that are involved in calcium metabolism.

LIN: Wow, so does it matter if they are diet sodas or regular colas?

DRAYER: It's a good question. Actually, the results were seen among all cola drinkers, whether individuals drank diet-free cola or caffeine-free cola. I'm sorry, diet cola or caffeine free, it really didn't matter. As long as it was cola, these results were seen.

I should also say it debunked a common hypothesis that maybe it's not the cola, per se, but the fact that cola replaces milk in the diet of many older Americans. But the researchers found that the milk intake was generally the same among cola drinkers and those who abstained from cola was pretty low.

LIN: Right. Well what if you have your cola but you take calcium supplements and drink more milk, I mean wouldn't it kind of balance out in the end?

DRAYER: That is true. And in fact, Carol, I want to talk about four quick nutrients that you also want to watch out for in addition to cola. The first is Retinol. This is also known as preformed Vitamin A. This is what we find in supplements, in fortified foods. You want to be careful. A recent study found that those with the highest intake of Vitamin A, over 6,000 international units, had double the risk of hip fractures as compared to those with the lowest intake.

You also want to be careful of caffeine. Too much caffeine can also cause calcium loss from the body, but you can add some milk to your money coffee to offset this effect. So you want to be careful of that.

Also sodium, too much sodium in the diet can cause calcium to be lost from the body. And alcohol, you want to limit your alcoholic beverages. No more than one drink per day for women, no more than two for men, it can also weaken the bones.

LIN: OK. All right, Lisa, what do you have on tap for tomorrow?

DRAYER: Well tomorrow, Carol, we're going to talk about nutritional factors that can protect you against osteoporosis, important nutrients that you want to have in your diet in order to stave off this disease.

LIN: Sounds good. Thanks, Lisa, we'll look forward to it.

DRAYER: Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com