The Study
Associations between Macronutrients Intake and Bone Mineral Density: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Health Workers Cohort Study Participants
This study looked at what people ate and how strong their bones were over time, and found that people who ate more carbs tended to have weaker bones, while those who ate more protein and fat tended to have stronger bones. But it didn’t prove that eating more carbs breaks your bones—it just saw a pattern, and other things like how much they moved or how much sun they got could also be involved.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what adults in Mexico ate and how it changed their bone strength over six years.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 560 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — small changes in diet (like swapping a sugary snack for chicken or cheese) could meaningfully affect bone strength over years.
- 2Eating 5% more carbs made bones weaker; eating 5% more animal protein or fat made bones stronger.
- 3Replacing carbs with protein or fat helped bones, especially in women.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging
Year
2023
Authors
B. Rivera-Paredez, G. León-Reyes, D. Rangel-Marín, J. Salmerón, R. Velázquez-Cruz
Related Content
Claims (6)
People who consume more dietary protein, including from animal sources, have higher bone mineral density.
Over six years, people who get 5% more of their daily calories from carbohydrates have lower bone mineral density in the hip and femoral neck compared to those who do not.
People who consume more animal fat have higher bone mineral density across multiple bones after six years compared to those who consume less.
Over six years, people who replaced 5% of their daily calorie intake from carbohydrates with animal protein had higher bone mineral density in the hip, femoral neck, and lower spine compared to those who did not.
In women, higher fiber intake is linked to greater bone mineral density in the hip and femoral neck, while in men, higher fiber intake is linked to lower bone mineral density in the femoral neck.
In women, replacing animal protein or fat with carbohydrates is linked to lower bone mineral density at the total hip and femoral neck.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.