A diet without meat, but only if vegan, and therefore not a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet, is linked to an increased risk of fractures. These are the results obtained from the Epic-Oxford study , one of the largest epidemiological studies on British nutrition, which analyzed over 65,000 participants from 1993 to 2010.

In practice, this is the same study that evaluated the risks of diseases and in particular of cancer with respect to a type of diet. Therefore, it is from this study that we know that vegans have a 10% lower risk of cancer and a 15% lower risk of cardiovascular problems but at the same time a 20% higher risk of heart attack.

Meatless diet causes more risk of fractures

Now, new data are added to these data, which relate precisely to the risk of osteoporosis, and in particular of hip fracture. In fact, it seems that those who follow a meatless diet have a 25% greater risk of fractures than both those who are omnivorous and those who are vegetarian, especially after 45 years.

Dr Tammy Tong, one of the researchers who joined the study, explains that the problem lies in the absorption of calcium, so it was found that those who ate a diet with even animal proteins had more calcium and stronger bones. And that, adds the doctor, vegans are highly unlikely not to have a calcium deficiency.

Among the possible interpretative biases of the results, we have the fact that today, compared to 2010, the date of the end of the follow-up, there are many vegan drinks with added calcium.
Therefore it is not excluded that those who follow a vegan diet with this type of vegetable drinks with added calcium may have much less risk.