The Impact of a Plant-Based Diet on Bone Health

Dear Colleagues,

While the essential nutrients are fundamental to homeostasis, very little is known about the thousands of other components present in whole foods and their effect on metabolism and health—this is termed the “dark matter of nutrition”. Consuming whole foods delivers not only the essential nutrients but also all the other compounds found in foods. The contemporary Western diet comprises many processed foods, which are commonly fortified with vitamins and functional ingredients for various health benefits; this is in effect mimicking the benefits of whole foods. The overall goal of many dietary guidelines is to consume more plant foods as whole foods, which most individuals do not consume in sufficient quantities as evidenced by NHANES and other database analyses.

The dogma has been that vegans and vegetarians are at a greater risk of fracture due to lower levels of dietary bone nutrients and lower bioavailability of certain nutrients from plant foods. Newer data has questioned this, and suggests no negative effect of a plant-based diet on bone health once calcium and vitamin D are present in sufficient quantities (possibly coupled with a lower acid load) compared to the typical Western diet. Therefore, the purpose of this Special Issue is to gather new insights into how plant-based diets benefit bone health. We invite manuscripts exploring the role of diet in bone health, including but not limited to comparisons between various levels of dietary plant foods, dietary patterns, and new secondary data analyses of existing databases. Manuscripts on the role of phytochemicals, or the complex milieu of food components, are welcome, however the focus for this Issue is on investigating physiological levels of phytochemicals from whole foods and not high doses of phytochemicals from supplements. The goal of this approach is to obtain a better idea of the role of whole plant-based foods in nutrition and health, when consumed according to dietary guidelines. We also want to cover other lifestyle factors and behaviors of people who consume plant-based diets that may influence bone health.

Dr. Owen J. Kelly
Guest Editor

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