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Nutrition and Bone Health pp 249–259Cite as

Vegetarianism and Bone Health in Women

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Part of the book series: Nutrition and Health ((NH))

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increased interest in possible health benefits of plant-based diets. Although vegetarians comprise a small percentage of the population, some data suggest that the prevalence may be increasing, particularly among young women (1). Whether vegetarianism has an impact on bone health has not been studied extensively to date. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to review possible mechanisms whereby dietary and lifestyle factors associated with vegetarianism could influence bone health, and to review the available literature comparing bone health between vegetarians and omnivores. Because very few studies have been conducted with men, this review will be confined primarily to women.

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Authors
  1. Susan I. Barr
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Dermatology, Physiology, and Biophysics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Michael F. Holick PhD, MD

  2. Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA

    Bess Dawson-Hughes MD

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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Barr, S.I. (2004). Vegetarianism and Bone Health in Women. In: Holick, M.F., Dawson-Hughes, B. (eds) Nutrition and Bone Health. Nutrition and Health. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-740-6_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-740-6_16

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-61737-451-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-740-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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