Low Calorie Diets May Lead to Bone Loss

Individuals who lose weight on low calorie diets alone may be susceptible to bone loss. The same is not seen when exercise is included as part of an overall fat loss plan.

Most US adults are either overweight or obese. The most common treamtent for these conditions is lifestyle changes, including exercise and reducing overall caloric intake. Some, however, skip the exercise and try to lose weight by dieting alone.

Decreasing body weight from dieting alone is associated with decreased bone mineral density, which increases the risk for hip fractures and osteoporosis in older adults. The same kind of bone loss is seen in younger women who are anorexic or whose body weight is low enough to stop menstruation.

These findings reinforce the importance of including exercise for healthy weight loss especially if you are dieting. The two types of exercise that provide the best bone enhancing stimulus are weight bearing activities and weight lifting.

Weight bearing aerobic exercise should maximize impact to the skeleton to improve bone mass in the hip and other areas where fractures are common. If a person is of normal weight and have healthy bones and joints they should perform some type of jumping activities in addition to the more common low impact activities.

Weight lifting provides strong muscular contractions that transfer force to the bones resulting in an increase in bone mass. Healthy clients should maximize the amount they lift but stay within safe limits that allow them to perform the exercise in good form. A weight training program needs to work the entire body since the stimulus to increase bone density only occurs near the body part being trained.

Low calorie diets are a popular means of trying to lose weight. Dieting alone, however, may sacifice bone integrity. To avoid bone loss and actually increase it, add weight bearing exercise or weight training to your fat loss program. Watching your calories and performing regular exercise will also result in better fat loss.