Can a Mediterranean diet help to maintain bone health?

Finding ways to keep bones strong and healthy is massive challenge for older adults, especially as research has shown that over 220,000 people aged 60 and over have fractured bones as a result of a fall.

Now researchers claim that the key to protecting the skeleton is to have a Mediterranean diet enriched with olive oil.

A study published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that this increases serum osteocalcin concentrations. This suggests that Mediterranean diets have protective benefits for bones.

The findings support previous investigations that observed incidences of osteoporosis are lower in the Mediterranean basin of Europe.

It has long been speculated that the high concentration of fruits, vegetables, olives and olive oils in the diet is a key environmental factor behind this difference.

Dr Jose Manuel Fernández-Real, lead author on the study, commented: "The intake of olive oil has been related to the prevention of osteoporosis in experimental and in vitro models."

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