Raw Food Vegan Diet May Produce Light but Healthy Bones

People who eat vegetarian diets consisting exclusively of raw food have abnormally low bone mass, according to a research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. While low bone mass usually is a sign of osteoporosis and increased fracture risk, the researchers found that raw food vegetarians also have other biological markers indicating their bones, although light in weight, may be healthy.

The study, published in the March 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, was led by Luigi Fontana, M.D., Ph.D., research instructor in medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science.