I'm recently drinking a lot of coffee at work. I'm worried about the health issues - lost of calcium from the bones.
How can I prevent calcium loss? Drinking coffee with milk is out of option for me - I'm lactose intolerant.
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I'm not sure if health related questions should be on-topic for the site, creating a meta. for it. meta.coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/12/…– Joshua Aslan SmithCommented Jan 27, 2015 at 23:07
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1Do you have sources for this concern? I know carbonated beverages can be a source of calcium loss owing to the phosphoric acid in most of them, however, I haven't heard the same about coffee.– Suspended UserCommented Jan 29, 2015 at 22:45
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@ChrisinAK well, I've heard/read that from various sources, but I don't have any links now, for sure none in English– user48Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 23:15
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1 Answer
Apparently, drinking caffeinated beverages shouldn't affect you calcium level if you get your recommended daily intake of calcium. According to this review of the literature on the subject:
There is no evidence that caffeine has any harmful effect on bone status or on the calcium economy in individuals who ingest the currently recommended daily allowances of calcium.
That said, there does seem to be a connection between high caffeiene intake and low calcium intake, meaning that there is significant overlap between individuals who drink caffeinated beverages and don't get enough calcium from their diets, but implying a causal relationship is dubious. Luckily,
...the negative effect of caffeine on calcium absorption is small enough to be fully offset by as little as 1-2 tablespoons of milk.
Most milk alternatives (like soy or almond milks) are fortified with calcium and other nutrients and drinking them in place of milk should do the trick, just be mindful of the high sugar content of many of the milk alternatives available.
Also, I wouldn't worry about your daily coffee dose, 1.4 billion cups of coffee [2] are poured every day and if there were serious health risks associated with daily caffeine ingestion, we'd know about them!
