High protein diet can cause osteoporosis

Recently, I was reading a book on gourmet vegetarian cooking and a Karma-Free diet when I came across this startling fact that high protein diet has been shown to cause osteoporosis in several studies.

A lot of us eat meat to ensure that we get enough protein in our diet.  However, there are a lot of unintended effects on our body, of which osteoporosis is one of them. The author of this book deals with the subject of vegetarianism and how it makes tremendous sense to become a vegetarian both for our physical well being and spiritual well being.  Here is an excerpt from the book, The Higher Taste, based on the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada:

Nutrition Without Meat

Announcing that one is a vegetarian almost always elicits a predictable question: "What about protein?" To this, a vegetarian might well reply, "What about the elephant? The bull? The rhinoceros?" The ideas that meat has a monopoly on protein and even that large amounts of protein are required for energy and strength are myths.

During digestion, most protein breaks down into its constituent amino acids, which are then used by the body for growth and tissue replacement. Of the twenty-two amino acids, the body can synthesize all but eight. These eight "essential" amino acids exist in abundance in nonflesh foods. Dairy products, grains, beans, and nuts are all concentrated sources of protein. Cheese, peanuts, and lentils, for instance, contain more protein per ounce than hamburger, pork, or porterhouse steak. A study by Dr. Fred Stare of Harvard and Dr. Mervyn Hoarding of Loma Linda University made extensive comparisons between the protein intake of vegetarians and that of flesh-eaters. They concluded that "each group exceeded twice its requirement for every essential amino acid and surpassed this amount by large margins for most of them.

For many Americans and Europeans, protein makes up more than 20 percent of their diet, nearly twice the quantity recommended by the World Health Organization. Although inadequate amounts of protein will cause loss of strength, the body cannot use excess protein; rather, it is converted into nitrogenous wastes that burden the kidneys and is eventually passed from the body, taking calcium with it. A number of studies have now linked the overeating of protein to the rise in osteoporosis. Although scientists have long known that osteoporosis results from reduced calcium in the bones, they are now coming to understand that one of the main causes of this deficiency is too much protein in the diet.