Mediterranean diet cuts fracture risk
New University of Chester research links adherence to the Mediterranean diet with a significantly lower risk of hip fractures and other bone injuries, underscoring its value for lifelong musculoskeletal health Osteoporosis: Age-old diet linked to lower risk of bone fractures in study.
The systematic review published (mdpi.com) in Nutrients on 9 December 2025 (DOI 10.3390/nu17243845) lists Adhithya Mullath Ullas, Joseph Boamah, Amir Hussain, Ioanna Myrtziou and Ioannis Kanakis as the authors. (mdpi.com) The analysis pooled 30 studies — 14 randomised controlled trials and 16 observational studies — covering more than 500,000 participants and searched literature from January 2000 to June 2025. (mdpi.com) Pooled hazard ratios for hip and overall fractures were reported as 0.95 (95% CI 0.93–0.96), equivalent to roughly a 5% lower hazard in the meta‑analysis. (mdpi.com) The review found no significant differences in bone mineral density at the femoral neck, lumbar spine, total hip or whole body (SMDs reported for each site), despite the fracture hazard signal. (mdpi.com) Authors reported that calorie restriction was consistently linked to increased bone resorption markers, whereas high‑protein and low‑carbohydrate diets produced mixed or neutral effects in the included studies. (mdpi.com) The University of Chester press release dated 4 March 2026 names Associate Professor Dr Ioannis Kanakis as lead investigator and notes contributions from MSc Diabetes postgraduate students Adhithya Mullath Ullas, Joseph Boamah and Amir Hussain. (chester.ac.uk) An earlier dose‑response meta‑analysis in Nutrition Reviews (23 October 2024) reported a stronger association: high Mediterranean adherence had a relative risk of hip fracture of 0.71 (95% CI 0.55–0.91) and each one‑point increase in adherence score corresponded to a 5.25% reduction in hip fracture risk. (academic.oup.com)
