Another ecological study that many vegans are familiar with looked at rates of hip fracture and protein consumption in different countries. The results showed that as protein intake increases, so does the rate of hip fracture. But contrary to popular opinion, that study didn’t show that high protein intake causes weak bones and in fact, it may have misled us about the relationship of protein to bone health. (We talk more about why that is in Chapter 5.) It did set the stage for clinical studies on how protein might impact calcium metabolism.
