ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the evidence from human studies on the relations among caffeine intake, perturbations in calcium balance, bone loss, and osteoporosis in women. Several longitudinal epidemiological studies have reported significant positive findings between caffeine intake and bone density or risk of the fracture. Additional characterization will provide greater understanding of the long term effects of differing levels of caffeine on bone health in women. Collectively, the literature shows a trend indicating that a lifetime pattern of high caffeine intake in women contributes to a negative impact on calcium and bone metabolism and is correlated with bone loss or fracture risk, particularly when there is a low calcium intake. Although in some studies coffee is used as the dependent variable due to its putative use or as a surrogate for caffeine, the complex nature of the coffee itself is overlooked.
