Phosphorus: a double-edged sword

We're halfway through Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month and it seems like a good time to take on the complicated issue of phosphorus and bone health.

You've probably seen warnings about soft drinks being bad for your bones. The phosphates used to make soda are a rich source of phosphorus, and excessive intake of this mineral can leach calcium from your bones.

What you rarely see mentioned, however, is that phosphorus deficiency can also contribute to the development of osteoporosis. Most people get the recommended amount of phosphorus from their diets. Yet phosphorus deficiency is becoming more common, particularly among older people. The chief cause? Overly aggressive calcium supplementation!

Calcium and phosphorus are the two main components of bone tissue. It's important to get sufficient amounts of both nutrients for good bone health. But, the ratio of these nutrients is also quite important. If your diet is high in phosphorus and low in calcium, your body will indeed pull calcium from the bone reserves.  But it works the other way as well. Excessive amounts of calcium will decrease your ability to absorb phosphorus, which in turn weakens bone. 

So, say you've taken Osteporosis Awareness Month to heart. You've cut out sodas. You're careful to get three or four servings of dairy every day. Plus, you take 2,000 mg of calcium a day as a supplement.  That's well over the recommended amount of calcium, of course, but perhaps you figure that you need to make up for inadequate calcium intake during your misspent, cola-swilling youth. Better safe than sorry, right?  Maybe not.

Some guidelines:

1. Be sure that you are consistently getting  the recommended amount of calcium (1,000 to 1,500mg from diet and supplements.)

2. Also make sure your diet contains the recommended amount of phosphorus (700mg for adults), especially if you are over 60. This is not hard to do; phosphorus is found a wide variety of foods.

3. But keep in mind that a diet that is very high in either calcium or phosphorus will increase your requirement for the other. 

4. If you take calcium supplements, consider using a form of calcium that contains phosphorus, such as tricalcium phosphate.

Not sure how much calcium or phosphorus (or other nutrients) your diet provides? You can use our diet tracking tools to find out. (Don't forget to add in any supplements you use.) Tracking your diet may reveal that you are getting way more or way less of certain nutrients than you realize, or that the balance between nutrients like calcium and phosphorus is out of whack.

To identify foods that are high or low in certain nutrients, take advantage of our Nutrient Search Tool, as well.