Enjoying a daily cup of coffee has become routine for many Americans. While caffeine may give you a jolt of energy, some concern exists that coffee may be bad for your bones. Because you need strong bones to prevent injury and joint pain, knowing how much coffee you can enjoy in your daily diet can help you stay healthy.
Significance
While you may think of your bones as solid, hard masses, they are actually constantly forming and re-forming depending on your daily intake of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals. Coffee concerns some physicians because it contains caffeine, a stimulant that acts as a natural diuretic. It can affect your body by causing you to release calcium at a faster rate than usual via your urine, which can decrease the amount of calcium in your bones.
Calcium Excretion Rates
While coffee may not cause significant calcium deficiency, it can cause modest losses, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. One cup of brewed coffee can cause your bones to excrete about 2 to 3 mg of calcium. You can offset this calcium loss if you add 1 tbsp. milk to your coffee, according to Coca-Cola. If you limit your coffee consumption to one cup of brewed coffee per day, you should not experience adverse effects on bone health.
Research
Much of the concern surrounding coffee and calcium is due to coffee's caffeine content. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation or IOF, caffeine is often linked to decreased calcium and bone health, but no conclusive association has been established. The IOF points to a 1994 study published in "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" showing that women who drank caffeine did not suffer bone loss if they also got enough calcium in their daily diet. However, women who did not consume enough calcium -- at least 800 mg per day -- experienced greater bone loss if they consumed an amount of caffeine equivalent to that in three cups of brewed coffee per day.
Calcium Intake
While coffee has not been proven to rob your bones of significant amounts of calcium, replacing your daily glass of milk with coffee could have harmful effects. It is important to meet your daily calcium needs of 1,000 mg per day if you are between the ages of 19 and 50 or 1,200 mg per day if you are a woman older than age 51, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. This means you should not neglect the value of milk or calcium-fortified orange juice as your breakfast drink of choice over a cup of coffee. If you find you are consuming fewer calcium-containing beverages because you are drinking more coffee, you may wish to increase your consumption of other calcium-containing foods, such as low-fat yogurt, cheese and spinach.
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