Researchers at Harvard University concluded from a study of the diets of 78,000 women over a 12-year period, that participants whose primary source of calcium was dairy actually doubled their risk of hip fractures. Societies with little or no consumption of dairy products and animal protein show a low incidence of osteoporosis. The converse is also true. Cultures with the highest dairy consumption per capita also have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

Researchers at Yale University found that countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are those in which people consume the most meat, milk, and other animal foods.

Osteoporosis causes a variety of symptoms like recurring back pain, loss of height, spinal deformities and brittle bones resulting in easy fractures. A decrease in animal protein intake may decrease the risk of osteoporosis.