Milk and osteoporosis: A review

Bone mass gradually declines and the internal structure of bone tissue deteriorates in osteoporosis, a long-term skeletal illness that weakens and increases the risk of fractures (NOGG, 2017) [25]. Globally, more than 200 million individuals are affected by this condition (Upadhyaya et al., 2020) [36], and nearly 50 million people in India suffer from osteoporosis or reduced bone mass. Milk and dairy products play a vital role in supporting bone health, as they contain essential nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, high-quality proteins, vitamins D and K2, and several bioactive components that help in bone formation and limit bone loss (Hess et al., 2016; Nielsen, 2018) [10, 26]. Multiple studies have shown a significant inverse relationship between dairy intake and the risk of developing osteoporosis or fractures (Feskanich et al., 2018; Malmir et al., 2020) [8, 21].