Presumably, the food-frequency questionnaire could also have provided estimates of dietary potassium intake for each subject, in which case the investigators could have used the Frassetto algorithm (dietary net acid load ҃ 0.91 ҂ protein intake in g/d Ҁ 0.57 ҂ potassium intake in mEq/d ѿ 21) (2) to obtain an estimated value for dietary net acid load for each subject. In performing such an analysis, Devine et al may contribute quantitative estimates of the degrees of opposing anabolic and

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... ic bone effects of dietary protein in elderly subjects over the range of protein intakes observed, and they may confirm in adults the findings of Alexy et al (3) in children and adolescents, also recently reported in the Journal. In an editorial accompanying that article, we (4) further discussed the subject of the opposing anabolic and catabolic bone effects of dietary protein and suggested a way to maximize protein's anabolic effect by supplying diets that are both protein-rich and net base-producing.