Before I get into the info on dairy, I want to mention that my reference to dairy here is about conventional cow’s milk dairy and in no way is intended to also cover Raw Milk, Raw Milk products, organic yogurt, organic butter , or organic sheep or goat milk products. These I will be discuss in a couple days.
Now on to Milk, the substance I affectionately refer to as The Devil In The White Dress
Whenever I suggest that a client go off milk, the next question that always comes is: But where will I get my calcium? Let’s think about this. Is there any single food on earth that we need to consume in order to obtain one particular nutrient? Is there any vitamin or mineral that is only available from a single source? So why would dairy be the only place we could get calcium?
Calcium and Bone Health
- Researchers have found that nations with the greatest calcium intake have the highest rates of osteoporosis and hip fracture
- Healthy bones require more than calcium-rich foods.
- Retaining the calcium we’ve stored up is more vital especially in our late 40s, when bones begin to break down faster than they can be rebuilt.
It is not a problem of calcium consumption but calcium loss
- Preventing calcium loss is more important than calcium intake.
- Mineral imbalances, stress and a highly acidic diet will promote calcium loss.
- Coffee, tea, table salt, meat, eggs, milk, cheese, pop, bread, and junk food all force the body to produce copious amounts of acid.
- The acid-forming Westernized diet forces our body to utilize massive amounts of calcium to maintain a pH balance in the blood.
- Calcium is used within the body to maintain the correct acid balance of the blood, which can only function at a certain pH level.
- Stomach acid is needed to digest meat protein like poultry, cheese, meats, eggs and processed foods.
- Calcium is then secreted to alkalize this acidic digestive mixture when it enters the bloodstream and is then excreted with other metabolic wastes.
- On the way out, calcium compounds can lodge in the kidneys causing kidney stones, or in the gall bladder producing gallstones.
Protein and calcium loss
- One of the greatest instigators of calcium loss is a high-protein diet
- When protein intake is above 75 grams per day, more calcium is lost in the urine than is retained in the body.
- Protein, especially from animal sources including milk, makes our urine acidic, a condition the body attempts to remedy by drawing calcium, an alkaline mineral, from the bones and then flushes from the body in the urine.
- Meat and/or dairy free diets produce less acid
The bottom line: Less calcium is needed in the diet if less dairy, meat and junk food is consumed.
No Dairy? Then where will I get my calcium?
- Many green vegetables have absorption rates of more than 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk. This means that these foods are providing your body with more biologically available calcium than milk and milk products.
- For an individual trying to improve calcium balance, fruit and vegetables are the best foods to add, as they are rich in potassium which reduces calcium losses.
Other health issues linked to dairy
- Allergies: Milk is the most common cause of food allergy. A recent study found that one way to reduce the number of allergies in infants is for the breastfeeding mother to avoid consuming, or make very limited use of cow’s milk. Milk allergy in children has also been associated with chronic cough, excess mucous, ADD, ADHD, recurring ear infection and bed-wetting.
- Food safety concerns: Dairy farmers regularly administer drugs and growth hormones to cows to boost milk production. Investigations have routinely found residues of these veterinary pharmaceuticals in milk and other milk products, some of which may raise cancer risks.
- Heart disease: According to cardiologist Dean Ornish, MD, “Milk rates second only to beef as the largest source of saturated fat in the American diet.”
- Lactose intolerance: Many people cannot stomach lactose, the sugar in milk, because they lack the necessary digestive enzyme. Some people are also sensitive to milk protein. An estimated 50 million Americans experience intestinal discomfort after consuming dairy products. Symptoms include bloating, stomach pain, cramps, gas or diarrhea.
- Women’s health concerns: Studies indicate that osteoporosis, which afflicts 20 million American women, and ovarian cancer are most common in those countries with the highest consumption of dairy food and lowest in those countries with low dairy intake.
Feel free to Download my handouts on Calcium and Dairy that includes more details, references and a list of calcium rich non-dairy foods.
And for more info on living dairy-free, please visit GoDairyFree.org
Gee I’m first today!!
For the record, and for those who fear the loss of milk in their diet can contribute to loss of bone density… Meg’s 70 year old cousin (me) has hated and avoided milk and most ‘white’ milk products from the time she was old enough to say ‘NO’ to them…. recent extensive bone desitiy tests showed excellent bones, no need for worry.
Sigh… one of these days, I will successfully wean the boy off lactose-free milk (can you write a post about how to change people’s eating habits without making it seem pushy?). I also wonder if there’s a reason that none of the organic dairy manufacturers offer a lactose-free variety. Probably because it involves too much tweaking, I suppose… also, for people who want the creamy mouth-feel of cheese in a dish — like cheeseburgers, for instance — using avocado instead is a pretty solid alternative.
So, I know this post is from a while back, but on the off chance you might see this, I just wanted to let you know that there is an Organic dairy manufacturer that produces lactose free organic milk. It’s Organic Valley. Unfortunately, I think it might just be sold in the US, but here’s a link: http://www.organicvalley.coop/products/milk/lactose-free/
[...] it’s considered “healthy” to drink cows milk, I’ll never know. Check out this awesome post (super informative!) for more information on why cows milk is not so good for humans after all. [...]
Thanks for all the great information! These stats will go in my list to memorize for use while dining out with meat-eaters who always seem to be concerned for the health of this vegetarian. If only they were more concerned with their own health….
And since this is my first time commenting, I just wanted to add that I love your blog! Keep up the good work!
I couldn’t have put it better myself
Well said… I like how you simply explain things and put a lot of meat (no pun intended!) in one post. I also hated milk as a kid, and good thing… it does NOT do a body good! Would love to have a source of raw milk here in VA… been looking…
While I don’t disagree with what you have said, I am curious about your take on saturated fat. Coconut oil is saturated fat, yet is healthy, extremely healthy.
I would also be interested in your take on this particular article:
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/the-fat-fight-goes-on/
I have been studying this for 3 years as I have gone through a massive weight loss (150 lbs total), without weight loss surgery, and all on my own.
I have been going off of many different theories, and that is all I can really see them being. The paleo diet shuns grains and sugar, yet is meat heavy. Some promote dairy others do not.
My vegan friend shuns dairy and eggs, and also detests the Weston A. Price Foundation, yet you went to a conference where they were in attendance (and I assume not looked down upon). The Weston A. price Foundation is a big supporter of a meat and saturated fat heavy diet.
It seems like most of this is not really scientific fact, but guessing when it comes to correlation.
Even when I was 150lbs heavier I had low cholesterol, yet was constantly told that I would end up with heart disease just because I was fat.
I am also curious why any of this would be different when it comes to raw milk.
[...] also is very fitting as earlier today I posted about milk and our generally accepted, though false belief, that milk is the best (and only) source of [...]
gettinggreen- I am pretty sure that is the theme of my blog… delicious ways to eat healthier. First step would be getting our fabourite lactose-intolerant boy to read it.
Melissa- Thank you for your thorough comment. I don’t think there is anything wrong with saturated fat in moderate amounts. I do believe there is a difference between sources of saturated fat- that not all saturated fats work the same way in the body. Some are definitely needed and coconut oil, and nuts/seeds are an excellent and health supportive source. I am sure your vegan/raw friends are appalled by the foods promoted by the Weston A. Price Foundation. As I have said before, there is no one diet that best suits everyone. I am a huge supporter of traditional diets and do believe we have to take our ancestry into account, as well as our personal lifestyle and metabolism. Some people do well on high meat diets, while others do well on veggie/vegan diets. Just the same there are people who would not thrive on such eating plans. Congratulations on your weightloss success. That is a huge accomplishment. The only recommendation I can make for an overall eating plan is to eat what makes you feel good, gives you energy, and helps you maintain your optimal weight. All the studies, diet books, restricted and regimented eating really complicate it for all of us. And the info on raw milk will follow soon!
Thank you for that. Ultimately this is the conclusion I have come to as well. I do believe that there are certain foods that are no-nos for everyone of course…I have yet to meet a person who thrives on High Fructose Corn Syrup for instance, but I know plenty of people on vastly different nutritional plans who are quite healthy. It just seems like you have to fit your diet to match your body.
My personal nutritional plan is based on bits and pieces from several sources. One being the book by Dr. Joel Fuhrman called “Eat to Live”. While I think this is an excellent base diet, I disagree with his take on oil. He is much closer to Pritikin and believes in only very small amounts of fat, and ONLY from raw nuts/seeds. While I did lose weight on his diet, I was very unsatisfied. I felt MUCH better with the addition of virgin coconut oil, and have been eating it daily ever since. I also allow for occasional cheese and was eating yogurt daily. I have recently been questioning the ethics of milk though, and hope to find a dairy near me that is completely humane as I do like my yogurt.
I pondered going to school for nutrition but know of no school near me that teaches non-traditional nutrition. I don’t trust anything remotely resembling the food pyramid as that is part of what kept me overweight for 10 years.
I really appreciate your blog, keep up the good work!
Thanks for providing the stats on the calcium content of all of the fruit and veg!
I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a household with soy-almond-rice-goat milks. Lactaid always gave meet the creeps as a kid. Why is it so sweet given that lactose is the sugar in milk and not the protein?
I am looking forward to your raw milk post!
This post is so well laid out. I’m always trying to explain to people that too much calcium is bad, but I never do a very good job of it.
Meghan – thank you so much for an incredibly informative post on such important issues around dairy consumption. I get particularly troubled about the impact of dairy on children – for example, children who are punished for wetting their beds when it could have been caused by the child’s diet. So sad.
Marissa – I’m so curious about how you eat your coconut oil. Do you add it to smoothies or heat it for popcorn or? And you feel it contributed to your weight loss?
Thanks!
There is no growth hormone use whatsoever in Canada in milk production – that is American data. The higher rate of antibiotic usage in American milk is a result of higher rates of mastitis and poor health as a result of the rBST – which is why its use in milk production is banned in every other developed country in the world. Please stop spouting American data at Canadians – it’s meaningless for how our milk is sourced.
Food borne illness fell by fully 1/2 when pasteurisation was introduced – and that was when most dairies were small, locally owned affairs. Raw milk is an unacceptable risk for most people.
I love that you posted this.
(You knew I would.)
Also, I appreciate what “a” is saying about using American data. The raw milk comment, however, sounds like milk industry propaganda.
I cannot wait until I get farther into Marion Nestle’s Food Politics. So far I’ve just made it through the introduction. It’s a big book in both length and size, and a heavy one at that. It’s less purse-friendly than other books on my shelf so I haven’t been carrying it around as often as I carry other books.
caitymccardell
Coconut oil is pretty much the only oil I use, so it use it for everything. Each morning I scramble my eggs in it. I don’t just eat it straight though, I prefer to cook or bake with it. I do believe it helped with my weight loss but the 2 big things that really did it were cutting out all grains and cutting out sugar. I only rarely use honey as it spikes the blood sugar. I use agave nectar on occasion but I prefer to use date sugar and xylitol.
Side note, Raw milk dairies are actually much more clean than dairies that produce milk that will be pasteurized.
As an American, I’m glad Meghan is including American data. I am aware of the difference between U.S. treatment of dairy cows and pretty much every other nation. I hope an end is put to the use of growth hormones and overuse of antibiotics on cows in the U.S.
Hi Meghan,
This is my first time reading your blog – I came across it via the Smarter Fitter Blog.
I’m actually a lacto-vegetarian – but to be honest, I think I’m a closet vegan! I only have small amounts of dairy, probably once a week, and it’s only out of laziness. Forgetting to read a label on something, sleeping in and having to buy lunch in a non-vegan-friendly area etc.
I’ve had vegans in my ear before saying that meat & dairy “LEECHES” calcium from the bones but nobody has been able to explain this to me thus far, so I just assumed it was some kind of crazy vegan propaganda. I tried to find further information but couldn’t, I guess I was looking for the wrong thing.
Anyway – your post is amazing. So comprehensive!! I think the dot points under “It is not a problem of calcium consumption but calcium loss” was the information I was looking for all along!
Thank you so much
Nachos
P.s. The data doesn’t apply to me as I’m in Australia, but it’s truly horrifying to learn about the American meat/dairy industry!!
[...] or someone you know indulge in ice cream or give kids milk and other dairy products when sick. Most dairy products are vile processed foods, incredibly mucous forming and acidifying to the body which can actually work to reduce immune [...]
nice article about potassium…very informative and beneficial for me…thx
Thought you’d like this one Alisa.
a- I always wonder why people with negative comments never post their actual names. This is true that I have included a lot of American data, but last I checked, the internet was internationally available. As well, I do believe that many American produced dairy products are consumed in Canada, perhaps not necessarily in the form of milk but in cheese, yogurt, ice cream and many many processed foods. No single chemical used in our food supply will affect only the country it is grown in anymore. I would really appreciate it if you could provide me with the reference to the drop in disease following pasteurization. Thank you kindly for your comment.