Milk. It Does a Body Bad!
About a century ago we ate 4 lbs of cheese per year, now we are up to over 33 lbs.
“The myth that osteoporosis is caused by calcium deficiency was created to sell dairy products and calcium supplements. There’s no truth to it. American women are among the biggest consumers of calcium in the world, and they still have one of the highest levels of osteoporosis in the world. And eating even more dairy products and calcium supplements is not going to change that fact.” –Dr. John McDougall The McDougall Program for Women (2000)1
“Researchers found that milk-drinking women had higher rates of death, more heart disease, and significantly more cancer for each glass of milk. Three glasses a day was associated with nearly twice the risk of premature death, and they had significantly more bone and hip fractures. More milk, more fractures.”2
How to Get Calcium Without Dairy
Non-dairy sources of calcium:
- Chia seeds
- Soy milk
- Almonds
- Dried figs
- Tofu
- White beans
- Sunflower seeds
- Broccoli rabe
- Edamame
- Kale
- Sesame seeds
- Broccoli
- Sweet potatoes
- Mustard and collard greens
- Okra
- Oranges and orange juice
- Butternut squash
- Arugula
“Vitamin D and Magnesium are both necessary for the body to use calcium and without these, calcium won’t be absorbed correctly.”
What About Calcium Supplements?
“A meta-analysis of studies involving more than 12,000 people also published in the BMJ found that calcium supplementation increases the risk of:
- Heart attack by 31 percent
- Stroke by 20 percent
- Death from all causes by 9 percent”3
Cancer From Dairy
Men who drank more than two glasses of milk a day were almost twice as likely to develop advanced prostate cancer as those who didn’t drink milk at all.
Milk Myths
Calcium:
- The cow is the middle man; they eat the plants that have calcium. You can cut him out.
- The countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the highest rates of osteoporosis.
Milk is meant for babies; if fact most people can’t even digest lactose after the age of 5.
Thoughts
I drink one eight ounce glass of milk almost daily with a banana. It is one of two snacks I have between the two meals I eat daily, since I do time restricted eating. I definitely don’t think it is important, but my consumption levels are low for an American. Avoiding dairy completely would force me to become a vegan; there is no way around it. Avoiding cheese seems impossible!
I want to know more about excess protein being a factor in osteoporosis. I used to eat a lot of supplement protein when lifting weights, so hopefully I don’t break easily later on.
Changes
Fit in non-dairy sources and see if you can cut down on the servings of dairy that you are eating daily / weekly.
Reference
Related Articles:
- 2018/10/07 Saturated and Trans Fats Cause Memory Issues
- 2018/10/07 Animal Protein
- 2018/10/07 Milk and Cookie Disease
- 2018/10/07 Dirty Dozen
- 2018/10/07 The Potato Hack
Authored By Tim Brown
Have the attitude and honest belief that if you give it your all it will be done. One day or day one.