Milk Myth: The One About Calcium from Dairy Products

Worried about osteoporosis? Getting enough calcium for strong bones has become an obsession. Unfortunately dairy products have stolen the march on everyone. But studies reveal - manufacturers’ claims are unfounded - and scandalously misleading.

The problem with milk products is they are 'foreign' to the human body - causing the small intestine to malfunction. That means we don't absorb nutrients in sufficient quantities. Plus, the nutrients we do need are lost from the body.

Despite the marketers’ claims - there is significant evidence yogurt, cheese and other milk products actually leach nutrients out of the body ... leading to calcium and iron deficiency, bone density loss, anaemia and osteoporosis.

The very thing we’re trying to avoid!

Here at the Institute we have spent years scrutinising the medical literature on links between foods and disease.

Studies confirm - food toxins like casein and lactose are implicated in depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease - along with osteoporosis.

Five things you need to know

1. Calcium from dairy? Says who?

What are their motivations? Our research says three groups of people:

a. Dairy corporations and food manufacturers whose only motive is to sell product

b. Professional marketers who put outrageous ‘spin’ on research results

c. Nutritionists whose knowledge has been superseded by new findings on human disease.

2. Three serves of dairy a day? . . . Why so much?

Let’s put some regular logic over this . . . three serves a day equals twenty one serves a week … every week for the year … every year of our lives? That’s a lot. . . . But doesn’t that make dairy a rather poor source of calcium?

By comparison - to get enough iron from red meat, we only need 2 - 3 serves a week.

3. A billion Chinese can't be wrong

The traditional Chinese diet served hundreds of millions of people for centuries - with no dairy products whatsoever. So … before the influence of the West brought dairy foods into China in the 1980s - did the Chinese routinely fall down with osteoporotic broken hips and spontaneous fractures – such as those increasingly seen in the West? Not at all.

In fact the Chinese became sicker after dairy foods were introduced:

• From one of the lowest rates in the world the incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture in mainland China increased by 34% from 1988 to 1992 (Lau, 2009)

• Previously dairy-free society - suddenly one in five Chinese citizens (200 million) are estimated to be suffering a cardio-vascular disorder. It is the leading cause of mortality and now accounts for 41% of all deaths[i].

• Another study of the Chinese population notes that diabetes prevalence has increased so fast that one third of all diabetics in the world are Chinese[ii].

4. Dairy food: 'No benefit' to bones - study

Essentially - calcium present in milk is in the wrong form to be correctly absorbed. On top of that the milk sugar, lactose drives osmosis in the intestine - leading to loose stools and diarrhea. A comprehensive review of 58 studies of the effect of calcium from dairy foods and supplements found no benefit to bone health:

‘… neither increased consumption of dairy products, specifically, nor total dietary calcium consumption has shown even a modestly consistent benefit for child or young adult bone health.’

It also found nutrition guidelines which promote increased dairy consumption to improve bone health are based on ‘scant evidence’[iii].

5. ‘Inappropriate’ for our species

Mammalian milk is unsuitable as food for Homo sapiens - and lies outside our ‘ideal diet’. And when we consume it - we are struck with disease as we age. Paleolithic man as hunter-gatherers had no access to milk or its derivatives - and were free of disease. Human fossil evidence has confirmed there was no osteoporosis or bone disease until dairy foods and grains were introduced into the diet - in the Neolithic era ~ ten thousand years ago.

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Almond latte

A delicious and dairy-free alternative to cow milk cappuccino.

The take-away

The message here is clear. Don’t buy into the Milk Myth. We all want strong bones right into our nineties and beyond. So - give your stomach and intestines a break! Choose from all the other milks now available - (just avoid gluten).

Forget the ‘recommended daily serves’ of dairy food - and bin the Vitamin D supplements. Then go through your fridge and trash the milk, cream cheese dips, yoghurt snacks, ice cream, ricotta, cheddar and brie. Also you’ll noticeably improve your stomach bloating or diarrhoea – and many of our members notice welcome weight loss … bonus!

Instead, get some proper calcium ... buy some canned fish with bones, like salmon and sardines, lots more leafy greens, oranges and fresh figs.

Then take up some weight-bearing exercise (walking, running or yoga) and soak up some sunshine!

Fresh Start LoTox Membership

Step-by-step how-to for low toxin foods … to set up your learning for life! Remember - Lactose and casein (from dairy) are just two of many food toxins implicated in serious disease. Start feeling the benefits within days. Learn more >

References

[i] Hu SS,Kong LZ,Gao RL,Zhu ML,Wang W,Wang YJ,Wu ZS,Chen WW,Liu MB;Editorial Board.Outline of the report on cardiovasculardiseasein China, 2010. Biomed Environ Sci.2012 Jun;25(3):251-6.

[ii] Weng J, Pozzilli P. DiabetesMetabolism Research and Reviews - Chinese Diabetes Society Special Issue: a small but encouraging step toward the successful control ofdiabetesinChina. Diabetes Metab Res Rev.2014 Jul 9.

[iii] Lanou AJ,Berkow SE,Barnard ND, Calcium, dairy products, and bone health in children and young adults: a reevaluation of the evidence. Pediatrics.2005 Mar;115(3):736-43.