We all know the basics for a healthy diet, less sugar and more veggies, less processed foods and more whole foods, limit meat and add nuts and legumes. But what many people don’t know is that dairy should be limited or even eliminated altogether from your diet, and can we blame people for not knowing? We see commercials every day telling us the benefits of milk, the USDA just increased the amount of milk it recommends and even some doctors are still recommending milk to women as a preventative measure for osteoporosis. Now, I won’t get into the politics behind all this milk pushing, but I can tell you the facts that research has been telling us for some time now.
You may not have noticed, but about 15 years ago, milk ads stopped referencing bone health as a benefit. That’s because dozens of studies are showing the complete opposite, with countries that consume the most milk having the highest rates of osteoporosis. One of the largest and most recent meta-analysis (2010 Oct 14 - Epub) of cohort studies of over 500,000 men and women found no relationship between milk intake and hip fracture rate, the chief indicator used for studying osteoporosis. The basic science behind this reasoning is when we eat diets high in animal protein (milk included), our bodies become acidic and calcium is drawn from our bones to neutralize that acidic environment – cheese is particularly acidic.
Recent scientific studies have suggested that dairy products may be linked to increased risk for prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and possibly for ovarian and breast cancers, with the strongest association to prostate cancer. In Harvard’s Physicians Health Study, including more than 20,000 male physicians, those who consumed more than two dairy servings daily had a 34% higher risk of developing prostate cancer than men who consumed little or no dairy products.
Lucky for us, milk produced in Canada does not contain growth hormones and any cows given antibiotics are supposed to be removed from the milk production processed until cleared from their system. Also, all milk and cream imported to Canada cannot contain artificial growth hormones, except chocolate milk strangely enough. But, modified milk ingredients are not subject to this ban and milk from dairy cows that are full of hormones and antibiotics is often used in the production of Canadian dairy products, such as ice cream, yogurt and cheese, they have names like skim milk powder, milk protein concentrates, milk protein isolates, casein, caseinates and whey protein concentrates.
Stay away from the low fat dairy or skim milk products, a 2011 Harvard study of 12,829 children showed that skim milk may make you fatter than whole milk. That wouldn't surprise farmers; when they want to fatten up a pig, they feed it skim milk. The reason? Milk sugar. When you remove the fat from milk, what's left is lactose or in other words, milk sugar. The end product is an unbalanced, sugary-like drink that leads to weight gain.
You’ve seen the evidence, did some of your own research, and you’re ready to cut out dairy, but what should you be replacing it with? Well, did you know that kale contains more calcium per calorie than milk (90 grams per serving) and is also better absorbed by the body than dairy? Other plant-foods boosting calcium include: beans, nuts like almonds and seeds like sesame, broccoli, collards, whole-grains, and tofu. There are more dairy alternatives available to us now than ever before. Almond, rice, soy and coconut milks, yogurts and ice creams, and all with flavours well beyond the basics.
Want more info? Check these out:
Books:
• The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, and his son Thomas M. Campbell II, a physician.
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition, by Julieanna Hever
• Diet For A Small Planet, by Frances Moore Lappe
Documentaries:
• Forks Over Knives (2011)
• Food, Inc. (2008)
• Food Matters (2008)
• Vegucated (2011)
