Many of us who grew up in North America were raised on milk and dairy products.  We were lead to believe that dairy was not only important but NECESSARY for bone health. Dairy is one of the 4 food groups in the Canadian food guide and it is recommended to have 2 cups a day.

But over the last few years many questions have been raised over the benefits of dairy.  Many individuals report gastrointestinal upset due to the lactose in milk and others seem to be unable to tolerate casein, another protein found in milk. Although dairy does have a few benefits, I personally feel the risks (or side effects) outweigh the benefits for dairy consumption.  Not only does my food sensitivity test reveal that I develop an inflammatory response in my body when I eat dairy, some of the recent research presents some pretty compelling reasons to put down the cows milk.

Here are the other reasons I have chosen to stop consuming diary:

  1. MILK MAY INCREASE BONE FRACTURE RISK: In 2013, 2 researchers from Harvard, Dr. David Ludwig and Water Willet published an article raising even more questions about milk: they suggest it does not help bones become stronger and may be linked with cancer. In the late 90’s the Nurses Health study followed over 75,000 woman over 12 years and found no protective effect of increased milk consumption on bones.  In fact, it may even increase fracture risk.

 

  1. DAIRY CONSUMPTION MAY BE LINKED TO CANCER: dairy consumption may also be linked to ovarian cancer and breast cancer!

 

  1. DAIRY MAY INCREASE ACNE AND OTHER INFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS: Additional concerns have been outlined in research pertaining to dairy promoting acne, allergies, eczema and inflammation in some individuals. Many woman notice less PMS symptoms and/or less cramping with the removal of dairy from their diet. I have seen numerous cases of hard to treat acne, significantly improved by just removing dairy from the body!

 

  1. WE CAN OBTAIN ENOUGH CALCIUM THROUGH VEGGIES, NUTS AND SEEDS: The recommended daily calcium intake for woman aged 9-18 years of age is 1300mg per day and for woman aged 19-50 it is 1000mg per day. 1 cup of milk is around 300mg, however research has shown that calcium absorption from vegetables (kale) is greater than from milk. Listed Below are some great sources of calcium.

 

Sesame Seeds –  A quarter cup of sesame seeds has 351 mg calcium.

Spinach – A cup of boiled spinach has 245 mg.

Collard Greens – A cup of boiled collard greens has 266 mg.

Blackstrap Molasses – One tablespoon has about 137 mg.

Kelp – One cup of raw kelp has 136 mg.

Tahini – Two tablespoons of raw tahini (sesame seed butter) have 126 mg.

Broccoli – Two cups of boiled broccoli have 124 mg.

 

  1. DAIRY MAY AGGREVATE OTHER MEDICAL CONDITIONS: such as irritable bowel syndrome, ear infections and chronic constipation.

 

Except for the odd piece of cheese, I have cut dairy out of my diet completely for the past few years. There are so many great alternatives available- almond milk, hemp milk, gmo organic soy milk, rice milk etc! Goat’s milk is also a good alternative for some, however individuals who have a really hard time digesting cow’s milk also may have trouble with goats.

To find out for sure if “dairy” is a source of aggravation for you, taking the food sensitivity test is an option.

Dr. Emily Lipinski, ND

 

Works Cited

Feskanich D, Willet WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA. Milk, dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective study. Am J Public Health 1997;87:992-7.

Cumming RG, Klineberg RJ. Case-control study of risk factors for hip fractures in the elderly. Am J Epidemiol 1994;139:493-505.

Huang Z, Himes JH, McGovern PG. Nutrition and subsequent hip fracture risk among a national cohort of white women. Am J Epidemiol 1996;144:124-34.

Cummings SR, Nevitt MC, Browner WS, et al. Risk factors for hip fracture in white women. N Engl J Med 1995;332:767-73. 31. Finn SC. The skeleton crew: is calcium enough? J Women’s Health 1998;7(1):31-6.

Nordin CBE. Calcium and osteoporosis. Nutrition 1997;3(7/8):664-86.

Cramer DW, Harlow BL, Willet WC. Galactose consumption and metabolism in relation to the risk of ovarian cancer. Lancet 1989;2:66-71.

Genkinger JM, Hunter DJ, Spiegelman D, et al. Dairy products and ovarian cancer: a pooled analysis of 12 cohort studies. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006; 15:364–72.

Outwater JL, Nicholson A, Barnard N. Dairy products and breast cancer: the IGF-1, estrogen, and bGH hypothesis. Medical Hypothesis 1997;48:453-61.

Chan JM, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci E, et al. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-1 and prostate cancer risk: a prospective study. Science 1998;279:563-5

Melnik. Evidence for acne promoting effects of milk and other insulin like dairy products Nestle Nutr Workshop SerPediatr Program. 2011;67:131-45. doi: 10.1159/000325580. Epub 2011 Feb 16.

Danby. Acne dairy and cancer. Dermatoendocrinol. 2009 jan-feb 1 (1): 12-16.

J Am AcadDermatol. 2005 Feb;52(2):207-14.

ActaOtolaryngol. 1999;119(8):867-73 45.Med Hypotheses. 2010 Apr;74(4):732-4. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2009.10.044. Epub 2009 Nov 25..

. Nature. 2014 Jan 23;505(7484):559-63

Top 5 Reasons Why I Don’t Eat Dairy