Dairy and Health
(With permission. Originally published by Sentient Media in their Newsletter Series ‘100 Voices - Day 26’)
The dairy industry routinely promotes the nutritional value of cows’ milk. By way of example: cows’ milk provides calcium which can help build strong bones.
While it’s true that dairy does contain calcium, protein, and Vitamin-D, milk also contains an excessive amount of saturated fat, antibiotics, and hormones. Even when consuming “hormone-free” or “grass-fed” milk, you can still consume hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
Lactose Intolerance
Consuming cows’ milk can increase the risk of many health problems including digestive issues, diabetes, asthma, and cancer. More than 6 billion people globally consume milk and dairy products, but up to 65% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant.
Once someone who is lactose intolerant consumes cow's milk or any other lactose-containing dairy products, symptoms can occur within 30 minutes. These symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, gas, nausea, and diarrhea. In the elderly, this problem is even more pronounced. In Europe, half of the population over the age of 50 are lactose intolerant.*
Nutrition
Dairy is promoted by the industry to be a rich source of protein, calcium, and other micronutrients, including vitamin D and B12. Marketing over the years has focused on its health-promoting components, with its role in children’s bone health often emphasized. Omitted from such campaigns are the less healthful components of dairy, including saturated fat, salt, IGF-1, and anabolic hormones.
While it is not disputed that the micronutrients in dairy are vital to the diets of both adults and children, there are many other ways to obtain these nutrients in a healthier form including from plant sources and supplementation recommended in dietary guidelines.
Calcium is present in low oxalate leafy greens, with an absorption rate of between 40-60% which is actually higher than that of cow’s milk. The calcium in fortified tofu (look for calcium sulphate in the ingredients) and fortified plant milks is absorbed well and at about the same rate as cow’s milk. Other food sources include almonds and their nut butter, figs, oranges, and chia seeds. These plant-based foods also contain micronutrients such as vitamin C, B vitamins, potassium and magnesium in abundance, as well as health-promoting phytoestrogens, antioxidants, fibre, and phytonutrients.
Bone Health
Dairy is commonly thought of as being a key food group to ensure adequate provision of calcium and other bioactive nutrients important for bone health thereby reducing the risk of developing osteoporotic fractures. However, dairy consumed in childhood does not predict future bone health and it is possible to achieve normal growth and development throughout childhood without dairy, as long as the nutrients contained therein are consumed via other sources.
Although milk consumption promotes faster growth in children, the potential mechanisms behind this are undesirable. Cow’s milk contains the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine, and consumption of these increases plasma levels of growth-promoting IGF-1. While the tall statue is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, it is also associated with a higher risk of hip fractures, as well as many cancers.
Cancer
Higher intakes of dairy milk, but not cheese and yogurt, have been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer when adjusted for soy intake. Furthermore, a recent report of 61,000 women found that not only was cow’s milk associated with a 41% increased risk of breast cancer, when it was substituted with soy milk, the risk of breast cancer reduced by 34%.
An association between dairy intake and prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men in the UK, has also been found. A large 2017 review evaluated all the data for dairy consumption and cancers and found the link between dairy consumption and prostate cancer was the strongest between dairy and any form of cancer, with milk posing the highest risk. One postulation is the high calcium content of dairy, as this has been shown to increase the risk, as well as calcium supplements which may increase the risk of fatal prostate cancer. This is due to high calcium levels suppressing vitamin D levels as vitamin D may act on prostate cells to prevent growth and mutations. Torfadottir et al found that these effects can begin early, with daily milk consumption in adolescence potentially increasing the risk of advanced prostate cancer more than three times compared to those who drink milk less frequently.
Summary
Although the dairy industry continues to market its products as health-promoting for both adults and children, there is a wealth of scientific evidence showing the opposite to be true. As detailed in this article, consumption of dairy has been associated with an increased risk of several chronic diseases, including certain cancers, dementia, and Parkinson’s Disease. It has also been shown to be the number one cause of anaphylaxis-related fatality in children, and commonly results in gastrointestinal disturbances in adults and children. In relation to sport’s performance and bone health, it is the individual nutrients contained in dairy, including calcium, carbohydrates, and protein, that have been shown to be important, rather than the dairy itself, and such nutrients can be easily obtained from dairy alternatives, especially soya products.
It would be remiss not to acknowledge, however, that in communities where diet quality is poor, and income is low, the addition of dairy products can provide substantial benefits, particularly in children where otherwise nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D status, would be poor. In those circumstances, optimizing the diet via any means is of importance in order to avoid poor bone health, nutritional deficiencies, and childhood diseases such as rickets. For those living in communities where income is higher and where diet quality is adequate, the evidence-based shows that dairy is not a necessary component of the diet and that many health benefits can be achieved by replacing dairy products with plant-based alternatives.
For a more fulsome discussion on the effects of dairy consumption on human health, please visit our “Health & Nutrition” page.
Sentient Media’s ‘100 Voices’ Newsletter is a creation of their Social Media Fellowship program sponsored by VEGFUND.
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