Give Me A Minute Before You Completely Cut Out Milk (Or Whatever You Saw On Facebook)
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Give Me A Minute Before You Completely Cut Out Milk (Or Whatever You Saw On Facebook)

The research often isn't as one-sided as that link may make it appear.

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Give Me A Minute Before You Completely Cut Out Milk (Or Whatever You Saw On Facebook)
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While there's several ways I can tell this story, one of the ways I got into dietetics was because of a frustration with so many dietary eliminations. After hearing as an adolescent from one person or another that "dairy is bad," "carbs are bad," "meat is bad," "this fat is bad," "sugar is bad," etc., I felt like there wasn't anything I could prepare that would be "acceptable." It's really hard to meet your nutrient and energy requirements when you try to eliminate everything anyone claims is "bad" for you.

Therefore, I went into dietetics so that I could look up for myself, once and for all, which foods research showed were okay, and what healthy eating looked like. However, what serves as the basis for these recommendations is research, and there really is all kinds of research coming out all the time.

It's hard to keep track of, and some ideas have not even been tested yet. For others that have, they may be less of an "experiment," but rather an "association" or "observation" study.

If you haven't taken statistics or some sort of research class, please don't let me lose you.

It's the whole thing with placebos, who's being tested, how it's tested, etc. Certain studies carry more weight. In addition, the research available is based on what someone chooses to investigate in the first place. For example, if everyone is looking to find negative effects of a substance, but no one is really interested in the benefits, it theoretically could not get researched.

In reality, both sides to some degree usually get researched, but I believe it could be a possible explanation for hearing more about the negatives than the positives. In addition, perhaps the benefits are well-known, but people are exploring some of the negative associations as well. After all, most things in life have both pros and cons; that's why we eat a balanced diet, so that we get the pros from one food that another food doesn't have.

My example for this article is dairy or milk because I've seen a lot of traffic online lately bashing it. There are some reputable studies out there backing them, and these can be very polarizing issues, but I want to shine a little light by reviewing what more of the research says.

Negative Press:

One 2008 study found that consuming more high-fat dairy products were associated with higher risks of heart failure. Also associated with this risk was lower whole-grain intake and higher egg intake. This was an observational study, so it isn't as reliable as an actual experiment, but still, something to keep in mind.

The study used over 15,000 subjects, which increases the reliability, and the results were statistically significant. This is something to look for in experiments - if there's a trend, what are the odds that this happened by chance? Other factors can still be at play beyond literally just the effect of the foods (i.e. who chooses to eat those foods, what subcategories of foods may act differently, etc.) but the odds are low that these results happened just by chance.

In 2014, an observational study was conducted in men and women, and found that milk consumption was actually associated with higher incidence of death and bone fractures, fermented milk products (a.k.a. cheese and yogurt) were associated with lower incidence of death and bone fractures in women, and the fermented products made no significant difference in men. The associations with milk and fermented products did not explicitly mention the statistical significance, so I was unable to ascertain exactly how confident the researchers could be about these findings.

There are other similar studies that have been conducted and can be seen in the article, such as those supporting the idea that the galactose in milk may play a role in inflammation. However, it is important to note the population tested. For instance, just on this research alone (more can always be conducted), the benefits from cheese and yogurt may exist for women, but may not be the same for men.

In addition, a 2013 (observational) study found that in U.S. male doctors, increased whole milk consumption was associated with death from prostate cancer. This study may not be representative of the whole population, given that only physicians in the U.S. were studied.

There are other studies out there, showing potential links to certain cancers, acne, diabetes, etc., but most of the studies are associational, and there are multiple factors that go into these diseases. One cannot confirm that milk will definitively cause or prevent anything on its own.

Positive Press:

Just as there are articles showing potential negative associations, there are articles showing potential positive associations.

A 2016 study (observational cohort, so still not one of the most reliable, but still to be considered) found that in children with metabolic syndrome, dairy consumption was associated with improved systolic blood pressure in Caucasian children, but not in African American children. The sample size was 124, which is not extremely large, the age range was approximately 8 to 15, and only those with metabolic syndrome were studied.

Therefore, this means milk may not necessarily lower blood pressure in healthy children (and healthy children may not even need their blood pressure lowered), and this study also shows how the effects of foods on the body can vary by race.

In a 2008 study following children from age 3-5 to age 15-17, two or more servings of dairy per day was significantly associated with a higher bone mass when the children reached adolescence. The sample size was 106 (which is, again, not extremely large), and the study was just prospective observational, but the results were statistically significant.

A 2014 review of existing research (both observational and randomized experiments) suggested that dairy consumption was actually linked to lower inflammatory risks. While galactose may play a role in inflammation, this is a reminder that there is a lot more to milk than just lactose, and some of its other constituents could possibly play a role in preventing inflammation.

A 2013 study (observational) found that full-fat cheeses were associated with a lowered risk of heart attack. This study furthered the idea that fermented dairy may play a greater benefit than milk in adult populations. The sample size was over 33,000, and the results were statistically significant, but the study only tested women in Sweden, between the ages of 48 and 83. Therefore, if you are a male under 48 living in the United States (for example), these results may not be very applicable to you.


What's so special about milk? Why are nutrition experts not ready to just retract all recommendations to include dairy in the diet? A 2014 report on the composition and role of milk in human nutrition gives several reasons. It's because its composition is full of substances that have been proved important in the body, including but not limited to vitamins and minerals.

1 cup of cow's milk contains all 9 essential amino acids (the whey portion containing the protective branched-chain amino acids), fats, carbohydrates, 37-40% of your daily recommended calcium needs, 8-10% of your magnesium, 35-41% of your riboflavin, 36-61% of your B12, and is typically fortified with up to around 30% of your daily vitamin D. (That's the same type of stuff you can pay megabucks for to have artificially infused into a powder you get from your local vitamin or nutrition store!)

While some research suggests a possible role of the galactose and calcium in milk increasing prostate cancer risks, some research suggests a possible role of the folate, calcium, and vitamin D in preventing colon cancer. In addition, there are so many factors that contribute to diseases like cancer that you can't hinge contraction or prevention solely on one food.

Coming back to prostate cancer risks, the study results are actually mixed. Another observational study in 2008 reviewed 45 studies and found no association between dairy or milk intake and prostate cancer. That's a lot of studies. No experiments, so there is still room to research more, but it isn't like study upon study has shown that milk causes prostate cancer.

That's why dietitians aren't usually the ones spreading headlines suggesting everybody immediately stop drinking milk - because we know that there are a lot of sides to the story. There's still a lot of research suggesting its possible benefits, and it still plays an important role in our diets supplying calcium in particular, but a lot of different essential nutrients.

Back to my point about what you end up seeing in these headlines, here's how the process tends to go.

For example, the 2014 study on fracture risks makes the conclusion: "High milk intake was associated with higher mortality in one cohort of women and in one cohort of men, with higher fracture incidence in women… Given the observational study designs… a cautious interpretation of the results is recommended."

For this article, I could have just included the "positive press" for milk, but I wanted to include some from both sides. I included more of the positive ones simply because I have seen more of the negatives being circulated around recently, so I wanted to show that it isn't just one or two studies that suggest any sort of benefit from milk.

However, the article on Facebook based on this article, supported by some additional studies showing possible negative associations with milk was titled, "12 Frightening Facts About Milk." (Does this count as fear-mongering?)

This article (written by a doctor, not an RD) picks out 12 additional studies where milk was associated with negative health effects, but it completely ignores any studies showing the associations with positive health effects.

Rather, the author proceeds to talk about how people are just now discovering the "very serious possible harms of consuming dairy," even though he also admits the inverse effects of cheese/yogurt.

Even with the articles I write, I am not writing to be as scientific or objective as a journal article. Check out the research articles for yourself. My point for this article was to show that, like a lot of things in life, there are two sides to every story. There are articles out there positing pros and cons to milk and dairy.

Some foods hold more pros than cons or vice versa. For example, diets containing more fruits and vegetables than currently present in the average American diet is one of those topics that almost always leads to positive results in the research.

However, just because Americans need more fruits and vegetables in their diet, they don't necessarily need to eliminate everything else to get there. Reduce to incorporate more of other things, but you don’t have to strictly eliminate unless you have a specific medical condition that requires it. If you will have more success with broccoli and cheese, I would say by all means go for it. Try not to make your dietary goals harder than you have to.

I hope this provided some new information to keep in mind. Some studies have shown that milk may not be as effective at protecting bones as we thought. The lactose and saturated fats could also play a negative role in inflammation and cardiovascular health in the body.

However, milk is especially important for younger populations, and Caucasian individuals may see more of a benefit than other races, although obviously, individuals from any race can enjoy this if they don't have any intolerances or allergies hindering them.

Just like the old adage, "everything in moderation." Perhaps older individuals might benefit more from cheeses and yogurts than milk. I personally have enjoyed blending cow's milk with unsweetened almond milk recently. Who says you have to be one or the other? Milk still tends to play a very important role as a source of calcium and B vitamins (and more) in American diets.

I'm going to be monitoring nutrition research for the rest of my life, along with the rest of the dietetics community, and we'll be watching to see if research ever shows that negative results that outweigh the positives. Currently, however, I think the benefits of milk can outweigh the risks.

It's possible to include a diet without milk, for instance, if you have an intolerance or allergy (or just don't like milk, I don't know.) I would caution, though, if you're inclined to eliminate every little thing you see negative press for in the world.

I would definitely check in with a dietitian if you find yourself eliminating dairy, then meat, then carbs, etc. It complicates getting all the nutrients you need, that's for sure. You don't have to do all those things, and I personally wouldn't want to.

I don't know everything, and even the scientific community doesn't know everything yet either. However, there's still a lot of reasons to noteliminate milk from the diet if you don't want to. In the meantime, try to watch out for sensationalized headlines.
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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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