dairy-free myths | Health Secrets of a SuperAger

Category Archives: dairy-free myths

June 22, 2017 · 12:02 am

Dairy – Good or Bad? – MNT

I started drinking soymilk some years ago after reading some scare stories about cow milk consumption. I don’t even remember the reasons now, but I do look forward to my quarts of soymilk that I buy from Costco. Since starting I can’t put my finger on any negative health effects.

This extensive Medical News Today rundown by Hannah Nichols gives a lot of useful detail on the subject.

What do government health guidelines say? According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food MyPlate guidelines, to get all the nutrients you need from your diet, healthy food and beverage choices should be made from all five food groups, including fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy.

The dairy food group consists of all fluid milk products and many foods that are made from milk. The USDA recommend that food choices from the dairy group should retain their calcium content and be low-fat or fat-free. Fat in milk, yogurt, and cheese that is not low-fat or fat-free will count toward your limit of calories from saturated fats.

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While calcium-fortified soymilk is included as part of the dairy group, food products such as butter, cream, sour cream, and cream cheese are not included due to their low calcium content.

Daily dairy recommendations depend on your age. Children 2-3 years old require two cups of dairy per day, 4-8 year-olds need 2.5 cups per day, and three cups per day are recommended for age 9 and upward.

For people who do not consume dairy products, the USDA mention the following foods to contribute toward calcium intake: kale leaves, calcium-fortified juices, breads, cereals, rice or almond milk, canned fish, soybeans, other soy foods, such as tofu, soy yogurt, and tempeh, and some leafy greens including collard and turnip greens, kale, and bok choy.

They point out that the amount of calcium that is absorbed from these foods varies.

MyPlate vs. Healthy Eating Plate

The USDA developed the MyPlate nutrition guide in 2011 as a replacement for their MyPyramid that was used for 19 years.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health state that while the USDA MyPlate has been revised to reflect some key findings in nutritional scientific research, it does not offer a complete picture of basic nutrition advice.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Plate to address the deficiencies they identified in the USDA’s MyPlate.

One major alteration to the Healthy Eating Plate compared with MyPlate is the replacement of the dairy glass with a glass of water. The Healthy Eating Plate recommends drinking water, tea, or coffee and limiting dairy to one to two servings per day, since they say that high intakes are associated with a greater risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.

MyPlate recommends dairy with every meal to protect against osteoporosis. However, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health report that there is little to no evidence to support this statement and considerable evidence that too high an intake of dairy can be harmful.

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Opinion: 3 Myths About Dairy-free Foods

Calcium is critical for many of the body’s basic functions, including regulating your heartbeat, says Victor Khabie, M.D. chief of sports medicine at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. “The bones are a storehouse for calcium and if you’re not ingesting enough orally then the body will take calcium from your bones to keep the level of calcium in your blood normal.” And that can lead to osteoporosis, or brittle bones. The body also requires adequate protein and vitamin D to “remodel” bone, the process that keeps bone healthy.

To read further on calcium and osteoporosis, check out these posts:
Calcium – The Key to Strong bones – Infographic
The Benefits of Calcium
Calcium Supplements Linked to Longer Lifespans in Women
The Joys and Benefits of Bike Riding

Preventing Osteoporosis Takes a Lifestyle Change
What Can I do to Prevent Osteoporosis?
What is a New Weapon Against Osteoporosis?
Beating Osteoporosis – Harvard

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Cooking with Kathy Man

Calcium is important even when you’re older, and milk can be a fine way to get it.

Have you sworn off dairy? Maybe you think it will ease your stomach woes. Or, now that you’re middle-aged, you assume your bones don’t need as much. Or maybe you’re just drawn to all the dairy-free options now on supermarket shelves, including dairy-free ice cream, yogurt, and coffee creamer. Should you join the crowd? Probably not. “Unless you have a medical reason to skip dairy, such as an allergy to milk protein, adults can benefit by eating some dairy every day,” says Consumer Reports chief medical adviser Marvin M. Lipman, M.D.

Here we take a look at some common myths about milk and other dairy products.

Myth 1: After age 30 you don’t need calcium for your bones

It’s true that you reach peak bone mass by age 30, so getting calcium before…

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