Why is dairy bad?

[Anonymous]

I read about people cutting off meat and dairy to eat healthier. I am aware of studies showing correlation between red meat consumption and negative health outcomes so I understand the meat part, but why dairy? Are there any studies that show dairy is bad for your health? Educate me please.

[Anonymous]

Some people believe it causes allergies, inflammation, etc.

[Anonymous]

I am a big dairy fan, so you can take my sentiments with a grain of salt.

I think the idea of giving up dairy as being healthy is largely based on the idea that saturated fat is bad for us.

The anti-fat fad that was pushed to prominence by govt policy in the 1970s is still very much part of people's baseline ideas about food, nutrition, disease, and weight.

There are plenty of folks who do not believe that dietary fat, including saturated fat, is harmful. And that the drive towards low fat foods has made Americans fatter, as fats have been replaced by carbs. Michael Pollan writes very eloquently on this topic in his book In Defense of Food.

Other reasons I see people cutting out dairy include:
vegans who don't want to use animals for food
and lactose intolerant folks

[Anonymous]

Watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives." All the people I know who suddenly hate milk came to that conclusion after watching this movie. It's also what brought Bill Clinton to veganism (maybe not the movie, but the research that spaked the movie).

Apparently (and I don't know how much of this I believe, but still) milk is terrible because it steals calcium from your bones and has too much protein. Or something.

[Anonymous]

It's mostly bad because they're mean to the cows. Also it's difficult to digest for probably the majority of people.

That said, I eat cheese or yogurt every day.

[Anonymous]

Read the book "The China Study". It's eye-opening.

That said, I still eat dairy, but I have tried to cut back. I do feel better physically when I don't eat as much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a big dairy fan, so you can take my sentiments with a grain of salt.

I think the idea of giving up dairy as being healthy is largely based on the idea that saturated fat is bad for us.

The anti-fat fad that was pushed to prominence by govt policy in the 1970s is still very much part of people's baseline ideas about food, nutrition, disease, and weight.

There are plenty of folks who do not believe that dietary fat, including saturated fat, is harmful. And that the drive towards low fat foods has made Americans fatter, as fats have been replaced by carbs. Michael Pollan writes very eloquently on this topic in his book In Defense of Food.

Other reasons I see people cutting out dairy include:
vegans who don't want to use animals for food
and lactose intolerant folks

Actually, no. Many people believe, and there is research to support, that the milk protein casein is bad for human health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's mostly bad because they're mean to the cows. Also it's difficult to digest for probably the majority of people.

That said, I eat cheese or yogurt every day.

Milk is digested differently than cheese and yogurt. Different structure. Most adults in the world don't drink milk but do eat cheese and yogurt.

[Anonymous]

My naturapath doesn't like milk for the milk sugars. Would prefer everyone stay away from it, but is OK with organic milk, since it has fewer hormones (still has its own naturally occuring hormones).

The studies on milk protein are still mixed. There is no clear answer there.

Eat everything in moderation and try to eat a wide variety. You'll be fine.

[Anonymous]

RD here.

It's not.

[Anonymous]

The human body is not designed to digest lactose past infancy. Populations that are not traditionally dairy consumers (i.e. parts of Asia or Africa) have higher levels of "lactose intolerance." We are all lactose intolerant, it's just that it's only noticeable for some of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives." All the people I know who suddenly hate milk came to that conclusion after watching this movie. It's also what brought Bill Clinton to veganism (maybe not the movie, but the research that spaked the movie).

Apparently (and I don't know how much of this I believe, but still) milk is terrible because it steals calcium from your bones and has too much protein. Or something.

Why do thepediatricians tell us to feed the little ones milk for the calcium if it really steals from the bones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Watch the documentary "Forks Over Knives." All the people I know who suddenly hate milk came to that conclusion after watching this movie. It's also what brought Bill Clinton to veganism (maybe not the movie, but the research that spaked the movie).

Apparently (and I don't know how much of this I believe, but still) milk is terrible because it steals calcium from your bones and has too much protein. Or something.

Why do thepediatricians tell us to feed the little ones milk for the calcium if it really steals from the bones?

This is horseshit.

[Anonymous]

I gave up all dairy for a year when BF'ing a child with an intolerance. I was hoping it would result in some sort of wonderful change to my body and self. Alas. It did not. Just my experience.

[Anonymous]

There is also a blood type diet according to which the dietary demands for each group depending on the blood type are different. In the nutshell, dairy is ok and even beneficial for the people with B and AB blood types, especially B. They supposedly thrive on dairy products, especially fermented products like kefir, yogurts, cheese. A and O blood types do not benefit from dairy and should limit it.

I don't want to go into the detail as there is tons of stuff if you google it. But the basic premise is that different blood types evolved during different stages of human culture evolution and is geography related too ( from hunter gatherer (O) to agricultural (A) to nomadic herder (B) to mixed (AB)), so people of different blood types have evolutionary adapted to certain types of diets and do better with certain products and not others.

Anyway, seems like there are tons of books and theories, but I don't personally believe that the dietary restrictions should equally be applied to all people. A lot of longevity factors are genetic, there are people living till late 90s and they had bad diets, smoked, drank, etc and even had some deadly diseases like cancer that they've overcome. BTW, I am not buying into the blood type diet all that much, but I have to say some things are true for our family (O and B and A types). I just don't believe these research books as they all seem to advocate some sort of extremes.

At the end of the day, you eat and feed your family whatever you can buy in a local store and cook or grab at the lunch places near your work. It's not like many of us have access to pure organic materials and know how to cook this or even enjoy eating it. The wheat grass that some people drink every day just makes me gag.