Harm And Benefit Of Dairy Products: Conflicting Studies

Marko Balašević Author: Marko Balašević Time for reading: ~9 minutes Last Updated: November 21, 2022
Harm And Benefit Of Dairy Products: Conflicting Studies

Controversies about the benefits and harms of dairy products never stop. We will tell you about research related to the consumption of dairy products. The influence of dairy products on the human body.

Disputes about the benefit or harm of milk do not stop. Health organizations insist on the importance of dairy products for improving bone health, while other experts disagree and claim that dairy products are harmful to health. Which of them is right? Let's figure it out.

State health recommendations say that a full-fledged diet of a healthy person should consist of five groups of products: fruits, vegetables, cereals, protein and dairy products. Nutritionists recommend choosing low-fat or fat-free dairy products.

In most people, as in all mammals, after the cessation of breastfeeding, this product stops being absorbed, which is a completely normal genetically programmed process. And this is connected with the cessation of the production of the lactase enzyme in our intestines, which processes the milk carbohydrate - lactose.

Although calcium-fortified soy milk is included in the dairy group, products such as butter, cream, sour cream, and cream cheese are not included due to their low calcium content.

 

Daily recommendations for dairy consumption depend on your age. Children 2-3 years old need two glasses of dairy products a day, children 4-8 years old need 2.5 glasses a day, and three glasses a day is recommended for everyone over 9 years old.

For people who do not consume dairy products, it is recommended to get calcium from cabbage leaves, calcium-fortified juices, breads, cereals, rice, almond milk, canned fish, soy products such as tofu, soy yogurt and tempeh, and other foods.

MyPlate vs. Healthy Eating Plate

 

The USDA developed the MyPlate nutritional guide in 2011 to replace MyPyramid, which had been in use for 19 years.

The Harvard School of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Plate to address the shortcomings they identified in the government's MyPlate.

One of the main changes in the Healthy Eating Plate is replacing a glass of milk with a glass of water. The Healthy Eating Plate recommends drinking water, tea or coffee and limiting dairy products to one or two servings per day, as they believe that frequent consumption of dairy products is associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.

MyPlate recommends eating dairy at every meal to protect against osteoporosis. However, the Harvard School of Public Health reports that there is virtually no evidence to support this claim, on the contrary, there is a lot of information that confirms the harm of dairy products.

Nutrients in milk

 

Milk is a source of calcium, potassium, vitamin D and protein.

The USDA reports that dairy products are the main source of calcium. Calcium helps build bones and teeth, maintain bone mass, improve bone health, and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

In addition, they note that the consumption of dairy products is especially important for bone health in childhood and adolescence.

Potassium in milk normalizes blood pressure. Vitamin D helps the body maintain the correct level of calcium and phosphorus, which, in turn, contributes to the creation and maintenance of bone health. Consumption of dairy products is also associated with a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and a decrease in blood pressure.

The USDA emphasizes that it is important to choose low-fat dairy products because foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol have adverse health effects. They claim that a diet high in saturated fat increases the level of "bad" low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol in the blood. A high level of LDL cholesterol increases the risk of coronary heart disease.

Is the consumption of dairy products "natural" for humans?

 

It is a fairly common belief that dairy should not be consumed by humans because it is not "natural".

Cow's milk is designed to provide the necessary proteins, trace elements and fatty acids to growing calves, in exactly the same way as breast milk is designed for feeding children.

Not only are humans the only species to consume milk as adults, but they are also the only species to consume the milk of another species. "People are not calves, they don't need cow's milk to grow and develop, so why drink it?"

Protein is the main building material for a growing child's body. The daily need for protein in children aged 3-7 years is about 3.5 g/kg of body weight (60-70 g per day). Proteins of animal origin contain essential amino acids that are not synthesized in the child's body, but come with food. Therefore, at least 50% of the proteins in the children's menu are given to meat, fish, dairy products, and eggs.

Although the consumption of milk is not a natural process for humans, studies show that we are now completely genetically adapted to drink it.

Lactose intolerance

 

Another argument against dairy consumption is that about 75 percent of the world's population loses the ability to produce lactose-digesting enzymes after weaning.

Lactose enzymes are present in babies and young children to help them break down and digest lactose, the sugar found in milk. The lack of lactose enzymes means that it cannot be broken down into glucose and galactose for absorption into the bloodstream, leading to lactose intolerance.

Only a certain percentage of people continue to produce this enzyme, which allows them to freely consume milk until old age. This anomaly is called lactase persistence. A condition in which the small intestine is absent from birth or has reduced activity of the lactase enzyme that breaks down milk sugar - lactose - is called - lactase deficiency (LN).

After consuming lactose-containing dairy products, people with lactose intolerance experience bloating, pain, nausea, flatulence, and diarrhea. Some people can still consume fermented dairy products such as yogurt or high-fat dairy products such as milk.

Fat dairy products and cardiovascular diseases

 

Full-fat dairy products increase the risk of heart disease due to their high saturated fat content.

This is because saturated fat raises the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood, which is then deposited in the arteries, causing atherosclerosis and ultimately heart disease. However, despite the fact that everyone knows about it, this theory has never been scientifically proven.

Studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found no link between saturated fat and an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

 

However, other studies have shown that full-fat dairy products may protect against heart disease and stroke.

For example, a study of regular dairy consumption found that milk was associated with "small but meaningful reductions in heart disease and stroke risk."

Another study showed that people who consumed full-fat dairy products had a 69% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than people who preferred low-fat products.

As you can see, studies examining the role of dairy products in heart disease are contradictory. However, the risk of heart disease appears to be significantly lower in countries that consume full-fat dairy products.

Do dairy products provide bone health?

Most health organizations recommend two to three servings of dairy products each day to provide the calcium you need for bone health.

Some experts disagree with these recommendations because countries with higher levels of dairy consumption have higher rates of osteoporosis. However, it should be noted that the consumption of dairy products is not the only difference between these countries, so it can be concluded that it is dairy products that cause osteoporosis.

 

There are two studies that are often cited to argue that dairy is bad for bones. The first study shows that consumption of dairy products, especially in the 20s, is associated with an increased risk of hip fracture in old age. A second study did not find that milk or calcium intake was protective against hip or forearm fractures.

However, there are studies that indicate that dairy consumption increases bone density and helps prevent bone loss and osteoporosis.

Randomized controlled trials, which are considered more reliable than observational studies, have shown that dairy products do improve bone health.

Consumption of dairy products and calcium increases bone growth in children, reduces bone loss in adults, and reduces the risk of fractures in the elderly.

In addition to calcium, dairy products provide other nutrients that are good for bone health, such as protein, phosphorus, and vitamin K-2. Vitamin K-2 is a fat-soluble vitamin and is not present in low-fat varieties of dairy products. Vitamin K-2 helps regulate calcium metabolism, is vital for bone health, and prevents heart disease.

Diseases associated with dairy products

 

Dairy products are associated with the development of many diseases, at the same time, it is believed that they have a beneficial effect on the health of our body. We will check how well-founded these contradictory claims are.

Adiposity

Many avoid dairy products, especially non-fat dairy products, due to fears that they lead to obesity.

However, a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that children who drank whole milk were less obese and had higher levels of vitamin D than those who drank skim milk.

Type 2 diabetes

People with diabetes should avoid chocolate, banana and other sweetened types of milk.

A study by Dr. Ulrika Eriksson from the Lund University Diabetes Center found that people who consumed the most high-fat dairy products had a 23% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who drank almost no milk.

Harvard University found that teenagers who drink milk have a 43% lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Prostate cancer

Some studies have shown that high consumption of dairy products is associated with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. This risk may be related to calcium levels.

A study published in the British Journal of Cancer, on the other hand, does not support the theory that high calcium intake increases the risk of prostate cancer.

Parkinson's disease

Employees of the Harvard School of Public Health found a connection between the consumption of skim milk and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

The results suggest a slight increase in the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. Low-fat dairy products can be one of the factors affecting the development of this disease.

The authors of the study emphasize that the results do not mean that dairy products cause Parkinson's disease, they only indicate an existing connection between these two factors.

Depression

According to Professor Reiichi Nagatoma, from Tohoku University in Japan, giving up fat milk reduces the risk of depression.

Adults who consumed low-fat milk and yogurt one to four times a week were less likely to experience symptoms of depression.

 
Brain health

It was found that people with a high consumption of dairy products have better developed memory and brain functions.

It is suggested that the beta-casein A2 protein found in cow's milk strengthens the body's defense against neurodegenerative diseases, pancreatitis and cancer by increasing the body's antioxidant content.

Having heard all the pros and cons, as before, it is difficult to decide whether it is worth using dairy products. The choice is yours. However, for the most part, the evidence shows that the consumption of dairy products still has more advantages than disadvantages.

 

 
 

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