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Does Dairy Cause Osteoporosis?

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milk causes osteoporosis, dairy and osteoporosis
Healthy bones are integral to a healthy life. istock.com/feellife

I do a lot of myth-busting around here, and it’s usually conventional wisdom that crumbles in the face of scientific evidence. But this time I’m actually siding with conventional wisdom, and busting a myth that’s common in the alternative health community. I addressed this topic in-depth on a recent podcast, but it’s such a common question that I decided to write an article on it for easy reference.

The myth in question is the idea that dairy foods contribute to osteoporosis by ‘acidifying’ our bodies. This claim is especially common in vegan-oriented alternative health media, but also comes up in other internet realms, including those with a Paleo orientation.

The claim is based on the “acid-ash hypothesis of osteoporosis,” which I addressed extensively in my ‘Acid-Alkaline Myth’ series a couple months ago. (Check out part two as well.)

For those who missed the articles, this hypothesis states that foods high in phosphate leave an ‘acid ash’ after digestion, thereby lowering serum pH. The body supposedly compensates for this and restores normal blood pH by stealing alkaline minerals (such as calcium) from the bones, thus decreasing bone density.

Dairy products and bone health: one thing conventional wisdom gets right. Tweet This

Because of their phosphate content, milk and other dairy products are usually considered ‘acid-producing’ foods under this hypothesis. Thus, proponents claim that even though dairy contains calcium and other nutrients that can be used to build bone, dairy’s acidifying effect on the body outweighs its calcium content and results in a net loss of bone density.

Although I’ve already written about the hypothesis as a whole, I want to specifically address the claims regarding dairy for a few reasons. First, because my readership is acutely aware of how many times conventional wisdom has led us astray, I think we’re all more likely to believe a hypothesis that directly opposes mainstream health claims. In this case, dairy is so heavily advertised as a panacea for healthy bones that it would seem only natural for those claims to be dead wrong. You’ll see that (for once) this is not the case!

Additionally, I came across a 2011 study that specifically addresses the dairy-acid balance-osteoporosis connection. They came to some interesting conclusions that I want to share with you all, and hopefully we can put this issue to rest.

Dairy, Acid Balance, and Osteoporosis: The Real Scoop

In this study, “Milk and acid-base balance: proposed hypothesis vs. scientific evidence,” the authors review both the acid-ash hypothesis as a whole and the specific claim that dairy contributes to osteoporosis. After reviewing the scientific evidence (or lack thereof), they reach the same conclusions that I have: the studies available simply do not support this hypothesis.

First, they emphasize that urine pH is not indicative of systemic pH. In fact, except in cases of serious renal insufficiency, diet does not affect serum pH at all. If it did, we’d be in a lot of trouble! The pH of our blood is maintained in a very tight range, and if it deviates significantly, we will die very quickly. No doubt we can really mess up our health by eating the wrong things, but thankfully our minute-to-minute survival doesn’t hinge on whether we can correctly balance the acidity or alkalinity of the foods we eat.

Further, the bones don’t even come into play in the regulation of our serum pH; that’s our kidneys’ job. Any ‘acid ash’ that is left behind by the foods we eat can be easily dealt with and eliminated in the urine. This is why your urine changes pH depending on what you eat. It’s just a sign that your kidneys are doing their job!

In short, their conclusions simply reiterate the points I made in my Acid-Alkaline series, and demonstrate that the acid-ash hypothesis of osteoporosis has no scientific backing. But perhaps the most interesting thing about this particular study on milk is the authors’ assertion that dairy isn’t even acid-forming in the first place!

The authors cite two studies that indicate that milk actually leaves an alkaline ash as opposed to an acid ash, based on measurements of urine pH and net acid excretion (NAE) following milk ingestion in clinical trials. (Remember, this doesn’t mean that milk raises serum pH. Foods can change urine pH, but not blood pH!)

So not only is the hypothesis itself wrong; the application of the hypothesis is wrong too, at least in the case of dairy. Even if the acid ash hypothesis of osteoporosis were viable, there would still be no mechanism by which dairy would contribute to osteoporosis.

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Dairy Probably Is Good for Your Bones After All

The majority of the evidence indicates that conventional wisdom may actually be right about dairy. Clinical studies have found that drinking milk leads to a positive calcium balance, indicating that more calcium was absorbed than was excreted. (1) Other studies show that phosphate in general – not just from milk – increases calcium retention and improves bone health. (2) Increased dairy consumption is also consistently associated with lower rates of osteoporosis and better bone health. We all know to take observational studies with a grain of salt, but when clinical data backs up their conclusions, they’re significantly more convincing.

For example, an increased dairy intake in postmenopausal Korean women was associated with a decreased risk for osteoporosis. (3) Another study found that in the US, dairy intake was a significant predictor of osteoporosis among postmenopausal women. (4) And in Polish women, higher dairy consumption during childhood and adolescence predicted better bone health as adults. (5)

Although you won’t see me sporting a milk mustache in a “Got Milk?” ad anytime soon, it does appear that dairy can be beneficial for bone health. That’s not to say it’s necessary; after all, we got along just fine without dairy for most of human history! But based on the evidence, it’s safe to say that dairy does not contribute to osteoporosis, and full-fat dairy (preferably raw) can be a beneficial addition to the diet for many people.

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379 Comments

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  1. We do not need to drink the breast milk of another species. That’s really the bottom line here. Milk was not even in homes on a regular prior to the 1930’s. It wasn’t until the government had a surplus after WWII did they push this agenda. All to make the almighty dollar.

    • My mother was raised on raw goat milk and when she died, at 95, she did so with 31 teeth, all her own. She was drinking milk at age 1-16 in Ontario, Oregon, the year: 1909. I was raised on raw milk of the cow variety, and at 85 years old the year would be 1931. It’s quite obvious commercial milk is awful stuff with a bacteria count of nearly 90,000, whereas raw milk from pastured cows bacteria count is less than 5000, and in fact, high in life supporting good bacteria. It’s not raw milk from pastured cows that is harmful, in fact, the opposite, but commercial milk given antibiotic and growth hormone. The resulting horrors of growing to enormous size but with rickety bones, knees that fail, backs that go bad, teeth that rot, and digestion that is sorely in need of probiotics each day though few take them, is the result of processed foods, commercial milk being one of them. Full of more than 60 digestive enzymes, growth factors, and immuno-globulins (antibodies). These enzymes are destroyed during pasteurization, making pasteurized milk much harder to digest Loaded with vitamins (A, B, C, D, E, and K) in highly bioavailable forms, and a very balanced blend of minerals (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron) whose absorption is enhanced by live Lactobacilli
      Rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which fights cancer and boosts metabolism Rich in healthy un-oxidized cholesterol
      Rich in beneficial raw fats, amino acids, and proteins in a highly bioavailable form, all 100 percent digestible It also contains phosphatase, an enzyme that aids and assists in the absorption of calcium in your bones, and lipase enzyme, which helps to hydrolyze and absorb fats.
      I can run, touch my toes easily, ride a bike, climb stairs, go from a squat position to standing without the slightest strain, do forty pushups without much trouble, do 100 squats, use rowing machine three times a week, but when I walked 13.5 miles one day I thought, “Madness.” I thought that because I hadn’t walked that far in one day for years, that’s over half a marathon distance. My knees weren’t sore, but my right outer thigh was on fire, other than that I was fine and in two days I was rested and normal. I drink raw milk from Jersey (ancient breed) cows, and I’ve read the negatives of milk many times and believed the VV propaganda nonsense briefly and gave milk up and I was put in a fowl mood. I then drank nearly a quart of raw full fat milk, slept like a baby and never looked back. They are right we are the only mammal who drinks milk after we’re weaned, we’re also the only animal that sends people to the moon, builds steel bridges, manufactures cars and a million other things, which means we’re an unusual mammal, an animal with differences no other animal understands of is capable of doing. And so, VV’s should remember both end up with serious B12 deficiencies, protein, fat, zinc, and often the women are hemoglobin deficient. One who was a vegetarian was told by her doctor to eat red meat of die. She looked great after four months and I didn’t recognize her and when did she said, “I was less than 80% and would surely die if I continues. she did lose her fetus, a miscarriage, and it was that fact that helped change her vegetarian direction.

      • And where did the cows get their nutrients to put in the milk? From the PLANTS that they eat (assuming actual pasturing) and not fortified feed consumption. Yes milk has many nutrients, but you can get them all from plant sources that are easier to digest and easier on the environment. Secondly; Can YOU manufacture a car? Can YOU build a bridge? Can YOU send someone to the moon? No, of course you can’t. Because you haven’t learned how. No one can logically equate learned behaviours with biological idiosyncrasies. Evolving large brains doesn’t prove we need to diverge from every other species on the planet and drink the milk of another species past infancy.

        • This anti raw milk thing is so bogus, it’s borderlines on idiotic. The writer is obviously another vegan on the loose, trying to get us all to become sweetie–pie plant eaters and seeming to forget more animals are killed through industrial farming than simple animal eating omnivores, etc. But that’s not the point, Raw milk from pastured cows has a nutrient vegans become deficient in 97% of the time, B12, plus a few other things, and CLA, a cancer fighter found in Raw Milk doesn’t exist in plant food other than small amounts in some vegetable oils. The vegan folks, known for the most fanatical lunacy in the nutritional complex, miss the point of health, they think it lies in no meat, no dairy, not animal products on their tootsies, or wool sox, etc. Poor little crazies, they don’t understand the most obvious and well-documented history of the human race, we are omnivores, not carnivores, not vegans, but can possible survive fairly well on lacto vegetarian but adding soy products does get a bit dicey, why bother. Mark Hyman once advocated soy but got taken to task by a woman with the Weston Price Foundation, quite roundly. She had him on the run and if he still advocated soy, I have to say, “Mark, you got it wrong, soy is not a health food, it’s a non-food lest you mean the highly fermented version. Meanwhile, a couple cups of high quality raw milk on pasture is a wonderful addition to any diet. If it causes any reaction, quit drinking it, but well over 90% of the time, it’s an enormous benefit, then continue on your vegan journey with this one exception, you may thrive, heck, you might even add raw cheese from pastured animals, not raw cheese from grain fed animals. It’s all in the source, folks.

    • I have seen your comments before. Are you a Paleo follower? I think you are…I think I have seen you defend meat eating before…and well, if you eat meat but not dairy, I am prone to believe you follow a Paleo diet.

    • In Europe we have been drinking milk for 6.000 years. The milk has saved many of my ancestors’ lives. This, I am very grateful for. Milk is good. And healthy. We will never stop drinking milk. Love it.

    • Hmm, strange, my mother who lived to age 95 was raised on raw goat milk, the year, 1906. Her grandmother had two goats and when my mother died she had 31 teeth, and her diet was less milk after age 17 she left her grandmother’s home, but continued to drink small quantities, why small? She couldn’t get used to grain fed, pasteurized milk from cows. Your idea that milk didn’t exist before the 30’s is ridiculous. Milk has been drunk or cheese and curds fashioned from it for thousands of years.

    • This article is terribly misinformative. For example, he draws his studies from only one website, which I imagine is owned by big pharma or the dairy industry. Look for your own studies in various sources, especially those that are not biased or funded by those that are causing more harm than good. Make your own conclusion. Your health is important.

      • Loren, you realise of course what the “single web site ” is don’t you? It is a well respected repository used by the majority of reputable studies o archive their results, and sorry to pan your suggestion (some would say conspiracy) that it is not owned by that fictional character BigPharma, nor the dairy industry.
        You are right about looking at various studies, but remember that most of the dissenting opinions come from “BigVegan” and similar groups with ulterior motives, and do not follow truly scientific methods, but rely on emotions and pseudoscience.

        • No “BigPharma”? Hard to take anything someone says seriously when they dismiss the effect billions of dollars in profits has on inflencing studies or the interpretation of those studies. Anyway, look at multiple studies (including the bmj article above) and it’s hard to justify cow’s milk intake, even if you don’t care about the ethics of how animals are treated.

          • Another vegan dispersing fanaticism. The longest lived people on earth, first Monaco, then Japan, and here’s a clip regarding milk in Japan: Cheese and milk are both popularly enjoyed in Japan and have a household ubiquity similar to the U.S. While the introduction of cheese goes back centuries to varieties of Mongolian style cheese brought over from China and Korea, its` introduction to mainstream Japanese dining came about during the Meiji Era of late 19th century. This was the most significant time in Japanese history- from political, cultural, and every other aspect- including cuisine.
            One only needs to do one thing regarding the vegan lunacy, it’s a diet with horrible results long term, it’s a diet with naturally occurring nutrient deficiencies, it’s a diet where more than half of those going on the diet drop out. Why? They get weak, sick and their brains shrink. If anybody calls that normal, they aren’t normal. Of course maybe those that don’t drop out lose so much mental capacity they can’t reason any longer, and that’s very possible. Here is what vegan diets cause when a mother is a vegan prior to conception: Dr James Mills, senior investigator in the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, in America and co-author said that critical events in the formation of the brain and spinal column occur very early in pregnancy–in the first 28 days after conception–before many women even realise they are pregnant.

            “If women wait until they realise that they are pregnant before they start taking folic acid, it is usually too late,” he said.

            In America all women of childbearing age are recommended to consume 400 micrograms of folic acid each day to ensure they have sufficient levels if they fall pregnant unintentionally.

            Dr Mills said it would be wise for women to do the same with B12.

            “Our results offer evidence that women who have adequate B12 levels before they become pregnant may further reduce the occurrence of this class of birth defects,” Dr. Mills said.

            So, vegans come out with hocus pocus nonsense, a child is born and is compromised for the rest of its life, however long that last. I call it criminal and stupid, and for what? The idea that animals will be save. If all the animals were saves, all of them, we’d soon be killing them just to survive. Life is not an idiotic game of being an idealist according to some misfit’s concept of goodness whose only goal is that they’d bolt to heaven when they died. Want a name? James Pierrepont Greaves, In 1817, Greaves experienced “some strong interior visitations” which led him to a belief in the “divine in man” and convinced him that he had a spiritual mission in life to share his commitment to the love of God with others.[4] In 1818, he joined Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, the Swiss educational reformer, then established at Yverdon, where he taught English.[4] There he met fellow socialist Robert Owen.[3]

            Returning to England in 1825 he founded the London Infant School Society and became its secretary.[3] In 1832 he was settled in the village of Randwick, Gloucestershire, and engaged in an industrial scheme for the benefit of agricultural labourers with his sister Mary Ann Greaves.[5] From the 1830s onwards he referred to himself as a “sacred socialist”.
            Why did he go fanatic? He lost his butt in business, nothing more. In other words, he was out of his cotton-picking mind and the more vegan is research the more maniacal it proves itself to be. I’m done with the vegan thing, this is my last plunge into this nonsense, besides, it does no good except to me, I get the idiocy of it out of my system and I wouldn’t have cared had vegan converts not dispersed deceit, lies, and nonsense that leads to disease. We have oceans that are toxic due to industrial farming to a great degree. Whole lakes cannot be swum in in Washington State, Lake Chelan, catch fish in some rivers and you’re sure to get a toxic does of some industrial farming pesticide. Should I name a couple dozen other problems from industrial farming practices? I think not, too much trouble and too depressing.

          • The last time I looked, we’re the only mammals who cook their food, ferment their food, make pots, pans, glassware, tablecloths, cars, pump gas, etc. Additionally, we don’t have to pasteurize dairy, raw from pastured cows/goats/sheep drunk in whatever quantity makes one feel good and has been known to heal many ills. Animals don’t have midwives, pediatricians, or psychiatrists. In other words comparing us to all or any mammals is plain silly. Think about it. We are different. We’re more or less hairless, we walk upright, our brains are larger than other animals weight to brain size ratio, for instance, sperm whale’s brain in larger but it’s body weighs 32,000 pounds. If you put it’s brain size, 18 pounds, you get 0.00056% of brain matter for the whale, and ours at 3 pounds with a 160 pound average 0.02% for humans. In other words, the whale would have be lose 31,100 pounds to a weight of 900 pounds to have the same ratio of functional brain power as a human. (additionally we have 35 times the brain power of a sperm whale.) That would only make it equal, not surpass us. To surpass us it would have to drop another 200 pounds, but even then it might have a hiccup or two trying especially going from 32,000 pounds to 700 pounds. Of course the math thing is silly, too, but at least I know it.

        • What a load of crap.
          Let’s look at the clinical study of
          Over 100,000 men and women in Sweden and printed in the British medical journal! Guess what the findings were OVER TWENTY YEARS OF RESEARCH?? DAIRY CAUSES DAMAGE TO BONES! time for people to really decide if dairy is doing them favours and stop justifying with any research- dairy made me feel like shit, and not to mention the VIOLENCE OF MILKING COWS LIKE A MECHANICAL PRODUCTION. But hey. It’s ok to keep any animal pregnant for their lifetime – correction, until no good for milk then slaughter for food. we have billions living in starvation – we could use the grains that are fed to cattle to stop world hunger THREE TIMES OVER. But hey, you go ahead and enjoy your story that dairy is “good”.

          • Milk, dairy of neither. Are you suggesting the grains fed cows be fed to those starving? In the first place wheat production will feed 11 billion people, the last I heard we have a little over 7 billion on earth. Insofar as slaughtering cows for their meat contribution, and giving them growth hormones to increase their milk output, what does that have to do with milk, good or bad, as a food source. Raw milk from cows on pasture are eventually slaughtered usually when their usefulness tanks. Sorry, but life is not a sweet dream from the hand of an unrealistic idealist, though many religions claim all ends well that ends but I won’t get into that. I worry about casein and casomorphin since I love milk and I think I’m an addict to its morphine effects. I’m past eighty, run, walk, sleep well, still a man, but I’m a bit critical of addictions to anything, especially drugs. Sugar, coffee, morphine, oxycodone, heroin, cocaine, etc. and drugs many people are addicted to , and gluten, too, and the only thing I use of all those things is the morphine in dairy. I have quit many times and became tense, irritable, stressed, lost sleep, appetite, etc., and my monthly food cost was nearly 1000.00. (2915.00 for three months). All organic, grass-fed meat, poultry, pork, lamb, wild salmon, no sugar, grains, etc., and so, the one thing I’m told is bad for me is raw dairy from cows on pasture but from guys like Cohen, T. Colin Campbell, etc., I’m older than Campbell but look 30 years younger, which isn’t saying much since he looks to be over 100. All that vegan nonsense that leads to Alzheimer’s, or dementia or anemia, etc. I had a health food business and the people with the most health problems were vegetarians and vegans. I hired a fruitarian once but had to stop every 50 miles so he could pee. He was wildly irrational and nearly drove me nuts. The longest lived people in Europe are high milk drinkers or dairy advocates, I refer to Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway. Maybe they do get osteoporosis but most countries do. If quitting milk would cause me to look, act, and advocate what McDougal, Campbell, Cohen etc., promote I would become a wine drinking carnivore instead. What are the keys to health. Organic produce, grass-fed meats, wild salmon from Alaska, a few nuts, high quality water and not 2 quarts a day unless one is hiking in the heat. Interval training, some weight lifting, a loving relationship with someone, a woman in my case, enough finances to afford life, be generous and like to help others in a personal way, that is, enjoy their happiness from the help I give, which I do and always have. I don’t write it off my taxes like Bill Gates or any other plutocrat, I offer money, food, help moving things, and love. Industrial produce kills far more small animals, and I include bees, kind of necessary I hear for our survival, than those who raise animals humanely by thousands of times and more. Where did this idea of separating animals from our produce come from? From plutocratic mentality where everything is based on profit. What has happened is, we’ve allowed artificial and chemical pesticides and killing us slowly, but much, much faster than natural lifespan and with many more illnesses to ruin our lives. If, however, living with chronic illnesses is not a problem that lead to drug use just to keep us going is acceptable, then nothing really matters, we become a pawn of the drug companies and doctors who “Practice” medicine. Food makes us what we are and at this point with 100% of my diet the best I know of, if my one questionable food is milk and I feel as I do, I might actually be on the right track or slightly off. Either way, one could say, “Well, if you quit dairy you will do even better.” I have tried that already and it never went well. It’s not raw dairy its the millions of tons of wheat each year, in fact, over 800 millions of tons of wheat each year world wide of a grain that is toxic, indigestible, is gluteomorphin, addictive and makes us fat. It kind of happened to me, if I gain 10 pounds that’s a sign I’m getting fat and if I kept going like that eventually I would have truly become fat, all from wheat. The foregoing is what I experienced, The worst foods, if they can be called food, are: processed foods not food really, sugar, wheat, pasteurized milk, butter, homogenized dairy, pesticide ridden produce, meats from grain fed animals. So, I’m going to brew up some organic decaf coffee, at organic raw cream and enjoy the sunny day in Washington State. This afternoon, I’ll take a long walk, eat some wild salmon leftovers, some lettuce from an organic garden, etc., and any added beverage will probably be raw milk, or organic Telsi tea

          • Milk, dairy or neither. Are you suggesting the grains fed cows be fed to those starving? In the first place wheat production will feed 11 billion people, the last I heard we have a little over 7 billion on earth. Insofar as slaughtering cows for their meat contribution, and giving them growth hormones to increase their milk output, what does that have to do with milk, good or bad, as a food source. Raw milk from cows on pasture are eventually slaughtered usually when their usefulness tanks. Sorry, but life is not a sweet dream from the hand of an unrealistic idealist, though many religions claim all ends well that ends but I won’t get into that. I worry about casein and casomorphin since I love milk and I think I’m an addict to its morphine effects. I’m past eighty, run, walk, sleep well, still a man, but I’m a bit critical of addictions to anything, especially drugs. Sugar, coffee, morphine, oxycodone, heroin, cocaine, etc. and drugs many people are addicted to , and gluten, too, and the only thing I use of all those things is the morphine in dairy. I have quit many times and became tense, irritable, stressed, lost sleep, appetite, etc., and my monthly food cost was nearly 1000.00. (2915.00 for three months). All organic, grass-fed meat, poultry, pork, lamb, wild salmon, no sugar, grains, etc., and so, the one thing I’m told is bad for me is raw dairy from cows on pasture but from guys like Cohen, T. Colin Campbell, etc., I’m older than Campbell but look 30 years younger, which isn’t saying much since he looks to be over 100. All that vegan nonsense that leads to Alzheimer’s, or dementia or anemia, etc. I had a health food business and the people with the most health problems were vegetarians and vegans. I hired a fruitarian once but had to stop every 50 miles so he could pee. He was wildly irrational and nearly drove me nuts. The longest lived people in Europe are high milk drinkers or dairy advocates, I refer to Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway. Maybe they do get osteoporosis but most countries do. If quitting milk would cause me to look, act, and advocate what McDougal, Campbell, Cohen etc., promote I would become a wine drinking carnivore instead. What are the keys to health. Organic produce, grass-fed meats, wild salmon from Alaska, a few nuts, high quality water and not 2 quarts a day unless one is hiking in the heat. Interval training, some weight lifting, a loving relationship with someone, a woman in my case, enough finances to afford life, be generous and like to help others in a personal way, that is, enjoy their happiness from the help I give, which I do and always have. I don’t write it off my taxes like Bill Gates or any other plutocrat, I offer money, food, help moving things, and love. Industrial produce kills far more small animals, and I include bees, kind of necessary I hear for our survival, than those who raise animals humanely by thousands of times and more. Where did this idea of separating animals from our produce come from? From plutocratic mentality where everything is based on profit. What has happened is, we’ve allowed artificial and chemical pesticides and killing us slowly, but much, much faster than natural lifespan and with many more illnesses to ruin our lives. If, however, living with chronic illnesses is not a problem that lead to drug use just to keep us going is acceptable, then nothing really matters, we become a pawn of the drug companies and doctors who “Practice” medicine. Food makes us what we are and at this point with 100% of my diet the best I know of, if my one questionable food is milk and I feel as I do, I might actually be on the right track or slightly off. Either way, one could say, “Well, if you quit dairy you will do even better.” I have tried that already and it never went well. It’s not raw dairy its the millions of tons of wheat each year, in fact, over 800 millions of tons of wheat each year world wide of a grain that is toxic, indigestible, is gluteomorphin, addictive and makes us fat. It kind of happened to me, if I gain 10 pounds that’s a sign I’m getting fat and if I kept going like that eventually I would have truly become fat, all from wheat. The foregoing is what I experienced, The worst foods, if they can be called food, are: processed foods not food really, sugar, wheat, pasteurized milk, butter, homogenized dairy, pesticide ridden produce, meats from grain fed animals. So, I’m going to brew up some organic decaf coffee, at organic raw cream and enjoy the sunny day in Washington State. This afternoon, I’ll take a long walk, eat some wild salmon leftovers, some lettuce from an organic garden, etc., and any added beverage will probably be raw milk, or organic Telsi tea

          • More than a an occasional soy product consumption causes bone loss over time. I experienced it and also did a research paper on it.

          • Good Lord!

            Monica, their bone health was related to them not moving around enough. Just like us Americans. It has nothing to do with the dairy they were drinking.

            If it were so, all of us would be in trouble.

            • I love Jersey, raw whole milk from pastured animals. I have quit milk numerous times and in a couple days I’m difficult to be around, sleep is disrupted, and so forth. It’s a thing of fighting for the right to drink whatever one wishes right or wrong, however milk is high in sugar, not added, but in the liquid itself, for instance, (figures are close not exact) a cup of milk has 13 G of sugar, not the granulated white toxic stuff, but milk sugar. I used to drink a couple quarts per day, which gave me 104 G of sugar. It was great milk but I knew something wasn’t right, not an intellectual right, but a physiological right. I’ve gone low, low carb and to be successful I had to cut out the milk, however, I found a sweet alternative to milk, raw cream from Jersey cows at a half cup per day, or 4 oz. The sky didn’t fall, I got my dairy fix, and here’s what happens to my blood sugar: it went from 83 to 92 after eating an egg (from a pastured hen) cooked in coconut oil, added sea salt, a dark cocoa drink with a dash of clove powder, cinnamon, whipping cream and filtered water and one half teaspoon of raw honey, plus a teaspoon of butter from Ireland and a teaspoon of coconut oil. I died, or some would have thought I might but was resurrected by the realization I could eliminate my chances of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Has anyone looked or heard the symptoms of pre-diabetes? Mercy, here’s the short list:

              •Being overweight
              •Being 45 years or older
              •A family history of diabetes
              •Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol)
              •High triglycerides
              •High blood pressure
              •A history of gestational diabetes
              •Being African-American, American Indian, Asian-American, Pacific Islander or Hispanic American/Latino
              Blurry Vision
              Excessive Thirst
              Stubborn Wounds or Infections
              Extreme Fatigue
              Sudden, Unexplained Weight Gain or Loss
              Darkened Areas of Skin

              My blood sugar is already down to 91, in other words, it’s not increasing, it’s going down. So, what does the foregoing have to do with milk? What about carbs? Fat? Protein, and then the original comment reference, why drink milk, it’s not recommended by many conservative, open minded, radical and plain crazy people. The question is, disregard the milk thing, and everything else, what’s the goal here? It’s not just good health, but extremely good health, good looks, strong body, disease free (redundant), sound sleep, happy, fun and confident. It all happens when we get it right and even if we have major problems, most if not all of them are reversed through the right diet, attitude, various exercise, meditation, etc., choices. Insofar as milk goes, and that means cheese, too, but whipping cream and butter in sane amounts does no harm. However, combine sweets with butter, fats, etc., and bad things happen. I will cut out the honey in the cocoa drink next time so as to remain fanatical, but healthy. Speaking of fanatic, any diet that break from SAD is seen by most folks as too much trouble, goofy, confusing, unproven, and why bother. One often feels like they’re a little strange, less so now than a few years ago. Figuring out diet is quite easy, try paleo, see how you feel after a month or so, the same with high carb diets vegans and vegetarians get into. Personally they are disastrous according to the nutrients both fail to include, and looking at frail vegans and vegetarians in their sixties and over, unless the vegetarians are big on eggs, occasional fish like salmon, and high fat dairy. Still, they have to figure out the B12 deficit. How to get things right with a little science thrown in? Buy blood sugar tester and monitor blood readings; have a CRP test to get your inflammation level, a lipid test, and comprehensive metabolic test. There are others, of course, but the sun comes in April in California and southern states, we have to wait until June in Washington and even then it’s a barely adequate exposure. If one lived in the Alps, and their only survival foods were milk, cheese, yogurt, curds and whey, the milk opposition group would find when milk is a survival food it’s much different than a store to refrigerator convenience. Its nutrients and fat are used each day, after all the weather is rather chilly in the Alps and the tribes who used milk had meat only once a week, very little produce and that was only for about three months a year, what kept them alive was high fat cheese. Of course if they were sitting around in central heating homes watching TV, glued to their computer screen or sitting more than standing or walking, that would be different, but they dealt with the elements and in that case, and others, go for dairy. Besides, we’re not like any other animal, for instance a Sperm Whale has an 18 pound brain, which is 6 times larger than our little three ounce brain, but to equal our brain to body ratio it would have to have a 641 pound brain as they weight over 30,000 pounds, in other words, we’re the brightest and most neurotic and dangerous of all animals, pity the planet. So, FM, you mean well but your research doesn’t take into consideration the life style of the Swedish people far removed from needing dairy at the level they consume it. Obviously they haven’t got it right but it’s not the food, it’s what they do with their bodies and minds each day that causes things to go awry. Your comment does have an attitude, and I rather like that.

    • Bill, have you read your link, especially the conclusion? Also there is a reply to the study that does an excellent job of explaining the flaws in the study.

  2. Would Chris recommend drinking non-organic full-fat commercial milk that is sold in grocery stores? Or is he implying that we drink organic milk or raw milk in this article? I’m not really up-to-date about milk, but is there any truth to it creating autoimmunity (through breakdown of gut barrier) or the talk about all the hormones needed to make a calf grow and these hormones causing cancer cell growth in humans?

    • This article is ridiculous!!!!its obvious that industrial milk and dairy are totally unhealthy and there are 100 of studies that confirm it!Most of the calcium contained in cow’s milk is bound by the milk chemical casein which makes it far too crude for proper absorption by the human intestinal membranes! also there is quantitatively more PHOSPHOROUS in cows milk than there is calcium.To metabolize that much phosphorous, the body requires extra amounts of calcium,which it extracts from the bones,teeth and muscles,this lids to calcium deficiency in this parts of the body.Not saying about much more dangers… honestly logically Cows Milk is for calves like cats milk is for kittens!it sad that this “doctor” dont even know the truth basing his article on 1 research which probably has been founded by milk producers….

      • I dont know if you know this but phosphorus according to the periodic table is an ‘element’ so it doesnt need to be ‘metabolised’ and its uptake in the gi tract is by passive diffusion, which means its uptake is controlled by the conc in the blood so by negative feedback the body doesnt take more that it needs. the A1/A2 beta casein is a protein and guess what happens to proteins in the stomach….thats right it is digested by enzymes. much like phosphorus, calcium is also an element, and in its activated form in the intestines its uptake is controlled once again by passive diffusion. looks like the 100 of studies you read arent enough to teach you basic biochemical knowledge, but sure its the ‘doctor’ that doesnt know what he’s talking about.

        • not sure you know this Xavi but just because phosphorus is an element doesn’t mean it doesn’t form compounds. compounds and organic compounds even of elements can make them either more or less bioavailable than other compounds or an elemental (catatonic) form. Phosphorus tends to be found in oxidative states

          More importantly the Swedish study previously mentioned that studied 100,000 people for twenty years in the trial found that milk (not dairy per se) was associated with lower life expectancy (double the mortality hazard risk with 3 glasses a day over less than one and significantly more hip fractures).

          http://nutritionfacts.org/video/is-milk-good-for-our-bones/

  3. Last Friday I had blood work and an overall physical done.

    Guess what?

    Yup, this milk drinker’s health is above average.

    And, it showed that the two to three glasses of milk I drink almost every day has not affected my bones.

    But farmers, and others who drink a lot of milk well into their old age already knows this. Just from using common sense.

    Folks, just have a balanced diet. Eat some greens, especially kale…

    and be more active. People with the healthiest bones are more active.

    That’s all there is to it.

    It’s time for a glass of ice-cold milk and chocolate chip cookies!

      • It’s not about that, Kate, it’s about calcium. Talk to your doctor. You’d be surprised how much BS there is about calcium in our body, along with the 100% Grade A bullcrock about how milk is bad for everyone.

        Just a simple physical tells all.

          • Look whose talking?

            Think before you post, “PJ.”

            I’m with Chris and the others about the misconceptions of milk.

            I’m totally astounded that we have been drinking milk for who knows how long, and yet we are all still here.

            I’m well into my 70’s, come from a farm family, and we drank a lot of milk, ate good food and kept busy.

            It’s funny how some people say that cows milk is for calves. Our cats lap that stuff up! In fact, we saved a couple of kittens by feeding them just milk for awhile there.

            Good article, thank you Chris.

            • “And yet we are still here”. What do you think I’m implying here? That you have a drink of milk and you vaporise? It’s an impact over time, as shown by many scientific non dairy funded studies. Keep ignoring the science though, milk – it does a body good!

              • An impact over time, huh?

                Yeah, you are right, PJ.

                At 77, I better stop while I still can, even though I am still working on the farm.

                What WAS I thinking?!

                My brother, who is at 79, better stop before it’s to late, even though he is till very active.

                My parents, who drank milk all their lives would have lived almost 100, instead of into their healthy 90’s.

                And of the millions upon millions of milk drinkers, they better stop before they break a hip.

                But let me finish off the last of the milk in the fridge first, okay?

                Thanks.

                • Well thank goodness you’re not a statistician as well. A sample size of 4 does not really make a great study. How about looking at the worldwide population. I think there’s a trend in there correlating milk and osteoporosis. A somewhat bigger sample size than 4.

                • We are the only four in the world drinking milk and are as healthy as all get out, huh? .

                  Son, you are in your own little world. And I’m done exchanging posts with you. It’s just too weird.

              • Correlation does not imply causation. You are comparing apples and oranges. I can tell you from experience that raw milk can cure the hay fever, food, and cat allergies and intestinal problems that pasteurized milk causes.

            • I just have to say that most cats are actually lactose intolerant. They lose the ability needed as kittens to digest milk as they grow into adulthood.

              • Lactose intolerance has nothing to do with the ability to digest milk. Intolerance means discomfort after consumption of processed dairy products. It has nothing to do with absorption. Most lactose intolerants are not lactose malabsorbers and most lactose malabsorbers are not lactose intolerant. Lactose malabsorption is when some lactose is allowed to ferment in the intestines. It usually doesn’t cause discomfort.

              • They drink milk, regardless of age. But I wasn’t talking about intolerance. It just strikes me funny when some say silly things like: cows milk is for calves when they are trying to prove some sort of point.

            • Martha,
              Traditional Cows milk is not for grown humans or grown cats. I’m glad you saved some kittens with cows milk but many cats- and people are lactose intolerant and dairy can trigger inflammation and other problems. Cultured raw dairy products like yogurt or sour cream are a better option for people than traditional milk because the lactose is broken down during fermentation.

            • Your cats were very lucky, Martha. Cats can’t the lactose in cows milk, it can make them extremely ill with diarrhoea. I can only assume the milk was raw, not pasturised, and it was likely only thanks to the antibodies in the milk that they lived.

              • Also, it’s not a “silly thing” to say that Cows milk is for Calves any more than it is “silly” to say Dog milk is for puppies. It’s a fact. Humans were never meant to drink cows’ milk any more than we were meant to drink the milk of a pig or dog or horse.
                All mammals produce milk to feed their own young, once the young wean at a natural age, they stop having milk (you know, unless someone extracts it from an animal and puts it in front of them, but even then, most adult animals would walk away from another species’ milk unless they’d been routinely given it in infancy and were conditioned to drink it.)

                • I eat organic produce, meat from grass fed and finished cattle, salmon, nuts, seeds, and a cup of raw milk per day from pastured cows. Even if the milk was from grain fed cows and pasteurized (which it would have to be if sold in markets) is it going to add a day or take away a day of my lifespan? Probably not, but if it does, a day or two don’t matter. This milk thing, which I joined in has become boring. Don’t drink milk, do drink milk, it’s no longer moot, vegans don’t drink milk, so they say none of us should drink milk, really, vegetarians on a lacto diet drink milk, so they advocate milk, omnivores don’t give a damn what either do other than quit insisting all of must stop drinking milk. Being an omnivore part of the day, a carnivore some of the day, a vegan while snacking on fruit or a carrot, a vegetarian when I go eggs and lacto, this has become a waste of time. I’m done.

        • . The acid alkaline debate is still unproven but there are actually many studies showing increased consumption of milk is associated with increased fracture risk in women. Most of the studies showing milk is good for bones are mediocre at best and a lot are done or funded by the national dairy counsel. Cultured dairy products like yogurt and cheese are a better option bc as they are cultured they become acid neutral to our body as lactose and other sugars are broken down by bacteria.

    • Anectodes are not evidence.Just because you,a daory consumer,are healthy it does not mean that the Sweden study is wrong(just like that famous anectode:My grandma drank a gallon of milk every day,and she lived for 95 years,so it will work for me too).People need to stop using their personal experiences as evidence

  4. “What’s your connection with the dairy industry Perry?”

    Didn’t you hear?

    I’m the president of the association.

    lol … wow … somebody is off his meds.

    The doctors are going to have a busy week, with the tens of millions of milk drinkers, that is.

    Shoot, I better set up an appointment right now before it’s too late!

  5. John, you are living proof that not having a good, balanced diet in general was the problem, not the milk.

    It’s like eating salads all day, and not getting in enough of other nutrients from other foods. Then that person gets a health issue–and then blames the salad.

    Like I and others have said: if milk is so bad, the doctor’s offices would be overflowing–there would be a health-warning issue on milk.

    Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a glass of milk and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

    • What’s your connection with the dairy industry Perry? You comment on these posts with unscientific and frankly weak arguments, and avoid the science at all costs. How about you address:
      1) how the largest study ever undertaken on milk and health (http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g6015) finds a link to osteoporosis, and early death for milk consumption.
      2) the massive world-wide correlation to dairy consumption and osteoporosis. And please provide supporting evidence if you’re going to state the difference is exercise, sun exposure, genetics etc.

      • “Given the observational study designs with the inherent possibility of residual confounding and reverse causation phenomena, a cautious interpretation of the results is recommended.” Do you even read the so called evidence you post? And please provide supporting evidence if you’re going to state the difference is not exercise, sun exposure, genetics etc. Do you even know the meaning of the word science? If you want people to buy your broccoli shakes you’re going to need a much better sales pitch.

        • It was a study of about 100,000 people showing strong correlations between milk, bone fractures and early death, they had to make a statement about how it was observational, and somehow that invalidates the entire study? Who’s struggling with science?

          • That was a direct quote from your link. Your hyperbole was clearly not. Here’s another quote from your link: “For every glass of milk in women no reduction was observed in fracture risk with higher milk consumption for any fracture (1.02, 1.00 to 1.04) or for hip fracture (1.09, 1.05 to 1.13). ”

            Chris Kresser says: “Although you won’t see me sporting a milk mustache in a “Got Milk?” ad anytime soon, based on the evidence, it’s safe to say that dairy does not contribute to osteoporosis, and full-fat dairy (PREFERABLY RAW) can be a beneficial addition to the diet for many people.” He is not recommending pasteurized milk and does Chris even say anything about pasteurized milk and longevity?

            • You seem to be somehow bypassing the conclusion each time.

              Conclusions High milk intake was associated with higher mortality in one cohort of women and in another cohort of men, and with higher fracture incidence in women.

              That’s the core of the study, the result, what you look for, what you base your actions on. Any reason why you ignore this? Think the study is utterly flawed? Please explain why!

              • Many of these studies have titles and or conclusions that bear no relation to the body of the study. The title and the conclusion are meaningless if they don’t relate to the evidence and data within the study. You are not the first person to give a link to a study that proves their opponents argument because they only read the title or the conclusion, or as in this case, because they read their own meaning into it. The conclusion doesn’t say: “A study of about 100,000 people showed strong correlations between milk, bone fractures and early death.”

              • No it actually says: “HIGH milk intake was ASSOCIATED with higher mortality in ONE COHORT of women and IN ANOTHER COHORT of men, and with higher fracture incidence IN WOMEN.” I’m assuming we are both men.

              • Mike, you don’t see a difference between: “A study of about 100,000 people showed strong correlations between milk, bone fractures and early death.” and (In 2 separate studies of both men and women, together totaling about 100,000 people) “HIGH (Very high, which means they probably had asthma, food allergies, and god knows what other autoimmune disorders) milk (pasteurized and homogenized) intake was ASSOCIATED (not correlated) with (slightly) higher mortality in ONE COHORT (not in both studies) of women (and not the men in the study) and IN ANOTHER COHORT (not in both studies) of men (and not the women in the study), and with higher fracture incidence IN WOMEN (and not the men in either study).”?

          • And Mike, from your own link, here’s another quote that you must have missed: “Fermented milk products, we found to be associated with reduced rates of mortality and fracture.”

                • And as per the largest study ever conducted into dairy, milk does cause osteoporosis, while un-fermented dairy doesn’t. So should you just ignore that and keep drinking your milk because the title said ‘dairy’?

                • You’re right, it’s not quality science and you shouldn’t trust it. You should trust the science (proganda) provided to you by the dairy industry. Thanks to their vast resources, they managed to buy their way into the food pyramid, and provide you with a nutritious drink fit for humans!

              • The state does not consider the 9 million raw milk consumers in the U.S. part of the “dairy industry.” Who do you think is pushing your plant-based diet? It’s the pharmaceutical industry and the mutant GMO junk-food industry. These guys make the dairy industry look like boy-scouts.

              • Mike, we know you don’t drink milk. Are you lactose intolerant? What’s your definition of independent science?

              • I never said you should trust the (propaganda) provided to you by the processed dairy industry. I don’t. Thanks to their vast resources and help from the pharmaceutical industry they have managed to buy their way into the government and through regulation, eliminate their competition from farmers selling raw milk directly to consumers just so they can provide you with a toxic energy supplement rather than the super-food formerly known as fresh milk.

    • The doctor’s offices ARE overflowing! And so are the nursing homes (check out the rehab units with all of the people with broken hips and joint replacements). All it takes is a little intelligence, and some basic research of basic group health, to find the answers. Search the relationship between osteoporosis and dairy consumption per capita around the world, for instance. I find it fascinating that the countries that use almost no milk, also have zero osteoporosis. And yet, the countries with the highest milk consumption have by far the highest rates of osteoporosis. Perhaps that’s not a scientific-study, and there may certainly be other issues that are indicated. But only someone with an agenda would try to refute the actual evidence. And we haven’t even broached the association of conventional dairy and cancer…
      Personally, I think it’s more than just milk (any animal protein is suspect), and may have very little to do with acidity/alkalinity of the blood. But the evidence is overwhelming that dairy, and for that matter animal, protein is not healthy in the long run for our bones, or our general health. But that’s beyond the subject that this misguided page was about. Obviously there is a lot of mis-information being spread around about health these days. Some by multi-billion $ industries that are trying to encourage more people to buy their products despite the obvious dangers to the planet and to our health. And some is by people who just don’t understand the facts. The truth is, you can find information to support virtually any hypothesis on the internet these days. It’s like gold-mining…the hard part is weeding through the tons of worthless rocks to find the real gold.
      Several large and lengthy studies completed as long as 30 years ago by Loma Linda University, a very well respected university hospital system in southern California, have shown clear health benefits of diets without milk. In one study, a large group of otherwise healthy and active women, 35 years of age, who had consumed dairy all of their lives were found to have lost 30% of their bone mass, while a similar group of vegan women (same age and lifestyle) who had not grown up drinking milk had lost only 5% of their bone mass.
      Obviously exercise is another factor that affects bone mass, but that was not a difference in this study. And there are many similar valid, scientific studies that show virtually identical results that seem to be ignored by this and other bloggers. Others study people groups in different regions around the world and these show similar results. My best advice is to honestly search for the facts (we’re all intelligent people and don’t need a degree to be wise) and draw your own conclusions based on the solid evidence.

  6. I am living proof that dairy causes osteoporosis. For my entire life about 30-40% of my diet was dairy. Oatmeal in the morning, mashed potatoes at night, cheese layered on everything followed with a glass of milk for almost every meal. I started noticing pains in my joints about two years ago, and then last year my knees started giving out. My weights in the weight room decreased and I had no idea what was going on. I took a dexa scan and it was -4 and I’m under 30. I informed the doctors of my diet and they couldn’t see how I would have osteoporosis at such a young age especially with all the dairy I was consuming.

    Well, I’ve read about the dairy being so acidic that it leaches out calcium to balance out your acidic state. However, that wasn’t my case as I took a tissue sample to measure the calcium and other minerals in my bones and tissues. My calcium was normal but my magnesium was severely low. As it turns out dairy has a calcium to magnesium ratio of 10:1 causing a magnesium deficiency over time. The receptor cites in your bones are in competition for calcium and magnesium and when calcium wins it pulls out the magnesium from your bones thus causing osteoporosis.

    • And that’s one of the many problems with dairy that people don’t understand – it has a nutrient profile which is perfect for growing baby cows, but it’s very bad for us. As you mention, it’s got a lot of calcium, and calcium is a magnesium antagonist. Hence many people who consume dairy will have low magnesium, and poor bone health. Also poor teeth – calcium is the chalk, magnesium is the glue. Hyenas have the incredibly strong teeth, made up with one of the highest percentages of magnesium.

      Then consider that magnesium is involved in so many critical body functions, and the problem becomes even more serious.

      Hopefully you can resolve this over time however with magnesium supplementation, good luck.

      • Raw cows milk has a nutrient profile which is perfect for growing calves, but not as good for human babies. Pasteurized homogenized milk is bad for both. You have failed to prove that even pasteurized milk causes “poor bone health” and vegans have some of the worst teeth.

        Hyenas consumes animals of various types and sizes(including domestic stock), zebras, gazelles, buffaloes and wildebeests and even other hyenas, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals droppings. They are not choosy as they will consume almost anything ranges from birds, lizards, insects, snakes, carrion, bones, vegetable matter and other animals’ droppings. They occasionally behave as scavengers. Cubs begin to eat meat from kills near the den at about 5 months, but they are suckled for as long as 12 to 18 months, an unusually long time for carnivores. The powerful jaws and digestive tract of the hyena allow it to process and obtain nutrients from skin and bones. The only parts of prey not fully digested are hair, horns and hooves; these are regurgitated in the form of pellets. As hyenas hunt mostly at night and devour all parts, little evidence remains of their actual meals.

    • So, you eat a diet lacking in magnesium and well over every recommended dietary recommendation for dairy products, and you say that dairy products alone are responsible for your issues?

      I think your issues are caused by bad dietary choices and a somewhat suspect level of critical thinking.

  7. “…I just came here to find out how I can increase my bone density. Now all this talk of milk is bad… milk is good. . . .”

    Christina, believe it or not, exercising in itself helps to build bone density.

    There are a lot of people who do not take in the RDA of calcium (RDA is 1,200 grams, but most people don’t get even half that), but their bones are stronger because they go out and walk, go to the gym, whatever. . . .

    And since so many of us drink milk and are healthy, there really is no confusion on milk.

  8. Opinion does not a fact make!

    Clinical research shows that dairy products have little or no benefit for bones. A 2005 review published in Pediatrics showed that milk consumption does not improve bone integrity in children.2 In a more recent study, researchers tracked the diets, physical activity, and stress fracture incidences of adolescent girls for seven years, and concluded that dairy products and calcium do not prevent stress fractures in adolescent girls.3 Similarly, the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which followed more than 72,000 women for 18 years, showed no protective effect of increased milk consumption on fracture risk.1

    Lactose Intolerance
    Lactose intolerance is common among many populations, affecting approximately 95 percent of Asian-Americans, 74 percent of Native Americans, 70 percent of African-Americans, 53 percent of Mexican-Americans, and 15 percent of Caucasians.33 Symptoms, which include gastrointestinal distress, diarrhea, and flatulence, occur because these individuals do not have the enzyme lactase to digest the milk sugar lactose. When digested, the breakdown products of lactose are two simple sugars: glucose and galactose. Nursing children have active enzymes that break down galactose, but as we age, many of us lose much of this capacity.34

    • Your data also shows that dairy does not cause osteoporosis. And most lactose intolerants are not lactose malabsorbers.

        • Intolerance means discomfort after consumption of processed dairy products. It has nothing to do with absorption. Not only are most lactose intolerants not lactose malabsorbers, most lactose malabsorbers are not lactose intolerant. Lactose malabsorption is when some lactose is allowed to ferment in the intestines. It usually doesn’t cause discomfort.

  9. “But I just want to know if milk is good for my bones, or not.”

    Don, if it wasn’t, and if it’s as bad as they say, don’t you think we’d know about it by now?

    There are hundreds of millions upon hundreds of millions of milk drinkers, and we are doing just fine.

    That alone is proof enough.

  10. Yeah, I’m with you Christina. I just watched one of the videos below. ” drinking milk is like wearing elephant pants”
    . Oh that was really scientific.. It was propaganda about the supposed rights of cows. That is another debate in itself and has nothing to do with whether or not milk is bad for you.
    If you don’t want to drink milk because you think cows are mistreated then fine… Don’t.
    But I just want to know if milk is good for my bones, or not.

  11. Wow…. All this arguing. I just came here to find out how I can increase my bone density. Now all this talk of milk is bad… milk is good.. What is the average person supposed to think. Perhaps this is why so many people have poor health, because they believe this or that which may not necessarily be correct. I am more confused than ever.

    • Christina, if you were supposed to drink milk as an adult then your mother would provide it. Cow’s milk is for baby cows!
      Humans get their milk from their mother. By about 24 months babies lose the enzyme that breaks down human milk, round about they time they are normally weaned off milk.

      Humans are the only species that have been fooled into thinking that drinking milk from another species as an adult is fine.

      No where in nature does another species do this, what makes humans so special?

      Even if you look at our closest “relatives” the apes, they don’t drink milk as adults. Infact some of the strongest mammals are herbivores.

      If you want to increase your bone density, eat right and exercise the bones by stressing them gently.

      To your health.

      • As babies we put everything in our mouths. That is how we find out what is good to eat. It is only natural for any creature to eat the best food available to them. That is what makes a vegan diet so unnatural. And why they have more heart disease.

  12. “Correlation is not causation. There needs to be more research. If there really was a correlation then generations of people would have been having osteoporosis. So where are the billions of cases of milk drinkers with it. Does your studies tell you that? No?… Hmmm junk science!!!”

    Exactly!

    I wish more people would use their brain.

      • From the study you mentioned comes also this:

        “Interestingly, the study also found that fermented milk products (cheese and yogurt) significantly decreased mortality and fractures among these women. For each serving of these fermented dairy products, the rate of mortality and hip fractures was reduced by 10-15%. The researchers pin the negative effects of liquid milk on D-galactose, a breakdown product of lactose that has been shown to be pro-inflammatory. Milk has much more D-galactose than does cheese or yogurt.”

        So cheese and yoghurt make people actually live longer and have stronger bones.
        How about that 🙂

  13. Very interesting post.

    Is it true that the countries with the highest consumption of dairy are also those with the highest recorded diagnoses of osteoporosis?

    Is there any obvious (or not so obvious) explanation of why this should be?

  14. There is a big difference between traditional grass-fed raw milk, and pasteurized grain-fed factory farm milk.

      • that’s because they live in their own manutre, they are constantly stressed,traumatized they are given antibiotics, machines sucking every drop of milk (that was ment for her own baby,who was snatched from her right after birth so that human can consume milk,they cry day in and out for theirr babies just like you or me would do it it was done to us) they develope infection in this boobs from all the sucking of the machine so painfull. watch this :

        1) https://youtu.be/GDEc87fomio

        2) https://youtu.be/OVxh3ZFSslg

        3)https://youtu.be/GzS8p727gvM

        4) https://youtu.be/8ANCusVd_Kk

        • The babies are not taken from the cows… Where do you get this crap from? No farmer would do that first of all because the mother takes better care of them and that it allows for a healthier calf to be raised. Second, they all produce 6- 8 gallons of milk EVERY day. The calf only needs 1 to 2. The farmer will not be missing that. Third, the cows LIKE to be milked as it relieves the pressure of the 6- 8 gallons of milk the make. You have this idea of some torture farm where the cruel man sucks away all the joy from the cows life. They are not people. They are cows!!!! They are HAPPY grazing and wandering the pastures and getting milked and having babies!! It is what we have bred them to do for literally TENS OF THOUSANDS of YEARS!!!! It is not something that can just stop overnight unless you want to be the one responsible for millions of cows suffering daily if we listened to you and stopped milking altogether…. Where are your people’s heads. Without milk there would be millions of starving children all over the world as not every mother makes enough milk for their human child or makes milk their child can even drink….. Did you think about that. Which would you want your child to drink some GMO soy milk (93% of all soy is you know) or some corn syrup/ sugar beet based sugar formula(mostly GMO as well) OR some cows milk from an animal we have bred to do and is happy to do exactly what it does, make milk?…..

          • @Robert, Have you been to an actual dairy farm ?  How do you know if the calfs are not separated from their mother? btw did you watched the video links I provided?
            “You have this idea of some torture farm where the cruel man sucks away all the joy from the cows life. They are not people. They are cows!!!!”
            Just because they are not human does that make anything done to them ok? Their life may seem insignificant to us, just like someone else can have this very same thought about your life or my life, but that does make your life or my life any less valuable or insignificant ? Just because we can not comprehend something about some being, does not make it all right to do the tthings that we would never be ok to be done to us.

            “They are HAPPY grazing and wandering the pastures and getting milked and having babies!! ”
            the reality is the exact opposite. Don’t believe me for even one second 🙂 go to all the dairy farms from those that you buy all your milk,cheese etc from, be the witness that’s all I have say 🙂

            About starving children?

            Check out is picture it sums it up very well 🙂
            http://pinterest.com/pin/266627240414149215/?s=3&m=whatsapp

            Please read these articles 🙂
            1) http://comfortablyunaware.com/blog/the-world-hunger-food-choice-connection-a-summary/

            2) http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet

            3) http://gentleworld.org/could-veganism-end-world-hunger/

            Want to know what it is doing to the environment? 
            Please watch the documentary called “Cowspiracy ”

            Also this one : https://youtu.be/Z0xO8RiRffM

            and this one too :
            https://youtu.be/XGuduhfGSjU

            • watch this video too please ,it’s the awsomest information packed video about the effects meat,dairy,fish industry causes to our world,the environment :

            • oh btw, cows really get discomfort if they were not milked. I know you are going to say oh they were wild animals and no one to milk them before, you are just imagining things. But no, maybe domesticated cows have evolved to produce more milk and on a daily basis, so not being milked causes buildup of milk in their sacs causing discomfort and pain, it is like having your bladder full, but unlike the bladder the milk sacs doesn’t have muscles to force that liquid out, it have to be removed by an external stimulus. So yeah, milk need to be milked or cows will be in pain.
              And what I don’t like the most is people calling for animal rights, when people rights are being taken in 80% of the world. Poverty, wars, famine and then comes some douchebag says that cows are in pain because we milk them. Humans are in pain, humans are being killed coldly, humans are being tortured every day. Just because they are poor, diseased or dirty doesn’t mean they are sentient beings who feel pain, emotions and hunger way more than any animal does. So go clean your mind and come back again.
              P.S: if humans were meant to be herbivores, we wouldn’t have that vast number of enzymes, transporters and receptors responsible for digesting, absorbing and utilizing meat or animal products.
              If you are a vegeterian or vegan, that is a decision you choose for yourself, you don’t have to argue with every single person who doesn’t think the same way as you do. It is not common for the exception to argue with the norm in how they choose to live. It is like having a gay person saying that we are all wrong being straight, he just knows its his decision that he can fight for and argue about for himself, not to force someone else to be like him. So please, you are vegan, good for you, but don’t try to force me to be like you, cause it is not my choice, it is yours, so why the hell should I change mine.

            • Sorry, but your comments are based on unscientific dogma and baloney – I eat grass fed meat, pastured poultry and wild-caught fish with lots of veg and ZERO monocrops (and almost zero fruit except in summer) and my environmental footprint (PLUS my contribution to animal death) is *far*, far smaller than the average vegan’s.

              Read more! And perhaps start with these:
              (1) The Vegetarian Myth – Leirre Keith
              (2) Meat: A Benign Extravagance – Simon Fairlie

              Veganism will not (cannot!) save the world, because vegans have to eat much MUCH more food than I (and others who eat a diet based on our ancestral template) to get even CLOSE to the same nutrients that I get on a flesh/fat/vegetable diet.

              I know I’m coming across as angry, but I’m not (okay, I AM angry that nice, thoughtful, well-meaning, loving people are being duped and conned by the charlatans of the vegan/vegetarian world). I applaud EVERY vegan and vegetarians reasons for choosing their diet – I really do – but if they REALLY want to reduce cruelty, reduce the death, have a REAL impact on the environment AND THRIVE instead of simply (and barely) ‘survive’ then they should look at the science, ALL the science, look at our bodies and our history and adopt a thoughtful, healthy and nutrient RICH paleo/primal/ancestral diet. Only then can you even BEGIN to be the planet/animal lover you hope to be.

            • @Beefwalker: ” I eat grass fed meat, pastured poultry and wild-caught fish with lots of veg and ZERO monocrops (and almost zero fruit except in summer) and my environmental footprint (PLUS my contribution to animal death) is *far*, far smaller than the average vegan’s.”

              Unless you are eating these animals raw you are contributing to their death.

              As for ” (and others who eat a diet based on our ancestral template) ”

              Your ancestors ate grain and fruit and rarely meat, when they could catch it, unlike the SAD which is meat at every meal.

              As for ” look at our bodies” we have nothing in common with meat eaters [lions/tigers] with their fangs and short digestive tracts. More so, we have more in common with other vegetarian mammals [elephants/apes/hippos/cows] with flat teeth for grinding and longer digestive tract to break down vegetation.

              Nutritionally, Vegans get more from plant based foods than animal. Modern animal farming is far removed from the ancestral ways that you might as well not eat it. They are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics that are not human tested and which don’t pass out of their bodies when they are killed.

              Rely on Science, sure; logic too if you must, just make it factual. Otherwise you are only kidding yourself.

              They choices you make regarding your health are yours alone and no one can force you to “become vegan”. That said, people eventually come to the realisation that what they have been told by big Ag/Big Business is not really true and they need to make choices for themselves.

              • First of all Chimpanzees, our closest “relative” in the mammalian circle, eat meat, insects, etc., as do apes. Second, if all the animals alive were allowed to proliferate humans would soon be killing them just to make room for themselves. Along the way they might cook a few. Third, maybe in a warmer climate than that of we northern Europeans, it might, I say might, be possible to eat vegan year round, but it’s never been done with any health benefits. Fourth, where in the world did you get the idea that since we don’t resemble lions and tigers we aren’t biologically suited to eat meat? The last I heard lions and tigers were carnivores, unless of course you get Ellen Degeneres in the loop as she hyped a vegan cat food for the descendants of lions and tigers. Fifth, the great advantage for those of us who don’t go vegan, our brains don’t shrink as the vegan brain has to and does, chalk up one for less competition to we savages eating an occasional egg, chop or chicken leg. Sixth, even those savage non-vegan Africans inland drink the milk of cows whose blood they also tap, and the coastal Africans, wow, they are real killers, they catch fish and eat them and end up with perfect teeth, that is, until they adopted Western diets and their toxic fast and processed items, certainly they can’t be counted as food since they contain more chemicals than anything resembling food as our savage ancestors thrived on to get us here. Sixth, Northern Europeans relied on butter, it can be frozen, and cheese, ditto frozen, fermented foods, dried fish, and no fruit, vegetables except for sweet potatoes in some areas, and the “dry/frosty” period went on from October to March, let’s see, that’s six month without a hint of produce, after that a couple months before any substantial vegan food “erupted” from the earth, and I can just hear a starved vegan, “Halleluiah, look, look, a carrot!” Seventh, the vegan thing is not just weird, it’s dangerous with few exceptions. First of all, in a vegan world, they’d cease to exist if they held firm to their idiotic ideas, and they would most assuredly become the food, not of the Gods, but the food of the animals who got stronger while the vegans became choice cuts for lions, tigers, bears, wolves, squirrels, rats, cats, leopards, cheetahs, dogs, foxes, jackals, coyotes, raccoons, ferrets, hyenas, seals, sea lions, opossums, and should they venture near the ocean, sharks. The vegan idea is insane, the idea of a dingbat out of the UK, and if you don’t see the insanity of it, then, you’re insane, or to be less contemptuous, stupid.

  15. I too will NOT be sporting a Milk Mustache Chris. I’d like to point you to Observational research conducted in Sweden, led by Prof. Karl Michaëlsson, who disputes some of the health benefits of milk, in particular providing conflicting data for the most cited connection between milk and prolonged bone health.

    The researchers hypothesized that a high consumption of milk may, in fact, increase oxidative stress, leading to an effect on the risk of mortality and bone fracture.

    The link to the full article is here… http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284530.php

    Having suffered directly from buying into all the dairy propaganda, removing dairy from my diet has yielded numerous improvements to my health. My own personal research takes a common sense approach to nutrition. My findings concluded that animals milk is basically liquid meat, rich in the wrong proteins for human consumption including difficult to digest caseins.

    These undigested proteins enter the lower intestines where they putrefy and create highly toxic by-products which poison us. Undigested proteins can also enter into systemic circulation provoking allergic reactions.

    The chemical composition of milk is genetically disposed to service the infant of the individual species.

    Cow’s milk is custom tailored to turn a 60LB calf into a 600 LB. Cow. We are genetically disposed to consume human’s milk.

    Mother’s milk is actually the perfect food but just for infants. Mammals are born with the ability to make an enzyme called lactase which digests the lactose. All mammals, including the majority of humans, lose the ability to make this enzyme after weaning. Without this enzyme, consuming milk causes numerous medical problem. Of course none of this takes into consideration that the majority of dairy comes from diseased animals brought up on grains, laced with antibiotics and hormones.

  16. “b) it is clear you have no scientific knowledge of nutrition

    Do some research, and come back when you have a few clues.”

    Among so many other milk drinkers, it doesn’t take “scientific knowledge of nutrition” to know that our bones are just fine after decades of drinking milk.

    Oh, and hey, look, I have all my teeth!

    Wow!

    Get some common sense, and come back when you have a few clues.”

  17. “And again, a calcium blood test does not indicate what is happening in our bones.”

    I didn’t say what is happening in the bones.

    (Correction: I meant bones and not blood in my previous post.)

    And again, pay attention.

    And again, it shows that milk does not deplete the calcium in the bones, like some believe.

    • a) you are clogging up the comments section with with poor chat etiquette
      b) it is clear you have no scientific knowledge of nutrition

      Do some research, and come back when you have a few clues.

  18. “Why bother doing a calcium blood test if it has no bearing on the status of your bones?”

    Try to focus, and pay attention…

    it tells that milk does indeed give our bones plenty of calcium, and that very little is taken away.

    It’s for people who want to know for sure.

    • Again, can you please reply to the comment instead of starting a new one.

      And again, a calcium blood test does not indicate what is happening in our bones. It just shows that we have calcium in our blood. The body typically absorbs calcium according to requirements to maintain the correct ratios in the body, and many processes and interactions take place after that. Do you actually believe that just because we have calcium in our blood our bones are fine? If we didn’t have calcium in our blood we would die instantly.