Time for the truth about milk and dairy ...

IN today’s world where dietary pseudo-science and half-truths often prevail, few foods are more unjustifiably vilified than dairy. The truth however, is just about as far removed from this common, negative misconception of milk as it could possibly be.

Filling the gaps

To understand the unique, health-enhancing role which milk occupies in the diet, one need only consider the early life stages of every mammal on the planet. It’s not by accident that nature has provided such a nutritionally bountiful foodstuff to sustain its newest arrivals. Indeed, apart from its low levels of vitamin C and iron, milk and dairy foods contain significant amounts of every other health-promoting nutrient required by humans.

To put this in context, Irish adults still derive almost 40% of their calcium from these foods, as well as around 10-12% of their vitamin B12, vitamin D, and folate, and a whopping 38% of their vitamin A.

Many Irish people regularly miss out on their required intake of one or more of these nutrients, highlighting the potential value of milk and dairy foods in redressing these shortfalls.

Milk and bodyweight

But the benefits of dairy don’t stop there. While many people believe that milk and dairy products cause or contribute to weight gain, in fact the opposite is true. Most studies show that milk drinkers (and for that matter, those with a higher intake of dairy foods in general) are much less likely to become overweight or obese, especially if they choose low-fat varieties.

What’s really interesting is that milk and dairy consumers seem to be protected against weight gain around the tummy, a finding that’s critically important given the role of this “abdominal fat” in diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

There have been several theories advanced to explain how milk and dairy intake might exert their beneficial effect on bodyweight.

Among the more convincing of these is the displacement of high-calorie, sugar-sweetened drinks from the diet. In other words, the milk drinkers may automatically reduce their intake of sugary drinks just by virtue of the fact that they’re taking something else.

However, there’s good evidence that milk and dairy intake can have direct effects which prevent weight gain too, such as reducing fat absorption from the gut. Whatever the mechanism, the weight of evidence now points to milk and dairy intake as an important factor in the prevention of weight gain.

Health effects

There are several further aspects of long-term health that are influenced by milk and dairy intake. For example, good intake of these foods is critical to skeletal health and the avoidance of osteoporosis or “brittle bone disease”, due primarily to their high calcium and vitamin D content. However, since the late 1990s it’s been known that a good intake of milk and dairy foods (three to four servings per day) can also help to reduce blood pressure when taken in combination with a diet that’s rich in fruit and vegetables.

It’s also now known that people with good milk and dairy intake are less likely to get colo-rectal cancer, while further research shows that the immune system functions more effectively with adequate calcium intake.

Performance nutrition

Aside from its favourable effects on health, recent evidence has emphasised milk as an ideal “re-fuelling food” for those involved in sports. Here, the combination of milk-sugar, protein and potassium mark it out as ideal means of feeding the muscles in the period immediately following exertion.

So, whether it’s weight management, general health, or sporting performance that interests you, there’s generally very good reason to make sure you get in your three to four servings of dairy each day.