The dairy debate: Does milk build stronger bones?

[HuckleB]

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-he-calcium7mar07,1,6533215.story?coll=la-health-medicine&ctrack=1&cset=true

The dairy debate: Does milk build stronger bones? -- Some scientists are questioning dairy products' effectiveness in helping prevent osteoporosis

" Bones need calcium. Doctors, dietitians and researchers agree on this point.

Conventional wisdom holds that dairy foods are the best source of calcium, and that American adults need to pump up their dairy intake to get the large amount of calcium their bodies need every day. Not everyone, however, believes the conventional wisdom.

Researchers are even raising questions about whether children need as much milk as guidelines recommend. A review article in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics concludes that there is "scant evidence" that increasing dairy intake is the right way to promote bone health in children.

Lately a small but highly respected band of scientists has been speaking out. They say Americans need less calcium than dietary guidelines recommend, and that drinking cup after cup of milk is not the best way to get it.

..."

[BrklynLiberal]

1. No. Cow's milk is for cows, and adults do not absorb calcium from milk.

Considering all the antibiotics and hormones used in raising cows, giving children milk is probably doing them more harm than good.
And that does not take into consideration all the pollutants that have been put into the ground and been absorbed into the feed that the cows are eating and therefore going into the milk.

[firefox]

2. We're #1 in calcium intake and osteoporosis

The problem is not that we don't get enough calcium and I would not drink hormonally produced milk anyway. The Europeans will not take our milk or our cheese because of the growth hormone often used to increase production at the expense of the cow's health and longevity and maybe our own.

Personally, I think that sugar water and its forms are the biggest substance abuse problem in America. The phosphoric acid in cola sure cannot be that good for you and some say it leeches the body of calcium, mainly in an effort to keep ph correct. Here is the osteoporosis forum at CureZone if you want to hear what the alternative health community is thinking- http://tinyurl.com/3vbxu

I do not drink milk. NotMilk.com might talk you out of it too- http://www.notmilk.com/

Edit to add- I was checking the new postings at CureZone and an article downplaying milk for bones went up at http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=237&t=62094.7 - Here are three paragraphs.

-------------------

WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 8 (UPI) -- Milk and dairy products do not promote healthy bones in kids and young adults, a Washington-based research group found after analyzing 58 studies.

The review was prompted by a "calcium paradox," the researchers said. Though Americans are some of the world's highest consumers of dairy products, U.S. rates of osteoporosis and bone fracture also are among the world's highest.

The non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reported there is little connection between calcium and bone health and "scant" evidence backing current U.S. recommendations on the intake of dairy products.

[greenman3610]

3. quitting milk almost eliminated my joint pain

took about a week.
Amazing.

[calico1]

4. Tell me more.

What kind of joint pain? I have been getting pain in my left knee but I don't have it all the time. I am almost certain it is something I am eating. I thought maybe wheat.

[greenman3610]

5. check out dr Elson Haas

I had terrible back pain for years that
I finally learned to control with
Prolotherapy (google that too,it works)
but it kept coming back.
I realized when I gave up dairy that
the re-occuring inflamation was
damaging my connective tissue, not
just in my back, but knees and shoulders.
(look up "leaky bowel syndrome" too.)

There's lots of material on diet and allergies,
but Haas has a book called the "false fat diet",
ok it's aimed at the popular diet market, but it
has info about the most common allergy causing
foods.
Milk, eggs, sugar, soy, wheat,...
and a couple of others, I forget.
anyhow, you drop them all from your diet for
a few weeks and then start adding them one
by one.
In my case I starting feeling
so much better immediately,
I knew that it was the milk.
Healers had told me before to get off it.
I was just ready.

Subbing for Milk was not a problem.
I'd used soymilk for years,...it was
stuff like CHeese and ice cream.
especially cheese, that was tough to
quit.
Anyway, now we've decided the soy
is a problem too, my wife and daughter
had some thyroid problems that seemed
to clear when we went to Rice milk.

[calico1]

6. Thank you so much! I will check out those

sources. I am definitely allergic to something. Just don't know what yet. Thanks again!

[Warpy]

7. No, asymmetrical joint pain

especially in a weight bearing joint, is a sign of overuse and possible early osteoarthritis.

Try a couple of months of glocosamine and chondroitin, available at any drug store, most supermarkets, and health food stores. Over the counter anti inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen can help until the supplements kick in.

Diet doesn't do it, generally speaking. Food allergies would involve multiple arthralgias (joint pain) and other symptoms, like GI upset, sneezing, asthma, or rashes.

[Heddi]

8. Milk is a horrid source of calcium

Dark Green Leafies are the way to go (and I do drink milk...I love chocolate milk).

if you're not a fan of broccolli, spinach, mustard greens and the like, then take a Tums or some form of encapsulated calcium.