 |
| From Refinery29 article, link below |
I was recently consulted for a Refinery29 article “No Whey: What Milk Really Does To Your Bod”.
Dairy baffles many people that I thought I would review the dairy details.
Dairy Hierarchy
Not all dairy is the same. In
any food category whether it’s carbs or soy sometimes you can tolerate or benefit
from certain types versus others. You probably
know I’m anti skim milk; non-skim, fermented, organic dairy is very different
from conventional, skimmed, subpar stuff. It’s important to be discriminatory
with your dairy.
Fermented dairy is easier to digest and
fermented foods can benefit you well beyond your immune system. Unlike Vegas, what happens in your gut doesn’t stay in your gut and probiotic foods have far
reaching effects from your weight to your mood.
Additionally, goat and sheep dairy is often better tolerated. Anti
dairy folks often point out that it’s unnatural for us to drink another
animal’s milk. In the case of goat and
sheep’s milk it’s actually most similar to human breast milk in its makeup (I
can’t decide if knowing this makes it more or less appealing). While lactose
slightly lower in goat or sheep versus cow it’s really the casein content that
makes the difference. Furthermore there are higher levels of MCTs (same type of
fats in coconut milk) in goat and sheep versus cow milk. There’s a great
sheep’s milk company called Old Chatham. Their ginger yogurt is amazing.
And unless you find antibiotics, added
hormones and inferior nutrition appealing…if nothing else all dairy you
purchase should be organic. You can make the argument that you can wash (not
that this makes it pesticide free) an apple; you can’t wash your yogurt. A
study on 3rd graders in another country showed their hormone levels
soared after a month on US, conventional milk, enough said.
Pro Dairy
A case can be made that dairy helps with PMS symptoms (do you recall the California Milk Board’s ad geared toward men
“living with PMS”? oy those caused a little bit of a backlash). Full fat dairy is associated with less fat around the waist or midsection, decreased likelihood of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. This is due to a fatty acid called palmitoleic. I expect we’ll be
hearing more about this. And men who strength train may be able to get
more muscular with dairy in their diets.
Dairy Drawbacks
If you look up the important research from Dr
Davaasambu (what a name), you will see studies linking milk consumption to a
host of cancers. The proposed reasoning is that cows are being milked more days
per year, often when pregnant when levels of certain hormones are higher.
In terms of digestion, while many point to lactose as a source of
tummy troubles, there’s another potential covert culprit and that’s casein.
Casein is a protein in milk (I mentioned it earlier with sheep/goat dairy) that
many people, especially those who have problems with gluten, do not do well
with.
If a client presents with sinus symptoms and allergies or certain skin
conditions, I consider advising them to experiment with ditching dairy.
Bones
When it comes to bone health, if you’re only keyed
in on calcium you’re missing the “bone” boat. We need calcium but it doesn’t
have to come from dairy think about sardines, greens and beans. Having enough Vitamin D seems to be way more important than supplementing calcium.
Additionally there’s magnesium sort of a sly player in the osteoporosis game.
Alternatives
There are a host of “alternative” milks from
almond to cashew to coconut and nut milk is very easy to make (and delicious).If you choose to purchase nut milk make sure there’s no carrageenan in
the ingredient list. In NYC, OMilk makes fantastic small-batch nut milks in fun
flavors.
I think it’s important to think about your
diet, your goals and consider whether you need dairy and how much; there’s
certainly no need to overload on it. It’s no coincidence that as I googled dairy
MyPlate and Dairy Counsels etc. came up. There’s this conventional “wisdom” or
belief that we need lots of dairy to be a healthy and further that we should
look for fat free and low fat sources. I would challenge both of those ideas. And our ability
to digest dairy decreases with age so what worked at 20 may not at 50,
reassess.
Do you eat dairy? How much and which types? Have you considered decreasing or desisting?
Very interesting post. I'm on the fence here. I eat dairy, but only in the form of cheese (mainly Swiss and my string cheese!) and yogurt (mainly greek, and organic). I'm favoriting this post :) Great info.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gina, it's a big topic (I went on and on a bit) but main message is don't need to necessarily give it up as much as assess sources, risk etc. My half and half in my coffee, kerrygold butter and organic goat cheese isn't going anywhere.
ReplyDeleteI eat quite a lot of dairy and I love it. I'm not that discriminating about the type because I like pretty much all of it...milk, cheese, yogurt, you name it. I get most of my milk in the form of lattes and the occasional bowl of cereal, but I'd say most of my dairy comes in the form of yogurt and cheese. Greek yogurt all the way, usually fat free. Have you been to the Chobani store in SoHo? Fantastic. They even let you keep the cute little cup the yogurt comes in.
ReplyDeleteOnce thing I have done recently is switch to organic milk only. It does cost twice as much but the benefits are worth it. I drink skim mostly because I prefer the texture...even 2% is too thick for me.
haven't made it to Chobani but love the concept of a "Greek" yogurt bar. Organic is a great switch, I would try working your way up from skim start with 1% and go from there.
ReplyDeleteI desisted long ago and never looked back. I found a rice milk at Whole Foods that has no Carageenan and that works for me. Don't miss milk or yogurt at all. I do miss cheese though...but my skin doesn't like it so I avoid it.
ReplyDeleteNice roundup! Just (finally) finished my thesis that was on bone health in kids with cow's milk allergy, so I'm a sucker for this topic! The concept of going beyond calcium and vitamin D for bone health is so important. I agree that quality trumps quantity here, but that people can easily live without it if they like. I'm not diary-free, mostly because I love cheese and sometimes do full fat yogurt. Strongly discourage that gelatinous mess they sell as yogurt.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you use rice milk for Ameena? Only because, while fine as an ingredient haven't ever enjoyed the taste...ski doesn't like all cheese even sheep/goat?
ReplyDeleteOoh interesting thesis (masters?) and good point, you don't need dairy. Few things worse that that "gelatinous mess" and many other issues with "fauxgurt" than crap dairy (dyes/sweeteners/thickeners).
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time finding good quality dairy products. The closest Whole Foods is over forty miles away. I've eliminated all dairy except organic half and half which I put in my morning coffee. I have allergies so I'd like to eliminate dairy completely but I can't find a good non dairy creamer that is still creamy. The half and half is not even grass fed. Can you recommend a good quality non dairy coffee creamer?
ReplyDeleteGreat post Lauren! I work with a lot of clients who do better without dairy (or certain dairy products) either due to food sensitivities or lactose intolerance, so I'm a firm believer that dairy is not necessary in a healthy diet. That being said, I enjoy some dairy products and seem to tolerate them well, so I keep a variety of them in my diet, including whole grass fed organic milk for my coffee, a variety of cheeses (this would be the hardest dairy category for me to give up!), whole or 2% yogurt , and, yes, a little ice cream from time to time :-), but I also mix them up with non-dairy alternatives (and have now been on the hunt for carrageenan free ones thanks to you!)
ReplyDeleteI eat vegan most of the time, but I do still eat dairy once in a while, mostly in the form of cheese. I've found that the older I get, the less dairy agrees with me, which is sad because I LOVE ice cream.
ReplyDelete