Anastasia Stephens – I Salute You! Is This The End of the Dairy Debate

Anastasia Stephens has put together THE definitive article on current dairy thinking. It is short, to the point, well researched and in the large part extremely well balanced.

Here are some highlights and my thoughts on each (in italics):

Why Dairy is Good For Us

• It contains high levels of calcium – this is undoubtedly true, although I would argue how much calcium we actually need (previous post on this) and whether non-dairy sources might be a better source i.e. green leafy vegetables
• It may help prevent cancer – but what properties in milk are the anti-cancer stars? Research suggests that it is the vitamin D (available freely from the sun – the hot thing not the newspaper) and linoleic acid which can be found in a gazillion other, more healthy places – like unsaturated, healthy oils
• It provides good bacteria – again true, but in what quantity and quality? This is difficult to determine across different brands and the like – but again I would ask whether there might be a source of probiotics that isnt full of bad fats and lactose
• Butter is better – damn straight it is. How the margarine industry has been able to lie to us for so long is beyond me. Margarine is toxic. The omega oils that it contains are all very harmful, not beneficial, due to the manufacturing process it goes through to turn a liquid fat into a solid ‘butter like’ fat (see here for more info) – butter is not the best, but it is FAR better than margarine.

Why we should do without:

• It is not natural – the sheer number of us who are lactose intolerant suggests that we should not really be drinking the milk from an animal that is intended for it’s newborn. The article states: This is why 10 per cent of Europeans, 90 per cent of Asians and 65 per cent of Africans are lactose intolerant…they suffer symptoms such as bloating, cramps, nausea and diarrhoea – unless they cut out dairy products completely.
• It may promote Cancer – I think that this statement is far more accurate than the usual statement that not drinking dairy can help prevent cancer. We were never meant to consume dairy. I have expressed this more than enough times before not to repeat myself too much – this rant covered most of my thoughts at the time
• It is not actually good for your bones – I definitely agree with this and I doth my cap to Anastasia for being brave enough to cover this myth in a mainstream publication. Again my thoughts are better expressed in another article, but the gist of it is that exercise and sunlight will do more for your bones than a glass of milk could ever do!

The article also gives a great list of tips for those who want to go dairy free – although I would steer clear of the dried fruits! But thats another discussion…..

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