I’m sure most people have heard or seen commercials about how milk is great for you. In 1985, the milk industry used television advertisements to sell more milk.
We equate drinking milk with stronger bones. However, this is not the case. Milk provides calcium and many other nutrients the body needs. It provides a great source of absorbable calcium. However, the body needs three other chemicals to get calcium into the bones.
You need magnesium to help the absorption process in the stomach. No magnesium and the calcium ends up in the toilet. As the calcium enters the duodenum, it is extracted into the bloodstream. If you don’t have vitamin D3, then this absorption process doesn’t happen. The calcium ends up in the toilet. Once calcium gets into the bloodstream you need vitamin K2 to get it into the bones. If you are lacking in vitamin K2, the calcium is stored in your arteries and heart valves.
Most everyone is deficient in calcium, magnesium and vitamin K2. Drinking milk daily does not reduce the risk of hip fractures in the elderly. A study in the journal BMJ tracked 100,000 Swedish men and women for 23 years. There was no statistical evidence of milk making your bones stronger.
The study did note that milk drinkers were likely to die at an earlier age compared to non-milk drinkers. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advises everyone over the age of eight to drink three or more cups of milk (or milk products – cheese, yogurt, dairy, etc.) daily. No randomized testing has ever proven that drinking milk improves health or reduces the risk of bone fracture.
The Cohort of Swedish Men studied over 45,000 men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort tracked over 61,000 women. Those who drank three cups of milk a day were 16% more likely to have bone fractures and 60% more likely to have hip fractures. Avid milk drinkers in these studies were 93% more likely to die during the study years (1997-2010) than non-milk drinkers.
Ninety percent of milk drinkers were more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and 44% were more likely to die of cancer compared to those who drank a cup of milk a day or less. Longer-term studies of Europeans indicate milk contributes to health problems. Europe and the United States have the highest consumption of milk in the world. They also have the highest rates of hip fractures and heart disease.
Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are acidic in nature. The pH of your body becomes more acidic after eating or drinking products containing these three food groups. Vegetables and fruits are alkaline in comparison. The bloodstream must have a pH of 7.35 to 7.45 to perform its functions. As the body’s pH goes below 7.35, calcium is leached from your bones to adjust the blood’s pH back to normal levels.
I have run and lifted weight for decades. I thought my bones were as strong as they could be. However, my first bone density test nearly twenty years ago showed that I was osteopenic. I was at risk of bone fractures. That didn’t seem possible.
After further research, I found out that the Atkins Diet I had been on for the previous six years was the culprit. I was in severe acidosis due to the choices of food I ate. I ate a lot of protein, dairy, fats and literally no fruits and vegetables. I enjoyed living on 10 grams or less a day of carbohydrates, but I wasn’t smart about my food choices.
Had I chosen to eat more fruits and vegetables compared to meats and dairy, I would never have any bone density problems. I test my pH daily (saliva strips) and found that I stay above 7.45 most of the time. An alkaline body thwarts most disease. It is a good place to be. I have concluded that milk does not make a body strong, regardless of the advertisements suggesting it does.
Study your diet and see if you are more likely to be acidic or alkaline. Buy some pH test strips to verify it. Keeping your body alkaline is one of the best things you can do for your health.