HEALTH

Milk Nutrition Facts: Health Hero Or Evil Villain?

Milk nutrition facts: Is milk essential to growing tall, mighty and strong? Witness the Department of Agriculture’s MyPlate, which is crowned with a blue circle symbolizing the dairy food group, and advising everyone older than eight to consume three servings of dairy per day.

But with sales of cow’s milk plummeting, the dairy industry isn’t taking milk’s century-long reign as a North American staple for granted. For example, it partnered with marketing juggernauts such as the Coca-Cola Company to help keep cow’s milk a relevant and competitive drink.

Fairlife, which some have called “monster milk,” represents the marriage between Big Dairy and Big Beverage. It’s lactose-free milk with 50 percent more protein, 30 percent more calcium, 50 percent less sugar, and an extended shelf life of 100 days (compared to 14 days for regular milk).

Veterinarian and dairy farmer Mike McCloskey and his wife, Sue, who own Fair Oaks Farm in Fair Oaks, Indiana, invented the patented filtration process that breaks milk down into its five major components — water, fat, protein, sugar, vitamins, and minerals — and then recombines them to, they claim, retain the purity of real milk yet significantly improve the health benefits and taste. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. In addition to setting you back $4.59 for a 52-ounce plastic bottle, you may pay for this amped-up milk with your health.

Following are facts that may make you think twice about whether you want to be drinking cow’s milk by the glass, let alone cow’s milk with unnaturally high levels of protein and calcium.

You Can Have Too Much Milk

Drinking too much milk has been linked to shorter lifespan and more broken bones. A large 2014 study published in the British Medical Journal included data on more than 100,000 men and women, and found that “high milk intake was associated with higher mortality in one cohort of women and in another cohort of men, and with higher fracture incidence in women.”

More specifically, the women who drank three or more glasses of milk per day were 60 percent more likely to have suffered a hip fracture. They were also 90 percent more likely to die of cardiovascular disease and 44 percent more likely to have died of cancer during the study than those who drank less than one glass of milk per day.

The authors of the study are calling for more research into the possible correlation between milk consumption and a greater risk of mortality and bone fractures before advising people to change their dietary habits. But one of the lead researchers, Dr. Karl Michaëlsson, a professor in the Department of Surgical Sciences at Uppsala University in Sweden, has said he has cut down on his milk consumption, reports the LA Times.

Cow’s Milk Can Have Health Risks

Milk’s components may affect prostate cancer risk. Casein, one of the most common types of protein in cow’s milk, has been shown to promote the growth of prostate cancer cells in the lab, according to research published in 2014 in the World Journal of Men’s Health. And high intake of dietary calcium has been identified as a “probable” cause of prostate cancer, as recognized by the National Dairy Council (NDC). Although the NDC points to inconsistencies in the evidence pertaining to the relationship between milk and calcium intake on the one hand and prostate cancer risk on the other, it acknowledges the imperative to investigate the association further.

A 2014 report published by the NDC and the Dairy Research Institute stated: “While overall findings fail to establish a consensus of an adverse effect of increased intake of calcium or milk and milk products on prostate cancer risk, the need for further research is acknowledged.” The report also said, “the evidence indicating healthful effects of milk and milk product consumption on prevention of cancers is considerably greater than those representing harmful impacts.”

A more cautious person might take home a different message: There are enough studies showing that drinking large volumes of milk is risky to abstain from drinking milk, especially protein- and calcium-enhanced milk, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

In addition, the two main types of protein in milk, casein and whey, are highly allergenic. This fact has placed milk at the top of the list of priority food allergens.

What about the latest claim that chocolate milk is the perfect way to hydrate after a tough workout, you ask? As a former competitive tennis player and long-distance runner, I don’t buy it. Even if chocolate milk contains the right ratio of carbohydrates to protein as touted, no road to optimal recovery begins with a beverage loaded with refined sugar.

There Are Plant-Based Ways to Build Strength

There are so many better ways to end your training routine or begin your day. Start with chia seeds. A derivative of the Mayan word for “strength,” chia is a fitting name for the tiny but potent seeds. They contain a slew of essential nutrients, including magnesium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fiber, and calcium. Chia seeds provide more than four times the calcium per ounce as skim milk.

Do as the Aztec warriors of Central America did for stamina, and mix the seeds with water. For an extra hit of carbohydrates and electrolytes, substitute coconut for plain water.

A beverage for champions:
       •8 ounces of water, coconut or plain
       •2 tablespoons of chia seeds
       •Spice it up with a spoonful of ground cinnamon, cocoa, or carob powder

Reference : Milk: Health Hero or Villain?

By Alissa Hamilton, JD, special to Everyday Health