Olwen Anderson's Blog

Brace yourself. I may be about to challenge one of your most dearly held beliefs about food. There is a commonly held perception that you must eat dairy frequently to prevent your bones crumbling.  But when you examine the evidence, this just isn’t so.

For some people, consumption of dairy foods is actually harmful, bringing on skin rashes, digestive upsets, sneezing, and sometimes even a low mood. And yet when I suggest that they give the dairy a miss for a few weeks to see if they benefit, the reaction is often shock and horror: “But I’ll develop osteoporosis!”

An epidemiological study is a great resource for health evidence, because they normally include thousands of people over many years. (Clinical research generally includes only about 100 people over weeks to months; not an adequate amount of time to investigate a slow-progressing body change like bone formation). 

So I was delighted to come across a peer-reviewed epidemiological study published in the American Journal of Public Health. It included 77,000 women aged 34-59 over 12 years. The study concluded that high intake of calcium from dairy or other food didn’t provide protection against bone fracture. In fact, women who consumed large amounts of dairy actually developed a higher risk of hip fracture. (Here's a link to the article http://bit.ly/p1hkwb ) 

From a non-scientific (but common sense) perspective, consider that there are many cultures in the world where dairy just isn’t part of the daily diet; and osteoporosis isn’t any more of a problem.

Its true, healthy bones do need calcium; it’s such an important mineral for us that it appears in almost all food sources (but almonds, seafood and green leafy vegetables are particularly good non-dairy sources). Bone cells are more likely to grow from regular pressure stimulation (another reason to get out there walking, running or dancing to stimulate your bone strength). A healthy estrogen level is important too, as this important hormone for females promotes bone formation.  

But dairy isn’t essential in large quantities. So if you suspect that dairy food might not agree with you, why not give it a miss for a few weeks and see how you feel. The evidence indicates that your bones won’t crumble from it.

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I have to congratulate the dairy industry on the spectacular marketing job they’ve done about consumption of milk and other dairy products. Most of the population is now convinced that they must eat dairy every day or their bones will crumble. I wish I could achieve the same level of population-wide compliance with legume consumption for healthy gut and hormones. Sigh.

Sometimes, when assessing a client’s symptoms, I can see that their diet contains way too much dairy, and could be contributing to their hormone imbalances, digestive problems or skin rashes. So I may request that they drop dairy from their diet for a while, to assess how their body reacts. Nine times out of 10 the reaction is shock: But I HAVE to eat dairy!  Or…..or……

Well, you don’t – and I’m going to explain why.

Before you reach for your keyboard to write some outraged comments on this blog post, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that dairy is ‘bad’ for you; I’m suggesting that it’s time to review our love affair with this bovine food. Just hear me out (then please reach for the keyboard and add your comments to the discussion!)

WHAT WE DID BEFORE WE MILKED COWS

First, a trip back in time. Before we began gathering in small villages, our ancestors roamed the countryside as hunter-gatherers, living primarily on seafood, meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Some remote hunter-gatherer societies still live this way. We didn’t eat dairy because no wild cow would stand still long enough to be ‘milked’. Although our lifespan as hunter-gatherers wasn’t as long as it is now, it was a life free of many of the chronic diseases that afflict us with our modern diet. Our species managed to successfully evolve without the assistance of dairy food.

It was only once we learnt to tame and farm animals that our diet evolved to include dairy. And that was only 10,000 years ago, a mere blink of the eye in terms of human evolution.

Many cultures have healthy diets that doesn’t include dairy, and their populations are sometimes renowned for their long lives (like some Asian cultures)

HOW YOU CAN (OR CAN’T) ABSORB THAT CALCIUM IN YOUR FOOD

To be fair, the dairy industry has it right on one point – the calcium in dairy food is bundled with a phosphate molecule, making it very easy to absorb. Calcium in other foods, like fibre-rich vegetables, can sometimes be harder to absorb because the phytates, oxalates and fibre can get in the way. Fortunately your body has in-built mechanisms to help overcome this obstacle.

Once that calcium-rich food is in your gut (whether dairy based or not) there’s more potential hurdles to absorption:

• -          Only 10-30% of the calcium you eat is absorbed.
• -          If there’s a high concentration of calcium present (like in a calcium supplement), your body will automatically down-regulate calcium absorption to prevent too much getting in at once.
• -          If there’s a low concentration of calcium present, your body will automatically up-regulate calcium absorption to ensure more gets absorbed.
• -          Calcium is absorbed best in your upper duodenum, an area with an acidic pH, as food lands here right after it leaves your stomach. If your stomach wasn’t acidic enough (and that’s likely if you’ve been taking antacids or proton pump inhibitors to relieve heartburn), the pH in your duodenum won’t be acidic enough for the calcium to be absorbed. Alkaline gut contents will cause the calcium to precipitate into an insoluble form.
• -          Vitamin D is needed to stimulate the production of calcium binding protein by your bowel lining. This handy protein ‘escorts’ calcium through your bowel wall into your bloodstream. Deficient in vitamin D? It’s affecting your calcium absorption.

THE FAT DILEMMA

Prior to the agricultural era, our intake of healthy omega-3 oils and omega-6 oils was roughly equal.  A higher intake of omega-3 oils has an anti-inflammatory effect in your body, and promotes more flexible cell membranes – including brain cells. But once we started farming, the omega ratio in our diets began to change. Now, a person eating a modern western diet will ingest up to 10 times more omega 6 than omega 3. The result is a tendency to develop inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, and many skin disorders.

Full-fat dairy products are high in omega-6 oils. You could eat no-fat dairy, but that brings me to my next point –

IMMUNE INTOLERANCE

Some people have immune systems that react negatively to milk protein. Often they develop eczema as a result, and have to severely reduce or eliminate their exposure to dairy products to keep their skin healthy.

LACTOSE INTOLERANCE

Some people don’t have adequate amounts of the enzyme required (lactase) to break down the natural sugars in milk. Like the people suffering from immune reactions to the milk protein, they’re required to severely limit their intake of dairy, or switch to lactose-free milk products.

HORMONE HAVOC

My clinical experience is that women who eat large amounts of dairy often have hormone imbalances too, particularly oestrogen dominance, which can  bring on PMT, mood swings and painful periods.  Whether the dairy  upregulates oestrogen receptors, or whether it’s the omega-6 oils I’m not sure. But removing dairy from the diet of a woman whose hormones are creating havoc can have some positive effects.

WHAT ABOUT OSTEOPOROSIS? DON’T I NEED A CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT?

There are two other important factors in maintaining strong bones besides your calcium intake: the stimulation of weight bearing exercise (see my blog post about it here) and balanced hormones.

If you’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, it’s even more important to check your gut acidity first (or that calcium supplement might not be absorbed). Get your hormone balance checked too, and make sure you’re participating in enough weight bearing exercise every day to make a difference.

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CUT OUT DAIRY COMPLETELY!!

Don’t think that you must drop dairy out of your diet completely to be healthy. Like most foods, its fine in moderation. Use it as a condiment, to spice up dishes: Like sprinkling a little feta on your salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and olives; or slicing off one very delicious sliver of vintage cheese to enhance your glass of wine. But don’t think that you HAVE to have bucket loads of dairy every day to prevent your bones crumbling. It aint necessarily so.

So, that’s my argument – what do you think? Leave your comment below…

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Are you noticing this too? It seems that 'more calcium' is the catch-cry of so many food advertisements lately. You could be forgiven for thinking that the more calcium you take in, the stronger your bones will be. Er, not quite. There is one very complex biochemical regulator of how much calcium you actually take in from your diet.

So who's in charge here? Your body very carefully and constantly monitors your blood levels of calcium to keep it within normal limits. Your cells are totally dependant on the right amounts of calcium being present, particularly nerve and muscle cells. (The very cells used for thinking and moving. Pretty important.)

If your blood calcium drops below acceptable levels, your parathyroid gland starts issuing instructions to take fast action. It directs your kidneys to stop releasing calcium in your urine; for osteoclasts (bone remodelling cells) to start mining your bones for more calcium, and for your gut to become more diligent in absorbing calcium from food (via calcitrol, the active form of vitamin D).

And there's the catch. Your body can only absorb calcium from your food if there is enough digestive enzymes available, and if your gastric acidity is the right pH. Otherwise it passes through your gut unabsorbed. Our gut acidity tends to wane as we age, as does our production of digestive enzymes;  So you could be eating lots of calcium-rich foods, even taking calcium supplements, and not receiving the benefits.

There are a couple of old home remedies for improving the production of your digestive enzymes, which will improve the absorption of all your food (not just calcium). Important note: People taking medications for hyperacidity, reflux, heartburn or stomach ulcers should check with their health practitioner before trying these home remedies.

-          European cultures often enjoy a 'bitter' drink just prior to a meal. The bitter taste acts through your nervous system to stimulate your stomach lining to produce more digestive enzymes. Sometimes this was a drink made of bitter herbs, sometimes they chewed on a bitter leaf, like Rocket.

-          Apple cider vinegar may help improve the acidity of your stomach, improving your digestion. Start with one teaspoon in a glass of water, and gradually increase the concentration over the next few days to a maximum of one tablespoon of cider in a small glass of water. Enjoy just before each meal.

If you feel your digestion isn't quite right, you might be missing out on many other minerals too, particularly if your bowels are inflamed. If that's the case, its important to address your bowel health first.

P.S. Also enjoy my article on osteoporosis, here ("Could Line Dancing Save You From Osteoporosis?")

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