Milk is one of those nutrition topics that can be hard to nail down. The famous “Got Milk?” campaign put drinking milk on everyone’s radar, but how much should really be in your diet?
The Nutrition Of Milk – It’s Complicated
With nutrition you must always contend with the fact that food is never just about one thing. Milk has calcium but it also has saturated fat, lactose (sugar), and hormones and each one comes with its own set of health implications. That means deciding if milk is “good” is a complicated endeavor. If you are getting a lot of saturated fat from other sources, for example, it might not be great to add more. If you are a person with diabetes, the lactose may be a consideration. Hormones in milk could have negative effects on anyone. 1 Many of these topics still need more research, and may remain unclear for years to come.
Milk And Calcium
When you think about milk what probably pops into mind is calcium, and indeed, milk has a lot of it. The fact that we need calcium is not in dispute. The question is how much and from what sources? According to the Harvard School Of Public Health, we don’t really know how much calcium we should be getting. Studies exist that literally draw opposite conclusions. Some say higher intake helps bones, some say it makes bones worse.2 Which is correct has not been resolved.
There are also other sources of calcium including some types of fish, vegetables, and of course fortified products such as soy or almond milk. It is important to recognize that dairy is not the end-all be-all of calcium intake.
The Environmental Impact
Milk has a relatively high environmental impact because it comes from cows. Cows require a lot of energy and they are also a significant source of methane. In his book How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint Of Everything, Mike Berners-Lee calculates that consuming two pints of milk a day would be the equivalent of flying one-way from San Francisco to Vancouver.3
The Bottom Line
Given the current evidence, most people should keep their milk intake on the moderate to low end of the spectrum. Here are the three main factors:
1. Foods deliver multiple nutrients at once. That means the best way to cover your bases is to have a balanced diet that includes a wide variety of foods.
2. There is not currently a compelling reason to increase specifically your milk consumption in order to get more calcium.
3. Food has a major impact on emissions, so it’s one of the most effective ways for you to protect the environment. Milk is relatively high on the carbon footprint scale.
As always, remember that you are an individual. There may be good reasons to stray significantly from these suggestions. However, for the general person, low to moderate intake is probably the best bet.
References
- Precision Nutrition – All About Milk
- Calcium: What’s Best For Your Bones And Health?
- Berners-Lee, Mike. How bad are bananas?: the carbon footprint of everything. Vancouver: D & M Publishers, 2011.