Overview Milk is a deadly poison, according to the Dairy Education Board. In fact. That makes it a very good protein to consume after your workout. Here, the Eat Thisapproved guide to milk and milk alternatives. Oh, and rice milk is good to use in baking because it holds up well under heat. Cons. Is Plant Milk Good for You Children Who Drink Cow Dairy Are Taller, Study Shows. Evidence that the universe is expanding, at least when it comes to beverages, is plentiful in the dairy aisle. Evidence that the universe is expanding, at least when it comes to beverages, is plentiful in the dairy aisle. Where once there was milk, now there is soy milk. Milk is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals. Soy foods are lactose free and a good substitute for milk or milk products if fortified with calcium. Can you tell me whether commercially produced goats milk or sheeps milk whole, pasteurized is healthy My LDL cholesterol is slightly below the normal range, so I. What Is Milk Good For HealthWhere once there was milk, now there is soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, flax milk, goat milk and oat milk. And coconut milk. Also cashew milk. And apparently hazelnut milk. The dizzying expansion of plant milks follows mounting concerns about the potential negative health consequences of hormones and antibiotics given to cows, for us and the bovines, as well as rising rates of dairy allergies among children. Add a dash of helicopter parenting to these concerns, and, boom, youve got a new industry. Cows milk has long been part of the American diet. Its potential health benefits were first popularized in the early 2. But now, the iconic image of a full glass of milk beside a dinner plate is fading. Whereas the average American once drank 3. United States Department of Agriculture. Keep up with this story and more by subscribing now. And so it makes sense that researchers would investigate whether alternative milks have any impact, positive or negative, on childrens health. A new study from pediatricians at St. Michaels Hospital in Toronto shows they might. Related Artisanal whole wheat is not healthier than white bread. For the study, newly published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, pediatricians examined data from a large, ongoing research project called TARGet Kids The Applied Research Group for Kids. The researchers concentrated on children who consumed about 8 ounces of non cows milk per day in order to check for height differences among this group compared with children who drank the same amount of cows milk per day. More than 5,0. The study found a difference, albeit a tiny one. For each cup of non cows milk consumed that group included plant milk and goat milk drinkers, children were, on average, 0. More broadly, 3 year olds who drank plant or goat milk were about half an inch shorter than 3 year olds who drank cows milk. Although the difference is slight, it is in keeping with the percentile lines marked on the World Health Organization growth chart. Lead study author Jonathon Maguire, a pediatrician at St. Michaels Hospital, explains that the height difference between the groups would place the non cows milk drinkers in the 1. Interestingly, children who drank both types of milk were still shorter than average, indicating that the increased height is likely tied to the amount of cows milk consumed. This study does fit with prior research showing cows milk is associated with taller stature over time, says Mark De. Boer, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of Virginia, who was not involved with the research. De. Boer also highlights potential limitations of the findings. For example, if the children who drank non cows milk were doing so due to allergies, those allergies could be responsible for growth differences by diminishing the absorption of nutrients. Anthropologist and biologist Andrea Wiley, who has written an entire book about milk, emphasizes the same point. Cows milk has long been associated with good health, making it one of the most consumed beverages throughout the United States and Europe. Milk is a white liquid. Category NutritionDietCancerhttpswww. IDSERP,5529. 1Calcium Whats Best for Your Bones and Health The. Those advertisements pushing milk as the answer to strong bones are almost inescapable. But does got milk really translate into got strong bones The pro. Milk Does It Really Do a Body Good It turns out that the relationship between the proteins in dairy products and the calcium in bones is a rocky one. Drinking cows milk is so normative in Americans that kids who drink non dairy milk likely have other things going on, she says. Those other things could include allergies and steroid medications to treat the allergies that could also inhibit overall growth. She also cautions against lumping all non dairy milks together. Some, like soy, are high in protein and fortified with calcium and vitamins A and D, she says. Almond and rice milk are much lower in protein and may not be fortified. Related How hunting serves the environment. Alternatively, hormones given to cows prior to milking could increase childhood growth. The study is consistent with the potential that theres something about cows milk that adds to growth over time, says De. Boer. Only a large, randomized study comparing milk from cows given growth hormones compared with milk from cows that werent would confirm that theory, says De. Boer.  Maguire emphasizes that the study does not indicate that drinking non cows milk caused lower height, only that the two are associated. But, he says, because plant milks are not regulated in the same way as cows milk, the possible health effects are important to know. The message for parents is to pay careful attention to the nutritional contents of these products, says Maguire, to make sure they contain the necessary protein, fat and micronutrients to support optimal growth. Got Milk Might Not Be Doing You Much Good. Theres not a lot of evidence for these types of claims. In 2. 01. 1, The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published a meta analysis examining whether milk consumption might protect against hip fracture in middle aged and older adults. Six studies containing almost 2. More recent research confirms these findings. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics this year followed almost 1. Subjects were asked to report on how much milk they had consumed as teenagers, and then they were followed to see if that was associated with a reduced chance of hip fractures later in life. It wasnt. A just released study in The BMJ that followed more than 4. Sweden age 3. 9 and older had similar results. Milk consumption as adults was associated with no protection for men, and an increased risk of fractures in women. It was also associated with an increased risk of death in both sexes. Photo. Credit. Nellie DonevaAbilene Reporter News, via Associated Press This wasnt a randomized controlled trial, and no one should assume causality here. But theres no association with benefits, and a significant association with harms. Even studies that examine the nutrients in milk, trying to look for protective effects, often come up short. A 2. 00. 7 meta analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined high quality studies of how calcium intake was related to fractures. The many studies of more than 2. This meta analysis also reviewed randomized controlled trials that examined if calcium supplements could lower the risk of fracture. More than 6,0. 00 middle aged and older adults participated in these studies, where subjects were randomly assigned to get extra calcium or a placebo. Not only did the extra calcium not reduce the rate of fractures, the researchers were concerned that it may have increased the risk of hip fractures. In the United States, milk is often fortified with vitamin D, which many believe also lends the drink bone friendly properties. But the evidence behind this assumption is sketchy as well. It is true that vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption, and for bone health, but that doesnt mean that most people need to consume more. A meta analysis published this year in The Lancet examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on bone mineral density in middle aged and older adults. It found that, for the most part, consuming extra vitamin D did not improve the bones of the spine, hip or forearm. It did result in a statistically significant, but less clinically meaningful, increase in bone density at the top of the thighbone. Easy Monkey Bread Recipe With Biscuits. Taken as a whole, however, vitamin D had no effect on overall total body bone mineral density. None of this should be taken to mean that people with actual vitamin D or calcium deficiencies shouldnt be treated by supplementation. They absolutely should. But the majority of people in the United States are not clinically deficient in these nutrients, and thats whom milk is pitched to. In addition, milk is not a low calorie beverage. Even if people drink nonfat milk, three cups a day can mean an additional 2. Low fat or whole milk has even more calories. In an era when every other caloric beverage is being marginalized because of obesity concerns, its odd that milk continues to get a pass. Yes, its full of protein. Most Americans arent protein deficient, though. Even people who avoid animal milk are worried theyre missing something. Rather than acknowledge that they get along just fine without it, many seek out milk substitutes, like soy milk, around which whole industries have been built. Politics are certainly at play here. Organizations like Dairy Management Inc., a nonprofit organization created by the United States government in 1. Dairy Management created the popular Got Milk campaign. Today, the vast majority of Dairy Managements funding for its marketing strategies comes from the producers themselves. The U. S. D. A. s role in promoting dairy was firmly established in the 1. Dairy Production and Stabilization Act, which made it the business of the government to carry out a coordinated program of promotion designed to strengthen the dairy industrys position in the marketplace and to maintain and expand domestic and foreign markets and uses for fluid milk and dairy products. As I tell patients, almost everything is perfectly good in moderation, milk included. What else would you put on cereal Cookies without milk would be unthinkable. Theres nothing wrong with a periodic glass because you like it. But theres very little evidence that most adults need it. Theres also very little evidence that its doing them much good. Continue reading the main story.