From the dairy advocates, there are claims that milk and dairy intake are vital for bone health; that dairy intake is essential for strong muscles and healthy skin; that dairy defends against obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. There are claims that the calcium and vitamin D in milk do things that calcium and vitamin D supplements cannot. There are claims that the saturated fat in dairy is not harmful and may even be beneficial. There are claims, in short, that dairy is just about the best damn food there is.

But the dairy detractors, which, interestingly, include two very disparate groups, the herbivorous vegans, and the rather carnivorous Paleo dieters spout off an array of outlandish claims: that dairy increases cancer risk; that dairy increases cardiovascular risk; that dairy is irrelevant to bone health, or actually detrimental; that dairy consumption is abusive to cows, and the planet; that dairy intake by adult mammals is simply unnatural.

Competing claims about dairy take us deep into the curds and whey. There are arguments that dairy is good, but only if raw; pasteurization, so goes the contention, ruins everything by destroying the active “enzymes.” There are claims that skimming the fat ruins dairy by removing healthful fatty acids, such as conjugated linoleic acids, and other claims that only low-fat and non-fat dairy are good, while full-fat is bad. There are claims that all dairy is good; that milk is good but cheese is bad; that cheese is good, but milk is not; that milk and cheese are good, but butter is not.

Globally, there is clear evidence that dairy intake is NOT essential for the health of adult Homo sapiens. Populations that drink mostly water, eat mostly plants, exercise routinely, and get sunlight (a fast-vanishing combination) tend to have strong bones and hearts and low rates of cancer, stroke, diabetes, with no thanks owed to dairy for any of it. In populations with more physical activity and more sun exposure, but less dairy intake than in the U.S., osteoporosis is less common, not more. In the U.S., where outdoor physical activity levels are low and protein intake is high, dairy is decisively associated with better bone density.

There is no clear evidence that making room for dairy has any capacity to improve the quality of diet, or health, for those cultures that drink mostly water and eat mostly plants. But in the U.S., we drink lots of soda and consume a bounty of highly processed foods. The inclusion of dairy in diets here almost certainly means less of those items, and the epidemiologic evidence shows clearly a net benefit of that shift. In the U.S., typical diets including dairy routinely are associated with better health outcomes than typical diets that exclude it.

Whew…I’m exhausted! I have done my best to keep pace with the literature on such topics, and evaluate it without bias. So… here goes…

Whether or not consuming dairy is good for us depends on: 

1. If our body can digest it healthfully (just don’t go there if you are lactose intolerant)
2. The type of dairy in question
3. How much of it we’re eating
4. With what other foods—as well as what we’re omitting to accommodate it

Looking across an expanse of evidence without prejudice, I see a case for incorporating non, low and full fat minimally processed, organic, “pasteurize or grass fed” dairy as a beneficial element in the American diet. Making this food category a regular part of the diet offers likely health benefits when compared to a typical American diet that favors sugar-sweetened beverages and processed foods. In the context of our culture, milk can displace soda, and yogurt can displace less nutritious snacks.

                                                   

Many believe dairy farms are characterized by an agrarian ideal of open grassy pastures, rolling hills, grazing cows and red barns. Unfortunately, today most of our milk is produced in large industrial facilities that hardly resemble that ideal vision. For milk, if you are unable to find pasture raised, grass fed, or organic milk, at a minimum try to avoid milk with growth hormone (called rBST or rBGH). Milk from pasture-fed cows has significantly more omega-3 fatty acids, according to a 2008 study by the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at Newcastle University. It also contains a dietary compound called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), shown to help reduce body fat and increase lean tissue. The key to the production of CLA appears to be in the fresh grass cows eat, so grain-fed dairy products won’t have the same benefits. Pasture feeding is also the most humane method of keeping livestock, and the low-stress conditions keep stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline out of the cow’s milk.

Generally, if the milk is free of growth hormone it will be labeled as such. If it’s unlabeled, it probably contains added hormones. For butter/cheese/yogurt, the key is finding a pasture raised product. A reputable one is, Straus Family Creamery, which is supplied by organic farms that graze their cows. Research indicates that pasture raised meat, eggs, and dairy products are better for consumers’ health than conventionally-raised, grain-fed foods. In addition to being lower in calories and total fat, pasture-raised foods have higher levels of vitamins, and a healthier balance of -3 and omega-6 fats than conventional meat and dairy products. The average American eats 67 pounds of beef/year. Switching from conventional beef to pasture raised beef reduces your yearly calorie intake by 16,642! calories! More information from this resource is here.

Be prepared to pay more: To paraphrase Michael Pollan, you pay your grocer now or pay your doctor later. And the methods for producing foods – especially animal based foods  vary radically, from farms that are  excellent stewards of animals and the environment to the most industrialized, and polluting facilities.

Seek food from a known source: The best way to ensure you’re getting food from non-industrial farms is to buy from sources with full transparency, those where you can see how the animals are raised, and what they were fed, as well as learn from what farm or farms the food actually came

Ask questions (even if it sometimes seems futile): There is real power in simply asking the questions: “Where is this from? How was it raised?” Get into the habit at meat counters, dairy section, and restaurants of asking where the food is from. If they don’t know the answer, suggest (in a friendly way, of course) they find out.

Know the labels (and their shortcomings): Food labels are helpful but imperfect. Knowing what they mean (and do not mean) is important. For example, the term “free range” has one connotation with eggs and another with poultry meat.

Visit All-Grass-fed Dairies page to find a list of healthy dairy products from transparent farms in your area.

Reasons to choose low-fat: Not as many calories as full-fat but since it does have some fat you will benefit from some fat soluble vitamin absorption (vitamins A and D) plus calcium. You will be getting more calories, cholesterol, and saturated fat.

Reasons to choose full-fat: You want the optimum amount of fat soluble vitamin absorption (vitamins A and D), in addition to the glycosphingolipids, which some studies have shown to have infection- and disease-fighting properties. You will be getting quite a bit of cholesterol, calories and saturated fat. If you do choose full fat you will be at risk for more toxins (since the fat holds on to them) if you don’t choose from a trusted pasture raised source.

Personally, I eat dairy that is anywhere from non to full fat daily. For example, I really like non-fat feta in my salads due to the texture and taste but I then I choose full fat parmesan for my grains. Majority of the time I am purchasing cheese, yogurt, and kefir that is organic and/or from a farm I trust. If I buy milk, it’s ALWAYS going to be organic at the very least and if available, from “pasture raised cows”. The fuller the fat dairy I buy the more I make certain it’s from a pasture raised cow or goat because toxins are more abundant if there is more fat.  Now that I have armed you with the knowledge, what will you choose?