All indispensable components of dairy products, beginning with calcium, can be obtained by eating other foods. Fruits and vegetables contribute to significant calcium intakes. The most interesting vegetables are cruciferous, including all varieties of cabbage and broccoli because their calcium is particularly well assimilated, in proportions ranging from 40 to 60%.

Water is also a good calcium vector. Calcium from the water (tap water or bottled) is absorbed as well as that in milk, sometimes even better.

Foods coming from animals provide little calcium, 15 to 20 mg per 100 g. However sardines provide an exception if we eat them with their edges.

It is important to know the dairy calcium from other sources, not just from the point of view of their content but also actually absorbed fraction. For example, a glass of milk (240 g) provides 300 mg of calcium, of which 32% is absorbed, slightly less than 100 mg net calcium. In comparison, you need to consume less than one serving (0.7) of Chinese cabbage, or two and a half glasses of water with high concentrations of magnesium, to absorb the same amount of calcium.

To get the calcium you need, you do not need to eat 3 to 4 dairy products daily. You can follow the advice of the Harvard School of Public Health who simply advises “get one or two good sources of calcium a day,” be it vegetables, fruit, water, sardines, almonds. At the same time, it is advisable to eat low salt because excess salt leads to calcium in the urine.

If I do not eat dairy products, do I risk a fracture?

In September 2015, a major study was published in the medical journal BMJ that definitively confirms that neither calcium consumption at the recommended dietary (900 to 1200 mg), nor that of dairy products reduces the risk of fracture¹.

Excluding dairy products, are there preferred regimes to prevent fractures?

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, diets rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes (such as soy), tubers, nuts, spices, are associated with a lower risk of fracture. These benefits are partly explained by the low acid load of these foods, and high intake of alkalizing elements such as potassium salts. Potassium must first be sought in food, but it is also possible to use potassium citrate supplements.

But food is not enough to prevent fractures. It is necessary to associate a minimum of physical exercise, especially when you get older, weight training to strengthen bones and muscles, and dancing for balance. Also avoid or limit drugs that decrease your sense of balance, as antipsychotics, antihypertensives, etc.

My child is allergic to milk. Should he/she avoid dairy products for his/her entire life?

Milk is one of the most common food allergens. Before the age of 3 years, 2 to 3% of children are allergic to milk².

Treatment involves eliminating dairy products and foods containing dairy proteins: the numerous and mandatory labeling makes it a pretty easy task for parents of allergic children. Home cooking must appeal to gourmet milk substitutes.

It was thought until recently that the  allergies disappear around the age of 3 years, but according to a recent study, only 20% of allergic children are no longer allergic to milk at the age of 4 years. It often takes longer, even at adolescence to see these children tolerate milk proteins. For example, at age 16, 20% of children who were allergic to milk still are³.

I do not digest lactose. Is this an anomaly?

All babies digest lactose, the milk sugar, thanks to an enzyme called lactase. But after weaning (between the ages of 3 and 5 years), the activity of lactase decreases from 75 to 90% in humans because this enzyme is then unnecessary from the standpoint of evolution: our prehistoric ancestors, not having any livestock, did not consume any milk.

However, about 5000 years ago, the descendants of the Neolithic pastoralist peoples (Northern Europe, Caucasus, Fulani, Masai, etc.) have developed genetic mutations that maintained lactase activity even in adulthood. Today, only those populations, a minority in human species, can digest lactose of milk after infancy. So it is quite normal for an adult not to be able to digest lactose.

What are the symptoms when one does not digest lactose?

People who do not digest lactose are unwell 30 minutes to 2 hours after drinking milk, not only on the digestive level, but also in many other ways. Lactose intolerance is indeed manifested by rhinitis, sinusitis, eczema, headaches, concentration problems, joint pain and frequent urination. This is because the lactose, when it reaches the colon, is metabolized by the intestinal flora, leadin to hydrogen releases and a myriad of toxins.

Read also: How do I know if I am intolerant to lactose?

I am intolerant to lactose. Can I consume goat milk?

There is a little less lactose in goat milk, but the difference is small: for example, lactose, is 0.2 to 0.5% less in goat milk compared to cow’s milk. So an intolerant person to lactose is also much indisposed with goat milk.

Read also: The goat milk and sheep are they preferable to cow’s milk?

I read that raw milk does not have the disadvantages of conventional milk, pasteurized or UHT.

Raw milk may contribute to resistance to infections, especially among children. Advocates of raw milk ensure that it is nutritionally superior to conventional milk. It is true that milk heating process reduces the levels of many vitamins, but this decrease relates to relatively low starting levels, and does not appear to have clinical consequences.

Apart from these aspects, raw milk contains the same proteins and the same amount of lactose as conventional milk. So the problems of these constituents, when eating conventional dairy products, will not be eliminated by using raw milk.

References

1. Bolland MJ, Leung W, Tai , Bastin S, Gamble GD, Grey A, Reid IR, Calcium intake and risk of fracture: systematic review BMJ 2015;351:h4580
2. Høst A. Frequency of cow’s milk allergy in childhood. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2002 Dec;89(6 Suppl 1):33-7.
3. Skripak JM1, Matsui EC, Mudd K, Wood RA. The natural history of IgE-mediated cow’s milk allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Nov;120(5):1172-7. Epub 2007 Nov 1.

The post Why and when to avoid taking dairy products? appeared first on Milks and Health.

According to scientists, about half of people complaining of chronic diarrhea would be intolerant to lactose, the dominant sugar of cow’s milk¹. But where does this famous lactose intolerance come from? All babies tolerate lactose: we are equipped with an enzyme, called lactase, which helps digest the sugar lactose in the milk. Around the age of three to six years, in human species, this enzyme is not or poorly expressed and we cannot digest lactose properly. Hence troubles when consuming dairy products in childhood and adolescence because this undigested lactose is causing toxins. This is the norm for humanity: 70 to 75% of the earth’s population cannot digest lactose after the age of three years.

But a minority of the inhabitants of the planet, those who go down as pastoralist peoples have a genetic mutation that allows them to continue to express lactase, even after the age of 3 years. Those people therefore can drink milk without experiencing disorders due to the absence of lactase. In Europe, those people are mainly the residents of the north. Further south, more intolerance is widespread. Lactose intolerance concerns more than 60% of the inhabitants of the south of France and 90% in Sicily.

Symptoms of lactose intolerance

Lactose is found in liquid milk, but also in yoghurts and cheeses. Normally, yoghurts contain no or little lactose because it is “digested” by the probiotic bacteria. But industrialists, to improve the creaminess of yoghurt and to erase their acidity often add milk powder, containing lactose. There is also lactose in many processed foods such as cold cuts and even medicines.

Cardiff University researchers have identified the symptoms of lactose intolerance in 133 patients for 48 hours after they had received 50 g of lactose, the equivalent of what is in a liter of milk².

Aside digestive symptoms, here’s what they found: 100% of patients had the following symptoms: abdominal pain, abdominal distension, rumbling, flatulence. 70% of them had diarrhea (30% being constipated), 78% of patients complained of nausea and vomiting.

Aside systemic symptoms, here’s what the researchers also found: 86% of patients complained of headache and dizziness, 82% loss of concentration, impaired short-term memory, 71% of them suffered muscle aches, pains, stiffness and joint swelling, 40% of allergies, 24% cardiac arrhythmia, 30% of ulcers …

If you think you are lactose intolerant, you can have confirmation by DNA testing, or more commonly by a test that measures expired (total?) hydrogen after ingestion of 50 g of lactose (1 g / kg with children).

Who is affected by lactose intolerance?

According to experimental studies conducted on this subject, some of those who express more lactase can drink small amounts of lactose (about 10 to 12 g per day or the equivalent of a glass of milk) without suffering from specific disorders³. However the acceptability of lactose threshold varies from person to person: some tolerate a glass of milk, others are indisposed with a few grams of chocolate milk.

In the USA, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases estimates that 30 and 50 million people suffer from lactose intolerance⁴. In France, no official estimates have been made, but 41% of adults have problems digesting milk or … 20 million. Yet lactose spreads a bit more every year in our food …

References

1. Campbell AK, Waud JP, Matthews SB The molecular basis of lactose intolerance. Sci Prog. 2005;88(Pt 3):157-202.
2. Matthews SB, Waud JP, Roberts AG, Campbell AK Systemic lactose intolerance: a new perspective on an old problem. BMJGlobal Health March 2005 Vol. 81 – 953
3. Sklar M, Wasserman B What is Lactose Intolerance? Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
4. Sibley E, Fisher R, Pennington J, McDowell MA Lactose Intolerance National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

The post Are you intolerant to lactose? appeared first on Milks and Health.

Why not cow’s milk?

Lactose, the carbohydrate in cow’s milk is a complex molecule consisting of galactose and glucose. To be assimilated, it must be split into two in the gut by the enzyme lactase. This enzyme is present in all children up to 3-4 years, and then decreases sharply or even disappear in adulthood, in 70% of the population.

Most adults do not digest lactose, which is considered as a foreign body in the digestive system. Cow’s milk then becomes poisonous. Its various components cause toxic effects in the intestine and seep into different parts of the body, especially in joints, where they generate and maintain inflammation, as in rheumatism and osteoarthritis.

They also promote the ENT (ear, nose, and throat) disorders following the filing of macroscopic molecules of undigested milk in the respiratory tract and mucous production that triggers bronchitis, ear infections, nasopharyngitis, asthma. They aggravate skin problems such as eczema, and are causing digestive problems, but also more serious diseases.

Why not goat milk or sheep milk?

Dr Seignalet remains intractable when Kousmine considered a little acidifying food that can be consumed in moderation. After all, goat milk or sheep milk is even richer in calcium (50% more for sheep) than cow’s milk. And as the size of these animals is smaller, their milk contains less growth factor. Except that it also has as much lactose than cow’s milk, so the problem remains.

Next, goat milk contains little alpha-S1 casein, which is an allergen, but contains as much beta-lactoglobulin as cow’s milk, a different allergenic protein. And no study certifies that goat milk or sheep milk causes fewer allergies than cow’s milk.

Well then, what do we do?

Yes, you need calcium to strengthen the metabolism of bone and cartilage. No, it is not necessary to turn to milk and his derivatives to have sufficient intake of it. Many foods are recommended for their calcium content, such as canned sardines with their bones, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, white beans, almonds, raisins and mineral calcium-rich waters are all excellent sources of calcium. For example, did you know that 100g cabbage or a cup of cooked spinach contain as much calcium as a glass of milk ?

So if you’re fit and you cannot do without milk, instead drink fermented cow’s milk and eat yoghurt or curd. When milk is pasteurized it loses much of its vital compounds. If your joints are vulnerable, do not drink cow’s milk. You should preferably drink vegetable milk and keep your little goat cheese for the big day.

The post Cow’s milk versus sheep milk or goat milk appeared first on Milks and Health.