Friday, June 26, 2009
The Milk Myth
A recent study claims that young adults are not drinking enough milk -- that is, if you read what the media reports. But if you really read the study according to the lead author Nicole Larson, it's calcium they're lacking. The words "milk" and "calcium" are often used interchangeably in the popular press. But while milk is a calcium source, no standard other than that of the National Dairy Council considers it the best calcium source.
The suggestion that you need to drink three glasses of the secretion of a cow's mammary glands in order to be healthy is a bit outrageous and doesn't fit the human evolutionary profile. In fact, most humans around the world cannot easily digest cow milk.
Yogurt has more calcium than milk and is easier to digest. Collards and other greens also have about as much or more calcium than milk by the cup. Greens, unlike milk, have the added benefit of vitamin K, also necessary for strong bones. Sesame is also very high in calcium.
When you measure calcium by cup of food product, milk is high on the list. When you view it by calorie, though, milk is at the bottom. A hundred calories of turnip greens have over three times as much calcium as 100 calories of whole milk.
Labels: calcium, Collard Greens, cows, eating healthy, green leafy vegetables, Green veggies, healthy food, milk, sesame seeds, turnip greens
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