photo by markhillary

I was flipping through a holistic journal called Edge over the weekend and found an informative article about milk, by Dr. Shannon O’Keefe. The true identity of milk is starting to take shape in the mainstream as more research is revealed, so it seemed like a good time to write another post about it. I thought I’d share with you a bit of what she had to say about milk and calcium. (Here’s another article of hers that was a precursor to this.)

Dairy, calcium and osteoporosis: Milk and other dairy products contain only small amounts of magnesium. Without the presence of magnesium, the body only absorbs 25 percent of the available dairy calcium content. In turn, the excess remaining calcium can cause problems. Calcium builds up the mortar on arterial walls, which becomes atherosclerotic plaques. It can be converted by the kidneys into painful stones that can block urinary tracts. Excess calcium also contributes to arthrisits. Osteoporosis is not a problem that should be associated merely with lack of calcium intake.

Can dairy consumption cause calcium loss? The massive amounts of protein in milk results in a 50 percent or greater loss of calcium in the urine. In other words, by doubling your protein intake, there will be a loss of 1-1.5 percent in skeletal mass per hear in post-menopausal women – and this, multiplied over 20 years is considerable. The calcium contained in leafy green vegetables is more easily absorbed than the calcium in milk. Don’t get us wrong… protein is very important for other bodily processes. However, if you are concerned about calcium intake, getting your calcium from milk may not be the best option. Douglas Kiel, M.D., of Harvard Medical School states, “Normal digestion produces increased acidity. In this environment, bone acts as a buffer base. Minerals are drawn out of the bone to neutralize the acid , thereby reducing the strength of the bone. Fruits and vegetables help to prevent this loss of bone mineral density, because they create a more alkaline environment in the body. They neutralize the acid without depending on the buffering effects of the bone minerals.”

Where should I get my calcium? For a refence point, 1 oz of cheese has 270mg and 8 oz milk has 300mg of calcium.

The amount of calcium in the following:
1 C collard greens 357mg
1 C rice milk (plain, calcium fortified) 200-300mg
1 C turnip greens 249mg
1 C black eyed peas 211mg
1 C kale 179mg
2 TBSP sesame seeds 176mg
1 C okra 176mg
1 C bok choy 158mg
5 medium figs 135mg
1/4 C almonds 97mg
1 C broccoli 94mg
1/2 C amaranth 74mg
1/2 C dried apricots 43mg
1/2 C quinoa 25mg
1 TBSP blackstrap molasses 137mg

Alternatives to Dairy – Nut and Rice Milks: Non-dairy milks are good choices for those who choose to avoid cows’ milk. You can use them for cooking or on your cereal for breakfast. Nut milks (e.g. almond milk) are usually the most nutricious, since rice milk is almost purely carbohydrate (and therefore high glycemic and not recommended for diabeteics) and soy milk may act as a hormone imbalancer.

For more info about dairy milk check out my previous post about milk which focuses on the false claims of the National Dairy Council.