How Do Dairy Products Affect the Human Body

The American Dairy Industry, through its advertising, leads us to believe that milk is beneficial for everyone. Statistics prove that this is not the case. Dairy products contain a sugar called lactose. When a person has a negative reaction to milk or other dairy products, one of the most common reasons is that the person does not have enough lactase (an enzyme) to digest the lactose. Lactose intolerance is common in most eth­nic groups, occurring in 70 percent of Black Americans and over 70 percent of Jews, Arabs, Greeks, Japanese, Eskimos, Indians, Africans, and Asians. Statistics show that in the United States, 50 percent of all people tested for food allergies have reactions to dairy products. Out of all the allergic sub­stances, milk and milk products head the list.

When we eat food that we are allergic to, we upset our body chemistries and the food is not absorbed well. So, for those with a lactose intolerance, eating and drinking milk products can actually lead to osteoporosis.

I am allergic to milk and milk products. When I was in college, I had a calcium deposit the size of a grapefruit re­moved from my chest. I do not eat any dairy products and, though I may be over fifty years of age, I have no osteoporo­sis. I test my urine for homeostasis regularly. I make sure I include fish, dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, soy prod­ucts, and small amounts of seeds and nuts in my diet.

If dairy products seem right for you, then by all means eat and drink them. However, if they cause symptoms such as cramping, gas, bloating, falling asleep after eating them, fa­tigue, headaches, or constipation, then I suggest you look for other sources of calcium in your diet. Stop upsetting your body chemistry.

In Asia and Africa diets are low in calcium. These native diets do not include milk products—no milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, or ice cream. The average calcium intake is somewhere between 300-500 milligrams of calcium per day, however, osteoporosis is virtually unknown in these civiliza­tions where people eat their native foods. These people get their calcium from soy, dark green vegetables, carrots, fish, seeds, and nuts. In Europe and North American, where the consumption of calcium is much greater (800-1,000 milligrams of calcium per day), osteoporosis is becoming an epidemic.

This will not necessarily produce a desirable effect. For exam­ple, having a twelve-ounce milkshake for lunch, which has 600 milligrams of calcium, and fruit yogurt for dinner, which has 600 milligrams of calcium, would seem like plenty of calcium for the day, right? Wrong. The sugar in the milkshake (approximately five teaspoons) and in the fruit yogurt (seven tea­spoons) so upsets the body chemistry that the calcium you have eaten cannot all be absorbed. Not only are you absorbing less of the calcium in the sugary milk products, but the other minerals and nutrients are also less available to your body. Sugar, though not the only thing that pulls calcium from the bones, is certainly one of the worst offenders.

So listen to your body and test it. If your body is happy with dairy products, then use them. If not, don't. Just don't fool yourself into believing that you are getting usable cal­cium in milkshakes, ice cream cones, cheesecake, and fruit yogurt.