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Milk and dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese  are considered to be irreplaceable foods in the diet, because they contain unique nutrients, which are essential for our health. Due to their nutritional characteristics, they are the most basic and complete foods since they contain carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.

There has been much debate on the beneficial or detrimental effect of dairy products on our health. Milk has always been considered to be one of the most complete foods that exist due to the fact that it contains vitamins A, B, C, riboflavin and niacin, iron, calcium and proteins. Regular consumption provides a third of the body’s daily vitamin requirement, helps to reduce the risk of breast cancer, due to the lactose, and its calcium content is also fundamental for preventing osteoporosis. 

Conflicting data

However, in recent years there has been much demythologising about milk consumption, due to the dissemination of negative messages concerning the properties of dairy products and studies with contradictory results. On the one hand, certain results associate the consumption of low-fat dairy products with a reduction of obesity. Results recently published concerning milk and dairy products reveal that the majority of people surveyed consider these foods to be a balanced, nutritious and healthy product.

This image is at odds with the prevailing expert opinion which has even suggested that dairy products should be removed from the everyday diet since they contain significant amounts of cholesterol and fat. 

Cow’s milk contains approximately three times more protein than human milk and almost 50% more fat. In fact, it is thought that the proteins, milk sugar and saturated fat from dairy products may represent health risks for children because they increase the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes,  as well as certain cardiovascular diseases. 

Milk may also be the main cause of infant allergies, with symptoms varying from headaches or a runny nose to hearing  problems and even muscular fatigue. Dairy products have also been associated to respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.

Watch your calcium levels

Another of the established affirmations is that dairy products are not a good source of calcium. In fact, animal milk has a demineralising effect in adults, particularly those who start to drink animal milk when they didn’t previously do so. The reason for this is that the excess proteins in dairy products produce a transitory acidity which causes a loss of calcium and may even lead to a rise in osteoporosis, when they are supposed to help beat this illness. 

Experts believe that rather than watching your calcium intake, you should monitor calcium loss. In order to do this, it is advisable to adopt a diet that contains plenty of vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage.

According to the experts, it is possible to have a healthy diet with no nutrient deficiencies without consuming dairy products. You can find a wide variety of vegetable milks in the shops (rice, sesame, oat, almond and hazelnut).

The main carbohydrate contained in milk is lactose. In order for the body to be able to digest it, it requires an enzyme called lactase which may sometimes be wholly or partially missing. In such cases, “lactose intolerance” often results,  one of the conditions that is most directly associated with dairy products. It is not dangerous, despite the fact that it causes abdominal pain, swelling and diarrhoea. It is often suffered by adults, although it may also arise in childhood when cow’s milk is introduced to the child’s diet or later on. 

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