The Importance Of Milk

Diet and Nutrition
1

Milk is a processed, calorie-containing beverage that many people have genetic intolerance to.

The Paleo folks are against it, and I believe JB prefers not to have it (avoid all calorie containing drinks?). Yet, people in the media, etc. have been preaching about the importance of calcium for ages. Milk and dairy products are the best sources of calcium.

Now, I was under the impression that it is more about the “calcium balance” than it is about the actual amount of calcium you take in. My question is, are there any long term health concerns one should have when eliminating milk and dairy products from diet?

Thanks guys.

2

Why eliminate milk from the diet? Just because others say so? Are you dieting down and really restricting carb intake?

3

…long term health effects from eliminating milk?

I think milk is great. If you are not lactose intolerant why limit yourself?

If your going to take something out that was providing you with nutrients I suggest replacing it with other stuff that gets you the same nutrients. That should be obvious.

I’m not sure I understand you motivation though. Do you have diabetes or something and are really having to watch fast acting carbs?

4

Milk is not necessary. Chinese, Indonesians, Japanese, Koreans, Western Africans, native americans…traditionally don’t drink milk at all.
But milk is also great for bulking. Cheap, convenient…so if you tolerate it (no lactose intolerance nor milk protein allergy) go for it (whole organic milk is better)

Sorry for my english! :slight_smile:

5

Goals. Goals. Goals.

Calorie containing beverages are perfectly fine if you need to hit 5,000 calories a day. Hell, it would be impressive if you could get that from halfway clean foods along.

The intolerance is definitely an issue, and you should factor that in. Dont they have little Lactase drops you can throw into some milk to alleviate that problem?

Milk is the original protein shake and is probably a staple of most people looking to ADD weight.

During times of dieting where whole foods are very important, I would probably limit/eliminate milk, but during weight gaining? No way.

6

Yeah milk isn’t really that great. It’s not like humans are designed to digest milk and dairy efficiently and use it’s blend of nutrients to build new biomass and repair existing biomass.

Oh, wait a second…what was the most important bulking food for the first months of your life? Yeah, it was milk. Granted cow milk and human milk are different, the milk you buy at the grocery store is still one of the most wholesome foods you can buy and arguably the best way to drink your calories.

I feel sorry for the lactose intolerant crowd but hey, it’s not like they’ve been damned with the burden of diabetes.

7

Another thing to note: genetic sequences among species is conserved to some degree. I’m not sure how much humans and ruminants vary however.

8

I’m starting to prefer cottage cheese to milk.

9

I have been drinking gallon of milk a day pretty easily. Though I’m probably going to have to cut it back a bit because of the cost. I couldnt live without my milk, squats and milk = grow.

10

Milk is not as good as mainstream media would have you believe, and it’s not as bad as the conspiracy theorists would have you believe. It’s good for bulking, bad for cutting. It’s a natural source of protein, sugar and fat, but its utility ends there.

11

Guys, I take in between 4800-5200 calories per day, without milk and without processed breads, pastas, etc. It was tough at first, but it’s easy to get accustomed to.

I was just asking if minimal calcium in the diet was such a bad thing? I’m trying out this whole Paleolithic style thing, and the doctors who endorse that style diet dont believe in dairy products, stating that bone health is dependant on calcium balance rather than calcium intake.

Thanks for the replies so far.

12

Well…

Is milk great? I think this shouldn’t be a question for BB’s and Athletes only, but for everybody. I mean, our youth is raised to drink milk, so we should seriously consider it’s health effects.

Personally, I was a great milk-drinker until like one year ago. My milk consumption was arounf 4 liters a day at it’s highest.

Now, I stopped drinking it, and I feel better. I’m sharper, faster (which is important for me since I’m a martial artist) and I’m lighter (whihc, too, is important).

From a mass-gainer perspective, milk surely is a good thing.

Over here in Austria, milk isn’t even considered a beverage in scientifical terms but rather foodstuff because of it’s calorie-density and nutrients.

The protein in milk has quite a good bio value and is easily ingested compared to meat, poultry or fish.

However, first of all, as pointed out already, the human body isn’t necessarily constructed to digest milk after a certain age. As a matter of fact, no mammal apart from man drinks milk after adolescence.

Apart from that, milk binds subcutaneous water and fat - not a very good thing if you’re training for better looks.

The most important thing in my opinion is the calcium thing. Now, as athletes we’re all bound to consume loads of proteins. Those proteins are acidic.

That’s one of the reasons why you should eat vegetables with every meal. Huh? You don’t own Precision Nutrition?

Go. Buy. It. Now.

Ok, that this is said, what does this mean for our milk consumption?

You may eat your veggies with every meal, however, do you take them with your milk as well? No? Well, tough luck, because, believe it or not, your body will compensate the acids.

Now that’s exactly where calcium comes into play, in the way that calcium basic (alkaline). Now if your body has to neutralize the acids that come from your milk protein by draining calcium from the bones (since milk calcium isn’t enough to neutralize), go figure…

Just my two cents…

13

i have had clients who chronically under-consumed calcium and managed to increase bone density. increased potassium, magnesium and other minerals will help, but only if you get them from fruits and veggies.

remember when the media is reporting that milk is good, it is because the average person eats like shit and increasing the amount of dairy is likely a great improvement in their nutrition. if my clients were to replace their calories with milk, they would be unbalancing their diets and making themselves worse off.

while increased calcium from milk intake can help with bone density in normal north american populations, eating a diet high in animal protein, but also high in fruits and veggies to balance the acid-base ratio with a balanced fat intake is a much better option.

if you want to drink a lot of milk, my advice is make sure your potassium and magnesium intakes are high too.

14

[quote]tajam wrote:
I was just asking if minimal calcium in the diet was such a bad thing? I’m trying out this whole Paleolithic style thing, and the doctors who endorse that style diet dont believe in dairy products, stating that bone health is dependant on calcium balance rather than calcium intake.[/quote]

I’m trying out the paleo thing too (although I’m still eating cheese). Why do you say “minimal calcium intake”? The milk lobbyists have convinced the American population that calcium is only found in milk products, but this isn’t true.

If you’re eating plenty of vegetables on the paleo diet, and you can’t help but do this, you’re getting plenty of calcium. And you’re also getting magnesium, the other important mineral when it comes to bone formation…but which you never hear about, because milk doesn’t have it in high amounts…what a coincidence! The ratio of calcium to magnesium in milk is 11:1, in broccoli it’s 2:1, in spinach it’s 1.25:1.

If you eat your vegetables, you’ll get enough calcium.

And just in case, let me point out that I love milk; I just hate being lobbyed at!

15

Well, there are already a lot of great posts, but here’s my 2 cents.

Ultimately what is milk?
It’s a concentrated high calorie weight gainer produced for baby cows to become big cows in the shortest amount of time possible.

Sugar, Protein and fat: the recipe for big.
(big not just meaning muscles)

So, you know…if you’re trying to be the biggest, strongest cow you can be, drink up.

I think if more people looked at milk as a (cow’s) weight gainer it would simplify things a lot.

The calcium thing is a bit of a non-issue as you can certainly get all you need from other foods.

16

Cutting dairy products (milk, creamer, whey, cheese) has nearly eliminated my adult onset acne. I’m 31 and get periodic nasty breakouts, usually getting worse during my recent increases in calorie intake. I was using dairy to really boost my intake.

I keep a food log and have been slowly watching my skin after different types of foods for a few months at a time.

Note that I suffered from cystic acne as a teen, was on accutane twice, and see almost no positive effects from antibiotics. My dermatologist had me on Septra for awhile and even that didn’t work.

So, I just eat more poultry to replace my whey intake (better source if not slightly more expensive) and green leafy veggies for my calcium.

If you have an issue with acne and eat lots of dairy, try cutting it out of your diet for a few weeks. It may help, and is certainly worth the try and much cheaper than doctor visits.

17

Thanks for all the replies guys. I understand the acid/base principal that much better now. I think I’ll stick without milk.

18

[quote]steadfastred wrote:
If you have an issue with acne and eat lots of dairy, try cutting it out of your diet for a few weeks. It may help, and is certainly worth the try and much cheaper than doctor visits.[/quote]

I think it was Poliquin who said that he recommends dropping milk from the diet to clear up acne, but makes an exception for raw organic milk, which apparently is processed very differently in the human body.

Unfortunately raw milk is treated with the same kind of severity as frikkin’ narcotics in this corner of the world.

19

I love Milk couldn’t make it through the day without it. Im a 1/4 lapp or Sami they have been drinking milk for thousands of years so I don’t really see a problem with it. Somr tribe can even ferment it and get drunk off it. Grass fed free range whole cows milk doesn’t get better then that. You should see the cows in Humboldt County they got the good life.

20

Kind of dumb following a diet based on stone age people or whatever the fuck it is. First of all EVERYTHING is processed. Forget about it, you will never eat the same, the nutrients are completely different. Following such a diet in a modern day world is impossible.