Dairy products - a good or bad source of calcium

[andyjohnsonman]

osteoporosis runs in my family so I want to make sure i keep my calcium levels up for bone density. My dad has very weak bones now. He was told he had high cholesterol about 20 years ago so he cut out dairy products which he believes caused it. I watched a few documentaries about 5 years ago one being forks over knives which claims dairy is a bad source of calcium so I cut it out. Over the duration of these 5 years I feel my bones are getting weaker. The research seems to be divided on this topic with no clear evidence saying whether or not diary is a good source. I feel this is a crucial life decision to make as it could make a difference whether I am healthy as I age or start to become weak. What are peoples verdicts in this forum about whether or not to eat dairy for bone health? 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by andyjohnsonman

[PurpleTree]

if you're not lactose intolerant and don't have any other problems digesting milk or milk sensitivities

and you buy good organic dairy products, then i think it's a good source. maybe not daily though

[Osaid]

You probably know this already, but just to make sure, vitamin D and magnesium are just as important for regulating bone health so make sure to get that too. You could try a plant-alternative milk with lots of calcium just to be safe about the controversy around dairy milk.

Also, exercise is apparently really good for bones too. And caffeine and salt intake can lead to higher calcium loss.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Osaid

[Michael569]

Osteoporosis is one of the most multifactorial conditions there are but the general consensus in naturopathic medicine is that it is a lifestyle disease caused by our western type of lifestyle. 

Here is few things to keep in check: 

1. Physical Activity - I would say this is the main one for prevention. The activity should include mechanical strain such as weightlifting, gardening work, bodyweight training, some sort of manual work regularly that involves either direct pressure or repeated bouncing (e.g. roap skipping, box jumping, jogging). Basically, anyone exerting a pressure of your skeletal muscles on your bones. 

2. Diet - calcium, boron, manganese, magnesium, protein, Vitamin K2 - make sure to have good sources of all. A balanced diet will usually do that. 

3. Vitamin D - EXTREMELY important for bone density. You want it somewhere between 60-70ng/mL. Test it if you need to. 

4. Alcohol and Tobacco - bad bad bad bad

5. Alkaline Diet - a typical acidic diet rich in meat, dairy & sugar is awful for bone health. Despite popular claims dairy is NOT associated with reduced osteoporosis risk. You may of course consume it but do not make it your sole calcium source. There are many good plant-based sources 

6. Your microbiome plays an important role here as well. It appears there is a communication between microbiome and the osteoblasts and osteocytes of your skeleton and damage microbiome may be linked to worsening of bone density 

7. Some drugs like PPIs or corticosteroids can make it worse. Also, drugs designed for osteoporosis patients such as BPs or AAs are not all that effective. 

8. sugar, soft drinks & junk food are also very bad

 

Btw it is unlikely you feel your bones weaker, this is not something you can feel which is why it often goes undetected until a fall or injury happens 

[Loving Radiance]

@Michael569 Unrelated but it just popped into my mind. I have a certain taste for water since I just drink plain water all the time. Some tapwater here in Germany tastes different than others and some feel heavy. That's why I refill my bottle at specific bathrooms within the same city. Does that heavy feeling correlate with an intuitive detection of heavy metals?

[andyjohnsonman]

Wow thats some great information thanks for that. How can you be sure that "Despite popular claims dairy is NOT associated with reduced osteoporosis risk"? As there seems to be evidence for both being correct. Maybe just to be sure i'll cut milk and cheese in favour of leafy greens and plant based milk?

[andyjohnsonman]

38 minutes ago, Michael569 said:

Despite popular claims dairy is NOT associated with reduced osteoporosis risk.

The above comment was responding to this.

[Average Investor]

@Loving Radiance You don't want to be drinking tap water at all. You are not going to know what is in it and most is filled with a variety of chemicals and metals. If you can get your own reverse osmosis system that would be best. That or something that does fluoride, chemicals and other metals. I would not cheap out on it though. You can buy bottled reverse osmosis water, but they usually put some chemicals in it and it sits in plastic for so long you are just getting toxins from the plastic instead. 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Average Investor

[Loving Radiance]

9 hours ago, Average Investor said:

You don't want to be drinking tap water at all.

Are you informed on German regulations on tap water to assert that?

9 hours ago, Average Investor said:

If you can get your own reverse osmosis system that would be best.

Currently working on that.

[PurpleTree]

54 minutes ago, Loving Radiance said:

Currently working on that.

What system are you looking into and how much is it going to cost?

[Michael569]

13 hours ago, Loving Radiance said:

Unrelated but it just popped into my mind. I have a certain taste for water since I just drink plain water all the time. Some tapwater here in Germany tastes different than others and some feel heavy. That's why I refill my bottle at specific bathrooms within the same city. Does that heavy feeling correlate with an intuitive detection of heavy metals

It may be also things like copper or chloride but yah maybe other things. I think in Germany you can access a report about your water quality. I was working with someone else in Germany and he sent it to me. But (in my opinion) everybody should be filtering their water. It is just not worth the risk considering a monthly cost of a filter is 10 euros (or less). Think about all the shit that gets in the underground water sources and that most of your drinking water (at least where I live) is being reused. I wonder how efficient are we in separating molecules of antibiotics, pharmaceutical drugs, certain heavy metals, drugs etc. Is all of this getting out? I doubt it What about microplastics? It has been found even in snow which suggests that evaporation is not sufficient to clear the water of everything anymore. The least you can do is to buy a Britta with 6 filters and change a filter every 4 weeks. 

13 hours ago, andyjohnsonman said:

Despite popular claims dairy is NOT associated with reduced osteoporosis risk"

if you think about it, countries with the highest consumption of dairy (US, UK, Germany, France) also have the highest rate of osteoporosis despite their average calcium intake going way above the recommended 1000mg (US) and 750mg (UK) 

More important than JUST calcium is to get your vitamin D checked as well as have a stable in taking of Vitamin K (leafy greens, lentils etc). This is because calcium metabolism is regulated by your parathyroid gland and in this process, Vitamin D also plays a significant part. If vitamin D is low you may also be peeing our more calcium and that could create nasty complications if kidney stones as well later on. 

A lot of osteoporosis treatment focuses only on calcium but you need all the other ones as well. Vitamin D deficiency is a global problem especially in developed countries where we spend less & less time outside. 

 

[mandyjw]

With diet, I think it's really important to follow your intuition. Test things and see how you feel. I absolutely love almond milk, more than normal milk but I swear to god, the calcium they use in it is not right and I get strange subtle symptoms when I drink it. 

I think the best bet is to eat a ton of veggies. Also if you eat sardines with the bones, you get a lot of calcium. Make sure you buy the more expensive, smaller sized ones, or the bones are just gross.

 I don't think high quality sources of dairy are bad every now and then if you can handle it.

[Loving Radiance]

1 hour ago, PurpleTree said:

What system are you looking into and how much is it going to cost?

This is one thing I have bookmarked to look more into. RO system, $219.99

[Average Investor]

@Loving Radiance No, there is no way for me to know the sources you are getting it from specifically either. Either way I would make a large bet to say it contained that stuff I mentioned. 

[UDT]

@andyjohnsonman  Cheese ! Lactose is fermented in cheese.

Important if you drink a lot of coffee or eat verey acidic (what most people do) thant this makes your body draw calcium out of your bones to stabilize pH levels.