Time to take the myth out of milk
If only some journalists, food writers, bloggers and even celebrities would do their research before making bold statements about milk and dairy foods, they would do their readers, and especially younger ones, a great service.
I have written before in this column about the myths that surround milk, that associate milk and dairy foods with a variety of ailments, yet without any science to support them.
Recent responsible press reports refer to the Food Standards Agency surveys, in which nearly half of 16 to 24 year olds believe they have an adverse reaction to milk, while fewer than one in ten of us in the “older people category” have any problems with dairy. The survey also found that more than a fifth of the whole population believe they are intolerant or allergic to cow’s milk yet only eight per cent of us who are over 75 think we are. One can only conclude that many of us are being misled by inaccurate information, by the opinions of others and by trendy fads.
The Dairy Council has recently been active in bringing together health care professionals and human nutrition experts to discuss milk and dairy foods and their link with health, especially heart disease. In presenting some of the latest scientific evidence on saturated fat, dairy, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, the aim was to clear up the confusion that currently exists.
It was reported that during the last decade much scientific evidence has been produced that shows there is no significant association between milk and dairy foods and the risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes; on the contrary, some studies have even shown protective effects.
For example, a surprising outcome of a recent study by University College Dublin was that people who ate the greatest amount of cheese did not have higher cholesterol levels, one of the main risk factors for heart disease, than those who ate the lowest amount of cheese. That result turns on its head the old widely held belief that eating foods high in saturated fats, like cheese, can increase the risk.
At the end of this Dairy Council event, it was evident that the vast majority of healthcare professionals agreed that milk and dairy foods are an important part of our diet and should not be targeted in efforts to reduce the population risk of heart disease.
The “take home message” for this story must be “listen to those that know, that base their views on scientific evidence, and not to those who, for whatever reason, make bold statements that cannot be supported.”
John Sumner is secretary of Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture.
