The Starch Solution (18 page)

A comprehensive review of the scientific literature on diets consumed around the world shows virtually no diseases related to calcium deficiency.
^8
–
11
You have probably heard of rickets, a disease where the bones weaken, leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is seen only in children, and nearly all cases result from inadequate vitamin D, from a lack of sunshine (see
Chapter 11
). While it is possible to get rickets from insufficient calcium—a condition called nutritional rickets—it is exceedingly rare and is found only with extremely restricted diets.
¹²
Even in these few cases the exact role that very low calcium intake plays is unclear.
¹³

Even for children, contrary to the dairy industry’s marketing campaign, the scientific literature has clearly documented that extra dietary calcium
does not
build strong bones.
^14
,
15
A review in the March 2005 journal
Pediatrics
concludes that: “Scant evidence supports nutrition guidelines focused specifically on increasing milk or other dairy product intake for promoting child and adolescent bone mineralization.”
¹⁵

According to the time-honored message from the National Dairy Council, milk and its by-products are important, if not essential, for the prevention of osteoporosis. However, this conclusion runs contrary to the scientific research on the effects of cow’s milk on the bone health of women. In a review of 57 studies, more than half of the studies (57 percent) showed no significant benefit from dairy, 29 percent showed a benefit from consuming dairy, and 14 percent found that dairy products actually seemed to harm the bones.
¹⁶

The review included seven randomized, controlled trials (a research design scientists consider most reliable), six of which were funded by the dairy industry. Yet they
still
could not make the case for dairy’s benefit.

Just one of these randomized studies looked at the effects of drinking cow’s milk on postmenopausal women.
¹⁷
The others looked at the effects of milk on adolescent and premenopausal women or those who used calcium sources other than the one most commonly consumed: milk. In this single study, the postmenopausal women who drank extra milk actually lost
more
bone than those who did not. The authors’ interpretation: “The protein content of the milk supplement may have a negative effect on calcium balance, possibly through an increase in kidney losses of calcium or through a direct effect on bone resorption…this may have been due to the average 30 percent increase in protein intake during milk supplementation.”

A 2006 editorial in the
British Medical Journal
confirms these findings, pointing out that: “Populations that consume the most cow’s milk and other dairy products have among the highest rates of osteoporosis and hip fractures in later life.”
¹⁸
As it turns out, the more calcium in the diet, the greater the risk of hip fractures worldwide.
^19
,
20
Consuming dairy products may actually
harm
our bones. It’s not surprising, since hard cheeses, like Parmesan, burden the body with the largest amounts of dietary acids of any commonly consumed animal foods.
^21
–
26

Worldwide, rates of hip fractures and kidney stones increase with increasing calcium intake. The United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, and New Zealand have the highest rates of osteoporosis, while the lowest rates are found in rural Asia and rural Africa, where people eat the fewest animal-derived foods and also consume low-calcium diets.
^19,20

Osteoporosis is caused by several controllable factors, the most important being what we eat. The greatest risk comes from foods that are high in protein and dietary acids,
^21-26
including meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and hard cheeses.

Figures represent renal acid load per 100 calories. Foods are ordered from most acidic (highest positive number) to most alkaline (lowest negative number).

This incontestable evidence shows the more protein a population consumes, the greater the risk of hip fractures.
^19,20

This incontestable evidence shows the more calcium a population consumes, the greater the risk of hip fractures.
^19,20

Our bones neutralize the acids from the foods we eat, leaching calcium from them in the process.
²¹
Fruits and vegetables, which are alkaline by nature, help to neutralize acids as well, preserving the bones from being drained by this demanding work.

Milk labeling is notoriously misleading. Whole milk, advertised as 3.5 percent fat, may indeed have 3.5 percent fat by weight, but in terms of calories, half of them come from fat, most of it the saturated, artery-clogging kind. Even milk labeled low-fat or 2 percent (again, by weight) gets nearly one-third (32 percent) of its calories from fat. Cheese is the worst offender; roughly 70 percent of its calories come from fat. Fat is the major contributor to obesity, and from obesity comes type 2 diabetes.

Fat is highly publicized as a hazard of consuming dairy products. But dairy proteins and the milk sugar lactose also lead to common illnesses. Cancer is caused, at least in part, by both high- and low-fat dairy products, implicating other components of dairy products besides the fat.
²⁷
The protein in milk increases growth hormones (like IGF1) that promote the development and growth of common cancers, such as breast, prostate, colon, brain, and lung cancer.
^28
–
31
Dairy proteins are a major contributor to food allergies and more serious autoimmune diseases as wide ranging as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and multiple sclerosis.
^32
–
34
Intolerance of the milk sugar lactose causes the majority of people worldwide to become ill with stomach cramps, diarrhea, and gas (lactose intolerance).

Although a case can be made against many of dairy’s individual components (protein, fat, cholesterol, sugar, lack of dietary fiber or complex carbohydrates), such microanalyses distract us with oversimplification that misses the larger point: Dairy foods make people fat and sick. Plain and simple, dairy foods are not intended for, or tolerated by, children or adults. Cow’s milk is for calves, and then only for the first 6 months of their lives, at most.

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
General

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Loss of appetite, growth retardation

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Upper gastrointestinal

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Canker sores; irritation of the tongue, lips, and mouth; tonsil enlargement; vomiting; gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); Sandifer’s syndrome; peptic ulcer disease; colic; stomach cramps; abdominal distention; intestinal obstruction; type 1 diabetes

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Lower gastrointestinal

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Bloody stools, colitis, malabsorption, diarrhea, painful defecation, fecal soiling, infantile colic, chronic constipation, infantile food protein-induced enterocolitis syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Respiratory

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Stuffy or runny nose, inner ear infections, sinus infections, wheezing, asthma, pulmonary infiltrates

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Bone and joint

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Rheumatoid arthritis (juvenile and adult), lupus, Behcet’s disease, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Skin

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Rashes, atopic dermatitis, eczema, seborrhea, hives, acne

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Nervous

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, autism, schizophrenia, irritability, restlessness, hyperactivity, headache, lethargy, fatigue, allergic-tension fatigue syndrome, muscle pain, mental depression, bed-wetting

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Blood

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Abnormal blood clotting, iron deficiency anemia, low serum proteins, thrombocytopenia, eosinophilia

BODY SYSTEMS AFFECTED
Other

SYMPTOMS AND ILLNESSES
Nephrotic syndrome, glomerulonephritis, anaphylactic shock and death, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS or crib or cot death), injury to the arteries causing arteritis, and eventually, atherosclerosis