Clipping Board » Illness Enters through Mouth ─ The information that has been made public is often just the tip of the iceberg...
Author: Chen Yumei
Wanting to prevent osteoporosis, drinking more milk is not a panacea. Recent studies have even found that the more milk people drink, the more likely they are to suffer from osteoporosis?
How should milk be consumed? From milk advertisements to the national nutrition manual of the Department of Health, it is written: milk is the best source of calcium, a glass of milk a day keeps your bones healthy.
However, a recent study from Harvard University has debunked this claim. Harvard epidemiologist D. Feskanish spent 12 years tracking 78,000 middle-aged female alumni, investigating how much milk they drank, and found that women who drank more than two glasses of milk a day had a much higher chance of fractures than those who drank less than one glass of milk a week.
Does drinking more milk lead to fractures?
In fact, this is not the first time that the reputation of milk has been questioned by scientists and the medical community. The American magazine "Health" stated that the more dairy products consumed worldwide, the more people suffer from fractures due to osteoporosis. Countries with the highest prevalence of osteoporosis, such as the UK, the US, Sweden, and Finland, are also the countries that consume the most dairy products.
Drinking more milk does not guarantee bone health, so where does the problem lie? The problem lies in whether the food people eat is conducive to calcium absorption.
"I suspect the most likely culprit is protein," said W. Willet, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. This is also the explanation proposed by many scientists: excessive protein intake is detrimental to bone health. T. C. Campbell, a nutritional biochemist at Cornell University, firmly stated: "It's not about how much milk these people drink, but that they consume too much protein."
Domestically, Dr. Jiang Shuhui, who strongly opposes drinking milk and has proposed anti-milk theories, has a similar statement: "Osteoporosis is not about the adequacy of calcium in the diet, but is directly related to protein consumption. The more protein consumed, the more calcium is lost, and the more fragile and porous the bones become." Her views are considered heretical by some in the medical and nutritional communities.
The claim that excessive protein intake leads to osteoporosis has actually been proposed by Western medical researchers since the 1970s. At that time, a study showed that Eskimo women, whose diet was mostly fat and protein, had bone density 10-15% lower than the average bone density of American women. Living in icy conditions, Eskimos eat a lot of fish, consuming 250-400 grams of protein daily, the highest in the world. They also consume the highest amount of calcium in the world, over 2000 mg, twice the daily recommended intake by American nutritionists, yet Eskimos also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis in the world.
American nutritionists have investigated dietary habits in other cultures and found the same result—the more fractures in a region, the more protein people consume.
The case of the African Bantu tribe is peculiar. The main source of calcium for Bantu women is vegetables, with a daily intake of 250-400 mg of calcium, less than half of what Western women absorb. Bantu women average ten children, each breastfed for ten months, yet they almost never suffer from osteoporosis.
However, when Bantu women migrate to Western countries and adopt a Westernized diet high in protein, fat, and sugar, they develop osteoporosis.
Another famous study was conducted in mainland China.Cornell University nutritional biochemist Campbell discovered that ethnic groups with high consumption of meat and dairy products have more fragile bones compared to those who primarily obtain protein from beans and grains, "even if these meat lovers consume three times the amount of calcium as the latter," Campbell reaffirmed the same findings.
In fact, effective absorption of calcium in the human body requires amino acids from an appropriate amount of protein. Zheng Jinbao, a nutritionist at National Taiwan University Hospital, stated that since intestinal cells need amino acids to assist in calcium absorption, consuming an appropriate amount of protein can increase the rate of calcium absorption.
However, modern people consume too much protein, which leads to the waste of calcium in the body, especially from meat. Professor Kawada Aiyoshi from Kyoto University Medical School pointed out in his book "Calcium Health Method" that excessive intake of acidic foods such as meat and eggs can easily make the blood acidic. Once the blood tends to be acidic, the biochemical reactions of internal organs will be inhibited. To neutralize body fluids and maintain the efficiency of organs, the body will release calcium to adjust blood concentration, and this will draw from the calcium in bones and the body.
The American magazine "Health" explained: the body breaks down protein into amino acids to form muscles and other tissues. However, due to the excessive amino acids remaining in the blood, the body begins to correct the high amino acid phenomenon in the blood—this is like withdrawing calcium from the bone bank to support the amino acids in the body.
Excess calcium in the blood is excreted through urine, leading to calcium loss in the body. This is why many people who consume calcium-rich foods cannot make their bones strong.
Going against the majority, Hong Jiande, the director of the Metabolism Department at Yangming Hospital, who uniquely advises against drinking milk in the domestic nutrition and medical community, said: "Milk itself is a high-protein and high-fat food. Consuming too much protein can lead to hypercalciuria, which means excessive calcium in the urine. Therefore, protein intake should be moderate to absorb more calcium."
So, can milk be drunk? Proponents believe that milk is rich in protein, calcium, and vitamin B2, which can provide the amino acids needed by the human body for tissue repair and growth for developing teenagers, pregnant women, post-surgery patients, and those with poor liver and kidney function.
Peng Qiaozhen, the director of the Nutrition Department at Cheng Kung University Hospital, stated that compared to other calcium-containing foods, dairy products can easily provide the daily required amount of calcium. For example, an ordinary person needs to consume 600 mg of calcium daily, which two cups of milk can provide, but it would require four and a half pieces of tofu or one kilogram of vegetables.
For vegetarians who do not eat fish, meat, or eggs, they are prone to lack vitamin B12 and B2, and the balanced vitamins in milk can also meet their needs.
However, even proponents do not believe that milk is without flaws. Nutritionist R. Heaney, a member of the group that formulated the US calcium intake recommendations, commented on Harvard's research that high protein intake does increase calcium loss; compared to meat, milk does have a higher protein content.
Cola and soda affect calcium absorption
Heaney believes that the causes of calcium loss in the human body are numerous. Besides eating too much meat, high-fat, high-fiber, high-oxalate, and high-phosphate diets can also reduce calcium absorption.
Zhao Qiang, a nutritionist at Mackay Hospital, pointed out that modern people often have a cup of cola or soda, and processed meats like sausages and ham are also very common. However, these foods contain phosphate, and excessive phosphorus can affect calcium absorption and erode bone mass.
As for modern foods, from cheese and potato chips to beverages, almost all contain added sodium.Excessive salt, like protein, is also a major culprit in forcing bones to release large amounts of calcium.
Aging, along with decreases in hormones, stomach acid, and sun exposure, also affects calcium absorption. Particularly for those who are less active, bone mass is prone to loss. A recent study in the United States has shown that individuals who consume calcium and engage in activities such as running, weightlifting, and cycling have bones nearly twice as strong as the average person.
Family history is also a contributing factor. If family members have osteoporosis, the likelihood of developing osteoporosis is higher.
Frequent dieters, especially women, often overly believe that consuming certain types of food will aid in weight loss, leading to malnutrition (such as only eating protein meals or vegetables). For example, a lack of magnesium can hinder calcium absorption; too low caloric intake can also lead to osteoporosis.
Finally, nutritionists recommend that people should try to eat more calcium-rich foods. When you are about to sip your next glass of milk, remember to maintain good dietary habits for the sake of your bones and health. Good health is definitely a lifestyle, not just achieved by drinking milk.
The American Board of Clinical Physicians points out that plain milk cannot replace the benefits of exercise, the intake of calcium from a variety of foods (such as tofu, seaweed, sesame, fish, and many green vegetables), and calcium supplement tablets. Milk can only be considered as one of the sources of calcium. Osteoporosis, with its complex causes, cannot be simply overcome by supplementing with milk.
Source: http:/ / www. commonhealth. com. ……menu/ nutrition/ food/ milk. asp
How to Drink Milk Properly
Wanting to prevent osteoporosis, drinking more milk is not a panacea. Recent studies have even found that the more milk people drink, the more likely they are to suffer from osteoporosis?
How should milk be consumed? From milk advertisements to the national nutrition manual of the Department of Health, it is written: milk is the best source of calcium, a glass of milk a day keeps your bones healthy.
However, a recent study from Harvard University has debunked this claim. Harvard epidemiologist D. Feskanish spent 12 years tracking 78,000 middle-aged female alumni, investigating how much milk they drank, and found that women who drank more than two glasses of milk a day had a much higher chance of fractures than those who drank less than one glass of milk a week.
Does drinking more milk lead to fractures?
In fact, this is not the first time that the reputation of milk has been questioned by scientists and the medical community. The American magazine "Health" stated that the more dairy products consumed worldwide, the more people suffer from fractures due to osteoporosis. Countries with the highest prevalence of osteoporosis, such as the UK, the US, Sweden, and Finland, are also the countries that consume the most dairy products.
Drinking more milk does not guarantee bone health, so where does the problem lie? The problem lies in whether the food people eat is conducive to calcium absorption.
"I suspect the most likely culprit is protein," said W. Willet, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health. This is also the explanation proposed by many scientists: excessive protein intake is detrimental to bone health. T. C. Campbell, a nutritional biochemist at Cornell University, firmly stated: "It's not about how much milk these people drink, but that they consume too much protein."
Domestically, Dr. Jiang Shuhui, who strongly opposes drinking milk and has proposed anti-milk theories, has a similar statement: "Osteoporosis is not about the adequacy of calcium in the diet, but is directly related to protein consumption. The more protein consumed, the more calcium is lost, and the more fragile and porous the bones become." Her views are considered heretical by some in the medical and nutritional communities.
The claim that excessive protein intake leads to osteoporosis has actually been proposed by Western medical researchers since the 1970s. At that time, a study showed that Eskimo women, whose diet was mostly fat and protein, had bone density 10-15% lower than the average bone density of American women. Living in icy conditions, Eskimos eat a lot of fish, consuming 250-400 grams of protein daily, the highest in the world. They also consume the highest amount of calcium in the world, over 2000 mg, twice the daily recommended intake by American nutritionists, yet Eskimos also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis in the world.
American nutritionists have investigated dietary habits in other cultures and found the same result—the more fractures in a region, the more protein people consume.
The case of the African Bantu tribe is peculiar. The main source of calcium for Bantu women is vegetables, with a daily intake of 250-400 mg of calcium, less than half of what Western women absorb. Bantu women average ten children, each breastfed for ten months, yet they almost never suffer from osteoporosis.
However, when Bantu women migrate to Western countries and adopt a Westernized diet high in protein, fat, and sugar, they develop osteoporosis.
Another famous study was conducted in mainland China.Cornell University nutritional biochemist Campbell discovered that ethnic groups with high consumption of meat and dairy products have more fragile bones compared to those who primarily obtain protein from beans and grains, "even if these meat lovers consume three times the amount of calcium as the latter," Campbell reaffirmed the same findings.
In fact, effective absorption of calcium in the human body requires amino acids from an appropriate amount of protein. Zheng Jinbao, a nutritionist at National Taiwan University Hospital, stated that since intestinal cells need amino acids to assist in calcium absorption, consuming an appropriate amount of protein can increase the rate of calcium absorption.
However, modern people consume too much protein, which leads to the waste of calcium in the body, especially from meat. Professor Kawada Aiyoshi from Kyoto University Medical School pointed out in his book "Calcium Health Method" that excessive intake of acidic foods such as meat and eggs can easily make the blood acidic. Once the blood tends to be acidic, the biochemical reactions of internal organs will be inhibited. To neutralize body fluids and maintain the efficiency of organs, the body will release calcium to adjust blood concentration, and this will draw from the calcium in bones and the body.
The American magazine "Health" explained: the body breaks down protein into amino acids to form muscles and other tissues. However, due to the excessive amino acids remaining in the blood, the body begins to correct the high amino acid phenomenon in the blood—this is like withdrawing calcium from the bone bank to support the amino acids in the body.
Excess calcium in the blood is excreted through urine, leading to calcium loss in the body. This is why many people who consume calcium-rich foods cannot make their bones strong.
Going against the majority, Hong Jiande, the director of the Metabolism Department at Yangming Hospital, who uniquely advises against drinking milk in the domestic nutrition and medical community, said: "Milk itself is a high-protein and high-fat food. Consuming too much protein can lead to hypercalciuria, which means excessive calcium in the urine. Therefore, protein intake should be moderate to absorb more calcium."
So, can milk be drunk? Proponents believe that milk is rich in protein, calcium, and vitamin B2, which can provide the amino acids needed by the human body for tissue repair and growth for developing teenagers, pregnant women, post-surgery patients, and those with poor liver and kidney function.
Peng Qiaozhen, the director of the Nutrition Department at Cheng Kung University Hospital, stated that compared to other calcium-containing foods, dairy products can easily provide the daily required amount of calcium. For example, an ordinary person needs to consume 600 mg of calcium daily, which two cups of milk can provide, but it would require four and a half pieces of tofu or one kilogram of vegetables.
For vegetarians who do not eat fish, meat, or eggs, they are prone to lack vitamin B12 and B2, and the balanced vitamins in milk can also meet their needs.
However, even proponents do not believe that milk is without flaws. Nutritionist R. Heaney, a member of the group that formulated the US calcium intake recommendations, commented on Harvard's research that high protein intake does increase calcium loss; compared to meat, milk does have a higher protein content.
Cola and soda affect calcium absorption
Heaney believes that the causes of calcium loss in the human body are numerous. Besides eating too much meat, high-fat, high-fiber, high-oxalate, and high-phosphate diets can also reduce calcium absorption.
Zhao Qiang, a nutritionist at Mackay Hospital, pointed out that modern people often have a cup of cola or soda, and processed meats like sausages and ham are also very common. However, these foods contain phosphate, and excessive phosphorus can affect calcium absorption and erode bone mass.
As for modern foods, from cheese and potato chips to beverages, almost all contain added sodium.Excessive salt, like protein, is also a major culprit in forcing bones to release large amounts of calcium.
Aging, along with decreases in hormones, stomach acid, and sun exposure, also affects calcium absorption. Particularly for those who are less active, bone mass is prone to loss. A recent study in the United States has shown that individuals who consume calcium and engage in activities such as running, weightlifting, and cycling have bones nearly twice as strong as the average person.
Family history is also a contributing factor. If family members have osteoporosis, the likelihood of developing osteoporosis is higher.
Frequent dieters, especially women, often overly believe that consuming certain types of food will aid in weight loss, leading to malnutrition (such as only eating protein meals or vegetables). For example, a lack of magnesium can hinder calcium absorption; too low caloric intake can also lead to osteoporosis.
Finally, nutritionists recommend that people should try to eat more calcium-rich foods. When you are about to sip your next glass of milk, remember to maintain good dietary habits for the sake of your bones and health. Good health is definitely a lifestyle, not just achieved by drinking milk.
The American Board of Clinical Physicians points out that plain milk cannot replace the benefits of exercise, the intake of calcium from a variety of foods (such as tofu, seaweed, sesame, fish, and many green vegetables), and calcium supplement tablets. Milk can only be considered as one of the sources of calcium. Osteoporosis, with its complex causes, cannot be simply overcome by supplementing with milk.
Source: http:/ / www. commonhealth. com. ……menu/ nutrition/ food/ milk. asp