Sep 28, 2019

I frequently come across clients who have somehow become convinced that they will be healthier if they give up dairy. There are a few people who cannot consume it for some reason or another. I would argue that it isn’t the dairy but what we have done to it the last few decades (mostly removing the fat) that has created an intolerance of it. Dairy products are an excellent source of nutrition.

A few thoughts on dairy:

1. Mankind has been consuming milk since the beginning of recorded history. Lactose intolerance is a modern condition.
2. Full fat dairy is better than fat free. The fat slows down digestion of the milk making it easier to digest.
3. Dairy is the only major food group with a large amounts of all three of the macro-nutrients: protein, carbohydrate and fat.
4. Dairy contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) a type of fat that has been shown to reduce cancer risks and support weight loss.
5. Dairy may reduce heart disease. People who ate the most full-fat dairy were less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, according to a 16-year study of Australian adults.
6. Dairy may reduce diabetes. Palmitoleic acid, which occurs naturally in full-fat dairy products and meat, protects against insulin resistance and diabetes.
7. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are very high in protein and reduces our dependence on meat for protein.
8. People seem to digest organic and/or raw dairy more easily.
If you don’t love it or it causes you grief don’t eat it but don’t dismiss dairy because it is the trendy thing to do.
by Sherry Stirling Fernandez