Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Many people drink milk because they feel they need more calcium and want to protect their bones. This comes from a misunderstanding of how calcium works in the body and the drive of the dairy industry in pushing milk products because of “calcium deficiency”.
Milk is not the best way to do protect your bones. In a study on vitamin D, calcium, and dairy intakes, researchers found that the calcium level did not reduce stress fractures among female adolescents.[1] Drinking milk increases height, and increased height is a risk factor for fractures. This is likely one of the reasons why studies do not show that high milk intake during adolescence decreases risk of fractures, and also the relationship between higher milk intake and increased risk of fractures.
In a randomized trial adolescents who were consuming less than 800 mg per day of calcium were given 3 additional servings of dairy daily for 18 months and it had no effect on bone mineralization.[2] A meta-analysis of prospective studies with calcium intake ranging from less than 555 mg per day to over 1100 mg per day showed that more calcium did not reduce the risk of hip fracture.[3] These are just some of the studies showing that the link between calcium intake and bone health is weak. Many people drink milk to up their calcium intake and this approach is not recommended. The better approach to build strong bones is to exercise! Drinking milk, which is highly acidic and high in protein, in actuality, leaches calcium from the bones as the body attempts to raise the pH.
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[1] Sonneville K, Gordon C, Pierce L et al. “Vitamin D, calcium and dairy intakes and stress fractures among female adolescents.” Arch Pediatr Adolec Med Published online March 5, 2012 doi:10.1001/archpdeiatrics.2012.5 [2] Vogel KA, Martin BR, McCabe LD, et al. The effect of dairy intake on bone mass and body composition in early pubertal girls and boys: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;105(5):1214-1229. doi:10.3945/ajcn.116.140418 [3] https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMra1903547