Few Save Our Bones articles have caused more controversy. Not to mention over one thousand comments full of rich debate. So which article am I speaking of? It’s ‘Debunking the Milk Myth: Why Milk is Bad for Your and Your Bones'.
Much of the debate in the comments section of the article centers around those who agree with me and those who can't possibly believe that milk is bad for bones. After all, they've been conditioned by advertising, the media, and doctors to believe that milk “does a body good”.
However, a new, short yet straight-to-the point article might help change their minds.
Posted on The Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine (PCRM) website, under the “Breaking Medical News” category, the article1 titled “Dairy Products Do Not Promote Bone Health”, states that:
“Dairy products and calcium do not prevent stress fractures, according to a new study published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.”2
This stunning conclusion – at least to the medical establishment – was reached after researchers tracked the diets, physical activity, and stress fractures of adolescent girls for seven years. They also found that…
Dairy Actually Harms Bones
Even when the study subjects exercised over one hour each day, those who got their calcium mostly from dairy products had
“…more than double the risk of a stress fracture, compared with those getting less calcium.”1
Considering that most doctors urge their osteoporotic patients to drink lots of milk – I know that’s what my doctor did when I was diagnosed with osteoporosis – the above statement can literally shatter the milk myth.
Vitamin D Takes the Spotlight
The same study also found that:
“Girls getting the most vitamin D had half the risk of a fracture, compared with girls getting less vitamin D.”1
If you haven’t yet, read this to catch up on the latest Vitamin D information.
As time goes by and scientific evidence against the wisdom of drinking milk keeps piling up, the day will come when doctors will tell their patients: “Don’t Drink Milk!”
Fortunately, you already know.
Till next time,
References
1 https://www.pcrm.org/health/medNews/dairy-products-do-not-promote-bone-health#.T4oh80JVPnk.facebook
2 Sonneville DR, Gordon CM, Kocher MS, Pierce LM, Ramappa A, Field AE. “Vitamin D, Calcium, and Dairy Intakes and Stress Fractures Among Female Adolescents.” Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. March 5, 2012.
Vivian 🙂
Just to add a thought to my question.I read another post of yours. I now understand that plain yogurt is acid neutral .. but I’m a little confused about the phosphorus. Am I gaining any benefit from eating the yogurt? Can I count on it on a daily basis to provide some of the days calcium? Or is the calcium content obsolete and not counted towards net calcium intake bc of phosphorus? Is it causing more damage? …lol thank you for your patience.. please if you can .. a simple answer will do for some guidance 🙂
Hi Vivian,
On pg. 75 of your book you state that dairy (including yogurt) leads to more fractures. I thought plain yogurt or plain kefir was good for the bones. I’ve been eating plain home made yogurt (the milk is pasteurized unfortunatley) everyday to fill my calcium quota. I’ve Google yogurt and kefir and studies come up showing that they help with bones. Where milk and cheese hurt bones. Yogurt and kefir are part of your alkaline foundational foods. Do I eat them or not?
Maria
I have the following chronic symptoms from head to toe: wattery eyes (applying Restasis for “Dry eye” for years); more recently diagnosed as “neusance symptoms” – runny nose to mouth mucosity/flem to deposit in throat; belching while eating; excessive flatulence. Are these symptoms correlated? P.S. Been taking Synthroid for years. Stopped Fosamax in 2008 in accordance with save your bones advice.
Through all your writings I see no mention of chicken.
I thought chicken was good for you.
I quit taking Boniva after 8 years and starting taking high doses of vitamin D3 (6000 IU) per day. I am on Synthroid, so that is a risk factor for bone loss because you don’t absorb calcium for 4 hours after you take it so I wait before I take my calcium sup. I also cut back on caffene which also hinders absorbtion. I take a calcium and magnesium supplement called Cal-Mag Fizz. It is a powder you mix with water and drink, so it is already desolved when you drink it. In just a 18 months my bone scan only showed osteopinia in the hip and none in the spin, 2 years before I was close to being osteoporosis. I was very happy about this.
Great news, Winnie! And stay on the Osteoporosis Reversal Program 🙂
I am trying to make my own yogurt from milk as it is more economical to do so. I can also control what goes into the yogurt. Obviously no sugar is best. Is there any difference which kind of milk I use? Pasteurised, non-pasteurised, skim or non-fat milk?
Will Vivian kindly comment on this pls?
tks n rgds
Julie Chooi
aside from the obvious medical issues that drinking another species milk causes (not to mention drinking it after we are infants as NO species requires mothers milk as adults) and the environmental devastation caused by animal agriculture (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drS5hHdelR8), much more important is the ethical aspect of raping cows, stealing the milk that is meant for their calves and then stealing the calves and killing them to make veal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ziDNDf9gI
I went to a chiropractor for quite some time and he revealed to me a secret.
If you LOVE something you drink, eat or even smoke ( yes! ) it will not harm you. Its an energy/spiritual thing. He has had clients who even in old age continue to do the “wrong things’ to their bodies, but not in excess of course, are very healthy! So, is it in your minds perhaps, works for me. I drink raw from the organic Cow, god bless her. Its beautiful.
I AM A VEGETERIAN; I OCCASIONALLY EAT CHICKEN, LIKE ONCE A MONTH; I EAT EGGS WHITES ONLY BECAUSE I HAD HIGH COLESTHEROL IN THE PAST; I EAT LOTS OF BEANS AND QUINUA; AND FOR DESERTS ALWAYS HAVE FRUIT.
IRMA.
I have been on this program for two years and gave up milk and most dairy products. I stay as close to the program as I can, eating organic foods, and including lots of fruits and veggies in my meals. I find breakfast the hardest to alkaline. Anyway, my bone scan improved and I am delighted that I do not have to hear it from my doctor to take those meds.
I truly appreciate all your great work. Many, Many thanks, Allison
You’re doing great, Allison! I’m proud of you and of your bone scan improvement.
Dear Vivian,
Within the last 2 weeks you sent out an e-mail with a link to an article about Vitamin D£, entitled “The Latest News on Vitamin D: WhatDoes It Mean For You?”
The e-mail has disappeared from my mailbox and when I do search on your website for ‘Vitamin D’, nothing comes up.
Where on your site can I find the article?
With many thanks for all your invaluable information and advice,
Bee
Thanks very much for this piece of information, this shows that the pharmaceutical companies are doing more harm than good to humanity.
Stay Bless and continue spreading the good new.
I could not open the “latest on Vitamin D” referred to in this article. Can I find it somewhere else? Thank you.
Here it is, Patricia:
https://saveourbones.com/the-latest-news-on-vitamin-d/
I hope greek yogurt is okay for our bones. I do not drink milk as I use the almond coconut milk but I do eat plain greek yogurt???
Plain yogurt is good for your bones, Rachelle. You might want to have regular yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, so you can also get the bone healthy benefits of whey.
I enjoy 1/2c of plain yogurt with 1/2c of Greek yogurt topped with fresh fruit and chopped nuts for lunch most days during the week. I never use any sweetener, as the fruit is enough. I also gave up milk but drink almond milk at dinner. There’s no going back to my old habits!
am ex editor of the international menopause journal,telling people not to dfrink milk[unless they are nIGERIAN] IS DANGEROUS NONSENSE john mcgarry frcog age 76
am ex editor of the international menopause journal,telling people not to dfrink milk[unless they are nIGERIAN] IS DANGEROUS NONSENSE john mcgarry frcog age 76
Istoped taking Actonal 3mnth ago ,I am now getting bad back pain ,find your book difficult due to double vision can you just tell me what foods to eat many thanks.
change of email address
Hi! Vivian,
Thank You VERY MUCH For The Update On Milk! It Was Very Informative!
LOVE, MS. L. (LESLIE)
Big business runs the country all in the name of GREED. Studies show dairy is not for humans. Cows have 5 stomachs to digest their mothers milk, we only have 1 stomach. I have osteoporosis and I feel all sides of the studies should be reported so people can make their own decisions about what to eat and drink. I am now a vegan and mostly eat a raw plant based diet and my bones feel so much better. I, also, drink distilled water and eat organic food as I no longer want to consume fluoride as it is a poison and leeches calcium from our bones.
Calves are monogastic like pigs, poultry and mankind, meaning they only have one stomach. This is designed to digest milk. Their rumens develop in the next 3-4 weeks so they can digest fiber, which is what all rumenents do. This enables them to be able to consume their food through hay, grain, for energy instead of milk, because it is cheaper for the farmer to get the calf off from the valuable milk.
My goats get most of my money so $125 is too much for me to pay for a milking apartapus and it’s now $130. I’m just getting ready for my 1st shot at milking them. Do you happen to know what the little pump is called or where it’s available in the UK? I can’t seem to find it but my search skills aren’t the greatest. Thanks so much. Bonnie
Some oppose yogurt as well. What’s the truth? Thanks – shula
Fermented dairy is fine, and so long as it’s not sweetened with sugar, it has many health benefits.
First you say that milk is bad then you list the minerals that your need for bone density and most of the minerals and vitamins are in the milk naturally. If milk causes bone loss with my milk useage I would be falling apart which is not the case. I don’t believe your conclusions.
I would like to debunk some of the following myths:
1. Every tank of milk shipped off a dairy is checked for antibiotics and therefore there is no antibiotics in marketed milk.
2. There are no pesticides in milk and the organic milk is no better and may be worse than non-organic and nutritionally cannot be proven to be any better.
3. When you look at all the different chemicals and gums added to soy and almond products that are incorrectly labeled as milk products it is much safer to stick to milk.
4. I produce milk for market and the raw milk shipped off my dairy would already meet the standards for pastuerized milk where as a organic dairy ten miles away has had many problems just trying to meet state standards so they would not get closed down.
I guess it is too late to see a study published on Raw Milk, now that the FDA is raiding family farms that dare to sell raw milk to their neighbors. I am willing to bet that such a study would actually show the exact opposite, which suggests that perhaps milk (or dairy) is not the culprit, but pasteurization.
Foods work synergistically. You can’t take a food item, isolate its active ingredient(s), put them in a bottle and expect it to work the same way. Red wine and revesterol is a good example. Taking revesterol out of the red wine probably decreased its potency so that studies now show no benefits. It is wrong to conclude that since revesterol in a bottle didn’t do something, therefore red wine doesn’t either.
Using pasteurized milk for this study is the same idea: to conclude that ALL milk is bad without actually proving that raw milk is also bad. What is good about the study though is that it knocks the myth that pasteurized milk is good for you.
Neither one of my school age children drinks milk at school ages 12,13. I have been supplementing them with calcium chews w/vit d and k. They dont eat enough fresh fruit/vegs either. My 12 yr old son is lactose intolerant:milk,egss,pizza (cheese)all cause him gas/diareah. I have tried all sources like soy, almond, lactosefree products in the dairy case, even rice milk, he doesnt like any of them which I think is more psychological than anything. What can I do? My mother had Osteoporosis and fx her hip in the nursing home. I am 48 and have had mild scolosis, never liked milk or drank much of it most of my life. I have never had a broken bone except my tail bone in a vaginal delivery. I have Spinal Stenosis, Degenerative Disc Disease for the past 13 years. I have supplemented with calcium/vitd/vitk on and off mostly off. What can I do?
Thanking you in advance.
Theresa.
We’re conditioned to think that we need to drink milk (or something that looks and tastes like it). But we must get rid of that misconception…
Forget the dairy and , Try smoothies with allot of Green Leafy veggies, that have allot of calcium in them. Also throw in a bannana, frozen Organic Strawberry, and blueberries.
If he doesn’t like that, you do have a problem!!
Take a look at the ingr. in your Calcium Chews..The ones I have seen in the drug store are Not Healthy at All..Do they also come from China? Many drug store vitamins do.
You might want to buy some good organic vitamins, and put those in your blender when you make smoothies!!
Calcium also needs Magnesium, and other vitamins to get to the bones..K2-MK4 takes the calcium to the bones, not the arteries.
Have you tried Chicken, or duck eggs, that are Pastured organic eggs, from chickens that do not get any soy?
Allot of people are allergic to soy also. In Organic chicken grains, the second ingridiance is Soy!! Not healthy for anyone.
I clicked on one of your sponsors links and their ultimate ph balance states the following: “It’s true—and here are some of the worst offenders:
Raw milk, buttermilk, and plain yogurt…
Walnuts, peanuts and cashews, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds…
Oats, rye, wheat bran, sprouted wheat, buckwheat, and wheat germ…
Navy and pinto beans…
Plums, cranberries and prunes…
Lima and string beans and spinach…
Cold water fish, molasses, ” You say raw milk and plain yogurt are good. I know you have to have sponsors but some of them seem like rip off artists to me. I’ve checked your claims with other studies and those you site and found them accurate, but am disappointed to have such links on your website.
I am afraid Vivian is after more money…
Thank you for this update. Great info as always!
I gave up drinking milk years ago. Milk studies are years old. The worst is the infections cows get from those milking machines. Just the thought of it makes me ill.. So I went to organic almond milk. The govt. must have found out because they are now pasteuizing all almonds grown by large growers. Say goodbye to almond nutrients. Walnuts are a better replacement. I think I was saved by ending milk consumption and at the same time upping my vitamin D3 dosage to 5000 I.U. And taking vitamin K2 at 150 mcg. I take those two with my organic yogurt and frozen fruit in the a.m.
I also drink 4 cups of green tea a day with a citrus squeeze. Asians are said to have thinner bones then us, but they are stronger. They attribute that to consumption of green tea. Ice green tea with a squeeze is pretty tasty.
The reason why I take K2 with yogurt is supposedly calcium gets into our arteries clogging them. K-2 supposedly helps calcium get to our bones instead. A good K2 comes from fermented natto which Asians eat and I hear it’s not too appetizing for us, so pill form is better.
Rosemary,
Your right..But it’s K2 Mk4 that we need to put the Calcium into our bones not our arteries.
K2 MK-4 has a short shelve life (so to speak) in our bodies.
We need to take small amounts about 3 times during the day.
MK-7 has a long shelve life in the body, and needs to be taken maybe 3 times a week, spaced out..
If you take too much of K, you might get an irregular heartbeat.
If that happnes, take less K2 MK7, and Mk4.
thanks .
Another thing to consider is not only the damaging effects of pasteurization but also the low fat dairy products people are consuming. Fat in products is important to consume with the dairy products in order to absorb other valuable nutrients, especially fat soluble. Contrary to modern nutrition advice, fat plays an important role in our overall health in so many ways.
Thank you for the findings. But how can we use the milk as a useful food? Only in the form of curd, Butter or some other milk products? It might be harmful for the people having problems in the bone, especially old age people but for the children and the youth it should be beneficial.
Dhruba
I am in the camp that believes RAW milk, whether cow, sheep or goat, is very beneficial. This is from personal experience.
I keep goats and have been drinking only raw goat milk for sometime now.
Here’s why RAW milk is beneficial: enzymes needed to properly digest and thus absorb it’s nutrients are in the milk. But, pasturization destroys those enzymes. The body’s immune system is then taxed to aid the process leading to further health problems. There are many beneficial probiotics in raw milk as well, that are destroyed by the pasturization.
Ever wonder why so many people have digestive problems and the related health complications? …. Pasturized milk is a big factor!
Of course the “factory milk farm” products need to be pasturized to protect people from the pathogens inherent to that process. But, properly handled raw milk from pastured animals is one of natures most complete and beneficial foods on the planet! IMO
I started drinking raw milk to alleviate digestive problems and it has helped restore my health in many ways. No more digestive problems and I know my bones are stronger as well. I have no more arthritic pain either.
With Vivians plan, supplementation with viatmins, minerals and enzymes I am feeling better than I have in decades. I am 72 years old and healthy as a horse now. No meds of any kind and no trips to the doctor except for an annual check up and my results improve each the time.
Winfield,
Thanks..Great review.
Way to go, Winfield!
Thanks for these updates, I’m a bit disappointed that you don’t provide an active hyperlink to this study. Yes you reference it in the references, but a) its not a link, and b) its hidden there in the “fine print”. I understand you wish to keep people at your site, but I think it would be honest and helpful to provide easy access to the full study. Gary
Gary, here’s the link:
https://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/archpediatrics.2012.5v1
As always, it depends which milk. Pasteurized industrial cow’s milk full of hormones and antibiotics is very harmful, but goat’s or sheep’s milk from free-roaming animals fed on grass is VERY beneficial. Especially Yogurt and Kefir are essentialy important for probiotics, which in turn are extremely important for health – including bones. People who refrain from dairy also develop overtime lactose-intolerance. I do not believe in one-sided and extreme studies or advices. Also, each body is different and we need to adopt a diet that fits us and not go with strict and extreme general rules that denounce certain important foods. Some Asian people, like Mongols and Tibetans for example, THRIVE on dairy (the right kind, of course) – so they are all getting it wrong? I do not think so.
Yaelah – i agree with you in part. The disease of our times is capitalism which would have us not think for ourselves. The dairy industry is BIG BUSINESS – and industrially produced food tends to be pretty poor in quality and assimilability, but we are told it’s good for us. BIG BUSINESS and far far from milking a goat up a mountain and enjoying it on the spot having hiked up there in the first place.
I cannot agree with yogurt or kefir having much worth though, unless made oneself with unpasteurised milk perhaps.. For if regular, pasteurised dairy is used for the yogurt then a lot of acidity will occur in digestion which will kill off the friendly bacteria before they get to the colon.
Very good video, matter of fact I had aladery found this on you tube and sent it to mississippi for my friends there as we were debating on whether to buy the milker or not.P.S we had some good laughs reading your post about what you have learned while down south.