Is Dairy Bad for You and Can It Cause Weight Gain?
Milk and other dairy products like yogurt, cheese and kefir have been considered as complete foods that are important for human body. But what we’re seeing these days is a big controversy surrounding these dairy products, especially the milk that is high in lactose.
A good percentage of people do have lactose intolerance in varying amounts. Some can’t have it at all and some are OK with small amounts. Some experts consider dairy as a great provider of essential nutrition for our health, like protein, calcium, Vitamin D and others believe that it is a poison with not much of benefits, but harm.
And when we say dairy we’re referring to milk and everything made from milk, including yogurt, butter, kefir, ice cream etc. People with different health problems or allergies or weight problems are starting to remove some or all dairy from their diets. Many believe that dairy can be dangerous for their health and can make them put on weight. But what exactly are these negative claims based on and what do scientific studies say about this?
The first and best known benefit of dairy products is the calcium content. It is essential for bone health and development from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. And later in life calcium is needed for maintaining your bones. Second benefit of dairy is Vitamin D, especially if you live in a country where there is not much sunshine and the UV rays’ intensity is much lower. And you are recommended to consume dairy to partially fill the vitamin D gap as milk is often fortified by vitamin D3 in developed countries with bad weather. The amount of vitamin D you will get just from consuming milk is pretty low but is still something.
And some studies suggest that the regular consumption of vitamin D3 helps with the weight loss. It is involved in the inhibition process of lipid metabolism and oxidizing fat in the liver and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Some other studies claimed milk and dairy products to be good sources of energy. They are rich in protein, and often nourishing and filling. And milk products are often not expensive unless you’re having fancy cheeses. Other than vitamin D, you will find many other vitamins including the vitamin B2– riboflavin needed for pregnant women and vitamin A for eye health, immunity, bone and skin health and more.
When it comes to the harms or disadvantages of dairy, the first one is the saturated fats found in them, especially in butter and cheeses, which may lead to heart problems over time. Having said that there is no study that we’re aware of that shows a relationship between dairy and these diseases. How you will benefit or not from milk will depend on each person and other foods you consume with dairy as milk is quite complex.
The second and best known harm is related to the lactose content in milk and other dairy stuff. Those with a lactose allergy may suffer from gas, bloating or cramps. The way this allergy works is lactose sugar needs lactase enzyme to be digested. And lactase production in your body decreases by 90% after childhood. And if you don’t have any or little of it you will have trouble when you drink milk. The lactose intolerance among Asian and African people is up to 75-100%, while this rate is lower among Europeans, at 18-25%.
Then you have the potential casein allergy in 1% of adults, which is a protein in milk that could affect the immune system. Some experts claimed that dairy can make you put on weight because of the hormones and fat content. Antibiotics and hormones are given to cows in the dairy plants and they could potentially have an impact on human health, including weight gain. Many anti-dairy doctors and other experts say that dairy products are not needed for health. And you may observe your health to improve if you reduce or stop the dairy consumption completely.
So far there is no consensus on stopping the dairy completely to lose weight and there are advocates and opponents. If you are allergic to lactose, yes you will have to reduce your milk consumption and turn to fermented dairy products more and use almond milk, soy milk, goat’s milk, rice milk etc. It is a good idea to stop or reduce the consumption of all dairy and see if you have an improvement on the side effects. The bacteria in yogurt and kefir are believed to help with the digestion of lactose.
And for weight loss purposes, if you are not allergic to lactose etc. in dairy then the dairy products offer you good amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals. It is not a good idea to switch to 0% fat dairy products as the fat content is often replaced by the carbs- sugars which will be worse for weight gain. You can certainly consume saturated fats in moderation and along with protein helps keep you full during the day. Moderation is the key here, even if you will have the low lactose dairy products. Some body builders are known to cut dairy several months before the competitions for their body to look leaner. But they are competition athletes and we don’t think that is necessary for average adults or those that work out regularly.
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