The Question of Calcium

The question, at least in my mind, is:

how did the dairy industry claim such a monopoly on the widely abundant nutrient known as calcium?

(Calcium, a mineral we must obtain from food and makes up 1-2% of human body weight, 99% of which is stored in the bones and teeth.)

During my internship I have watched milk and dairy products pushed at every sort of individual ranging from children to the elderly to type 2 diabetics to pregnant women and well, just about everyone else out there. I have even heard myself recommend for folks to include 2-3 servings of dairy in their daily diet. While this is going on, I try to figure out how this happened. Here are my thoughts, semi-organized in one place for the first time..

1. Fear of aging. Loss of bone mass is a natural process of aging, and yet we greatly fear it. Loss of bone mass along with the loss of lean muscle results in falls and fractures in older adults and can be predictive of impending mortality. Supplement and pharmaceutical companies have profited from this immensely and a term "osteopenia" was created so they would have something to treat. Read NPR's story on osteopenia if interested. The dairy industry has also jumped on this train and recommended milk for older adults, despite the high level of lactose intolerance in this population, especially in persons of Asian, African, and Native American decent.

You see, when we drink our mother's breast milk, it contains lactose, a milk sugar, AND lactase, the enzyme that helps us digest the milk sugar. Some cultures have a long relationship with ruminant dairy consumption after their breast milk years, and others have less than a 50 year relationship with it. For the cultures that subsisted off ruminant dairy, most of the dairy was fermented into yogurts or cheeses, which are highly digestible dairy forms, the milk that was drank was in its raw state, therefore also contained the lactase enzyme to aid digestion. These cultures also produce some lactase in their intestines, but the amount produced decreases with age. The cultures that are brand new to ruminant dairy consumption are reported to not produce any lactase and since the dairy they are likely drinking is pasteurized and the natural enzymes are destroyed: gas, bloating, and general intolerance is experienced.

So that made you curious right? You are wondering: how did the traditional cultures of Asia, Africa, and North America manage to survive without dairy if calcium is so important?!

Here is the kicker: calcium is a truly abundant nutrient in the food supply, if you are eat a whole foods, varied diet. In Asian cultures the primary source of calcium was likely to be small fish eaten whole or from broth in which fish bones were boiled for several hours in the presence of an acid to extract the mineral. Just as calcium makes up our bones, it makes up the bones of all animals. In African and North American populations primary calcium sources may have either been from green leafy vegetables and beans or from bone broth of game animals, again cooked for many hours in the presence of an acid.

2. It is easier to push dairy than it is to push green leafy vegetables. Milk tastes good. It is a creamy, delicious beverage that is a beautiful blend of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Uh-oh.. Fat. Saturated fat! Calories! Better fix that! The dairy industry responded to the fat-phobic culture by skimming off all the tasty stuff and selling us the leftovers, sugar and protein. New problem, now it doesn't taste as good! Ok, no problem, the dairy industry responded by adding sugar and flavorings and marketing to a group that is practically trained to dislike green leafy vegetables: children. Now in schools there are rows milk 'products' that have about the same amount of sugar as a soda and because they are low-fat, hits the blood stream nearly as fast, but we allow it. Why?

Because the kids need calcium.

This is true. Kids do need calcium! Most of our bodies calcium reserve is deposited before the age of 30. Kids need calcium, they also need many other bone nutrients, and they need physical activity! (Gotta give the body a reason to store plenty of calcium, sitting in front of the TV does not give the right message, if you know what I mean.)

Where is the Vegetable Council to pay billions of dollars in advertising to entice kids to eat their green leafies?

Yeah, that may not happen for quite some time. We do have the federal government offering forth the Health People 2010 initiatives, which suggests to people to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption, however the resources of the federal government are used differently than the funds of the Dairy Council. And the Dairy Council has great monetary influence on the federal government, so recommending to folks to switch out one cup of milk per day with a serving of kale or chard would be squashed. Hopefully with further changes to the Farm BIll and the Child Nutrition Program we will have the ability to make steps in the right direction to offer a variety of calcium foods, but as it stands now, dairy is the winner.

3. The dairy industry had a big ol’ seat at the table when the food guide pyramid was made. The food pyramid was designed to help Americans get a nutritionally adequate and balanced diet. Sound too good to be true? It is. I would elaborate on this further, but instead I will let you ponder it if you so desire.

I hope I don't come off as anti-milk to you! I happen to love milk! And cheese.. And yogurt.. Mm. Good stuff! I am one of the lucky ones that it agrees with very well in the quantities that I like to eat it. However, I am proposing to you (as an eater and/or as a health professional) to think outside the milk carton and to think of calcium as an abundant ingredient in our world with many culturally appropriate and preferential ways to consume it.

Some fun ideas for adding extra calcium in your diet: cook a whole chicken and make your own bone broth by adding a splash of vinegar to the pot and simmering the carcass in water for 24 hours, add a clean eggshell to your vinegar jar (it disintegrates) and use as you normally use vinegar, or save your eggshells and add to your soil for calcium-rich soil which in turn makes for calcium-rich vegetables!

Anna's Bone Health Recommendations:

1. Eat plenty of green leafy vegetables

2. Eat a variety of foods

3. Skip the soda.. Seriously people.

4. And move that body!