Food and Nutrition:
What Everyone Needs to Know
Chapter 20
Milk, Dairy, and Yogurt: Nutritional Benefits and Risks
Chapter 20: Key Themes and Abstract
Abstract
This chapter examines the nutritional benefits and health risks of milk and dairy consumption, highlighting fermented foods like yogurt and cheese. It explains that humans are the only species to drink another animal’s milk, yet most sapiens are lactose intolerant. It notes that milk’s calcium is critical to building strong bones but challenges its role in osteoporosis and fractures. It discusses that reduced-fat and nonfat dairy can be part of a heart-healthy diet, whereas full-fat and high-sugar foods (whole milk, ice cream, sugar-sweetened yogurts) in a Western dietary pattern (Standard American Diet) can increase chronic disease; some studies also link milk with hormone-sensitive cancers. The chapter shares the science on yogurt, a fermented food with live bacteria (probiotics) that improves the microbiome and gut health. Finally, it considers whether cheese is the key to the French Paradox, emphasizing the importance of the whole dietary pattern on health, sustainability, and disease prevention.
Guiding Questions
- Who consumes animal milk, and what does it offer nutritionally?
- Why should you care about osteoporosis and breaking a hip—and is drinking milk the key to prevention?
- How is dairy related to obesity, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases—and does drinking milk carry increased health risks?
- Does yogurt have special nutritional properties—or is it just more health-food hype?
Nutrition and the Dairy Debate
Dismantle dairy myths that are often funded directly by the megafactory farming industry, informative for students across a range of food-related disciplines and nutrition for use in updated curricula and science media analysis; and consider how dairy fits into your own diet.
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