Health Implications: The Lurking Quandaries with Dairy
Health Implications: The Lurking Quandaries with Dairy
March 2, 2025
Joy Stepinski, MSN, RN-BC
Often people assume age or genetics are the culprits of health issues. For instance, “My mother was obese, and therefore I am obese.” Yet only rarely are these to blame for disease. Normal aging patterns should not cause sickness. Most conditions occur because of lifestyle habits, such as eating. Consuming an optimal diet of whole food plant-centered nutrition allows the body to thrive. Disease may be halted, prevented, and/or reversed. One of the biggest offenders of illness and weight gain in the Western diet may surprisingly be dairy.
In the book Whitewash: The Disturbing Truth About Cow’s Milk and Your Health, Joseph Keon eloquently writes that milk has represented an intimate part of life [1]. Most children are weaned from their mother’s breast milk and started on cow’s milk in infancy, a poignant part of childhood milestones. He expresses, “More than a liquid, it is a symbol of goodness, nurturing, nourishment, and health” (p. 9). Milk is also touted as an essential food by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), depicted in MyPlate [2], the current symbol of the five food groups. Advertising and marketing have been heavy for the white beverage, including many years of the successful milk mustache ad campaign [3]. For many people, dairy-based milk, ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and butter are an important part of daily meals.
The USDA states that dairy consumption as a beverage has declined for 70 years. The rate most significantly dropped in the 2010s more than any other decade [4]. Non-dairy plant-based alternatives are competitors of cow’s milk. Likely this drop is for good reason. One of the problems with dairy is that the body often cannot digest lactose, the sugar contained in milk. Lactose intolerance causes diarrhea, bloating, and gas [5]. An estimated 68% of people worldwide and 36% of Americans cannot digest lactose. Additionally, dairy has other enormous negative implications on health.
Over the past few months, we have seen the impact of obesity. Cow’s milk is a significant culprit of fat. The purpose of cow’s milk is to nourish the quickly growing calf, an animal that can weigh over 1000 pounds. A calf’s birth weight doubles in 47 days, quickly achieving 300 pounds in the first year of life. One longitudinal study of over 16,000 adolescents across all 50 states demonstrated that children who drank more than three daily servings of milk had a higher body mass index (BMI) than those who consumed less [6].
For many, skim or 1% milk is considered the healthier choice. However, research does not support the hypothesis that lower milk fat is ideal. In the same longitudinal study, the authors discovered that skim and 1% milk were more strongly correlated with weight gain than higher milk fat. Children who drank milk with lower fat gained more weight. This result was also shown by a separate longitudinal study of over 10,000 preschoolers [7]. Milk labeled as 1% or 2% contains 99% or 98% less fat by weight. However, the milk still contains a large amount of calories from fat. In 2% milk, for instance, 34% of calories are from fat [1].
One disease linked with obesity is cancer [8]. The National Cancer Institute states that fat tissue produces a high amount of estrogen, which increases the risk of breast and endometrial cancers. T. Collin Campbell, author of The China Study, noted that “fat consumption is associated with higher blood levels of estrogen” for 35 to 44-year-olds, directly related to animal protein and milk intake. Furthermore, cow’s milk contains hormones and growth factors, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone [1]. Cows are milked when estrogen levels are high during pregnancy, 33% higher than non-pregnant cows. Approximately 60 to 80% of estrogen consumption is through cow’s milk. Women's reproductive cancers are not the only cancers linked with the high levels of estrogen in dairy. Prostate and testis cancers are associated, too [9].
Through his research, T. Colin Campbell [8] found that a protein comprising 87% of cow’s milk protein (casein) promoted cancer in experimental animal studies when exposed to a carcinogen, aflatoxin. Foci, the microscopic cells that form upon cancer initiation, depend on the amount of animal protein intake. When 12% of calories originated from animal protein, disease was more likely to be initiated. Interestingly, Campbell replicated his research using soy and wheat protein with the aflatoxin without any cancer promotion observed. His conclusion witnessed that a certain quantity of animal protein led to the occurrence of cancer.
Some experts consider dairy the least healthy of foods [10]. The ramifications are more than obesity and cancer. Dairy is also connected to autoimmune diseases, ear infections, asthma, and more [1]. Dairy does not “do the body good,” contrary to the infamous milk slogan. Got milk? Please pass the water instead!
References:
Keon, J. (2010). Whitewash: The disturbing truth about cow’s milk and your health. New Society Publishers.
United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Learn how to eat healthy with MyPlate. https://www.myplate.gov/
Nestle, M. (2002). Food Politics. University of California Press.
United States Department of Agriculture. (2022). Fluid milk consumption continues downward trend, proving difficult to reverse. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2022/june/fluid-milk-consumption-continues-downward-trend-proving-difficult-to-reverse
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (n.d.) Definition & facts for lactose intolerance. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/lactose-intolerance/definition-facts
Berkey, C. S., Rockett, H. R., Willett, W. C., & Colditz, G. A. (2005). Milk, dairy fat, dietary calcium, and weight gain: a longitudinal study of adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 159(6), 543-550. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.159.6.543
Scharf, R. J., Demmer, R. T., & DeBoer, M. D. (2013). Longitudinal evaluation of milk type consumed and weight status in preschoolers. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 98(5), 335-340. https://doi.org/doi:10.1136/archdischild-2012-302941
Campbell, T. C., & Campbell, T. M. (2016). The China study: Revised and expanded edition: The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and the startling implications for diet, weight loss, and long-term health. BenBella Books, Inc.
Ganmaa, D., Li, X. M., Wang, J., Qin, L. Q., Wang, P. Y., & Sato, A. (2002). Incidence and mortality of testicular and prostatic cancers in relation to world dietary practices. International Journal of Cancer, 98(2), 262-267.
Popper, P. A., & Merzer, G. (2013). Food over medicine: The conversation that could save your life. BenBella Books, Inc.