Kids and Calcium

Most of the adults we are talking to are receptive these days to reducing or eliminating the dairy consumption in their diets. However, there is a lingering concern for children, since the dairy industry has been brainwashing people for years about the value and the necessity of milk for building bones.

First, exercise is a much more important factor than calcium in building bone health. A recent report in Pediatrics found that inactive teens had lower bone density by the age of 18 than active teens. The researchers also concluded that calcium consumed from milk or any other source, for that matter, had no effect on bone density. In other words, children develop bone as a result of movement, not food, and that is why teaching kids a sedentary lifestyle is so dangerous.

Additionally, other nutrients are needed for calcium utilization, such as Vitamin K, Vitamin C and potassium. These nutrients are abundant in citrus fruits, tomatoes, peppers, bananas, potatoes, green vegetables, beans, soy foods and fruits and vegetables in general. And, the calcium found in many of these plant foods is absorbed twice as well as the calcium in milk.

We teach in our program that the more milk you drink and animal protein you eat, the more calcium is drained from the bones. Yale researchers documented this fact in a recent study that looked at hip fracture rates in 16 countries. Those with the highest meat, fish, egg and dairy consumption had the most bone breaks. A Harvard study of 78,000 women showed that those who got the most calcium from dairy products actually had more broken bones than women who got little or no calcium from dairy products.

So, the bottom line is that milk does not do a child's body good any more than it does an adult body good! To find out more email or call to book in a one on one consult