3 ms·

The meta analysis of dairy that I have seen suggest there are health benefits, especially for cultivated dairy (cheese, yogurt, etc). Do you know otherwise?

• adrian_b 4y ago
  There is nothing wrong with consuming a moderate amount of dairy products. However the justification for this must be that you like their taste, not for supposed health benefits. Dairy contains a lot of nutrients and it is certainly preferable to many kinds of industrially-made food that are filled with dubious ingredients, colorants, flavors, sweeteners, oils and so on. On the other hand, in order to claim "health benefits", it would have been necessary for dairy to be a superior source for the included nutrients, which it is not. For proteins, a better source is lean meat, e.g. turkey breast or chicken breast, for fat much better sources are the vegetable fat sources, which allow the selection of an optimal fatty acid profile, for calcium a much better source is a supplement like calcium citrate powder, which allows the choice of any desired daily intake without disturbing the daily intakes for the other nutrients. It is good to enjoy dairy, but one should not try to rationalize this preference as being motivated by health concerns.
  • eloff 4y ago
    It depends what you’d substitute into your diet instead. Meta studies I’ve seen show lower mortality for people consuming cheese, butter, yogurt, sour cream, etc. Which suggests to me that the average person chooses worse substitutions. I don’t see why you’d include it in your diet if you don’t like it. But assuming you do, the evidence seems to suggest it won’t hurt you. It may even be better than common substitutes (like butter over margarine.)