Guest Blogger: Margie King

Science has once again shattered the myth that milk makes strong bones.  A new Swedish study links drinking milk to higher rates of bone fractures and even death.[i]

The study tracked the eating habits of over 60,000 women for 20 years and over 45,000 men for 15 years. Researchers found that drinking more milk did NOT lead to lower risks of bone fracture.  In fact, women who drank three glasses of milk per day broke more bones.  Compared to women who drank less than one glass per day, heavy milk drinkers had a 60% greater risk of breaking a hip and a 16% higher risk of breaking any bone.

But it gets worse.  People who drank more milk also had a higher risk of dying from any cause.  For every glass of milk they drank every day, women had a 15% higher risk of death and men had a 3% higher risk.

Why does milk lead to more broken bones and higher death rates?

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Do you know how much calcium you’re really getting from your food?

I’m not talking about how much calcium is in the food you eat.  I’m talking about how much of that calcium your body actually absorbs.  Scientists call it bioavailability.

Here’s what it means.  (more…)

You might have noticed by now that I’m not a big fan of dairy as your main source of bone healthy nutrients.  I like a wider variety of foods for healthy bones, including dark leafy greens, seaweeds and bone broths.

But then there’s yogurt…and here’s where I have to make an exception to my dairy prejudice.

Yogurt is fermented by adding bacterial cultures to milk, transforming the milk sugar, lactose, into lactic acid.

Here’s why yogurt is better than milk when it comes to your bones:  acidity.

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