Unveiling the Truth！ Does Milk Help Bone Strength?
Milk has been widely promoted as essential for bone health, attributed to its high calcium content. However, recent studies and differing opinions have cast doubt on this longstanding belief. In this article, we’ll delve into the growing skepticism surrounding milk’s role in bone health such as “Does milk help bone strength?” and examine the quest for truth around these new perspectives.
Traditional and Common Perspective on Milk and Bone Strength
Milk has been hailed for generations as a vital contributor to bone strength. The prevailing belief is that its rich calcium content is essential for maintaining healthy bones and preventing conditions like osteoporosis.
This traditional perspective stems from a wealth of cultural and scientific endorsement over the years. It has been reinforcing the idea that regular milk consumption is synonymous with strong bones.
From childhood, many are taught that milk is a cornerstone of a balanced diet, promoting robust skeletal development and longevity. This enduring belief in milk’s role in bone health persists as a cornerstone of dietary guidance and public health messaging worldwide.
Doubts Against Benefits of Milk for Bone Strength Surfaced in the recent decades
In recent decades, doubts have emerged regarding the belief that milk is essential for bone strength. Some studies suggest that other factors, such as vitamin D levels, exercise, and overall diet, may play a more significant role in maintaining strong bones.
Additionally, there is debate over the potential negative effects of consuming dairy products, that milk may facilitate osteoporosis rather than improve it. We will discuss for the truth about it in the following.
Nutrients to help Calcium Absorption
A part of the argument to ask whether calcium in milk helps bone strength comes from the fact that it needs some nutrients to help absorption, including Vitamin D. One point we like to state in the interest of milk is that milk contains some of these nutrients naturally.
The following are some essential nutrients to help calcium absorption for bone strength.
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- Vitamin D: Vitamin D enhances calcium absorption in the intestines. It helps to ensure efficient absorption of calcium into the bloodstream and makes the absorbed calcium available for bone formation.
- Vitamin K: Vitamin K plays a role in bone metabolism and helps regulate calcium levels in the bones. It is involved in the synthesis of proteins that are necessary for bone mineralization.
- Magnesium: Magnesium is essential for bone health as it helps convert vitamin D into its active form, which in turn promotes calcium absorption. Magnesium also plays a direct role in bone mineralization.
- Phosphorus: Phosphorus works together with calcium to form hydroxyapatite, which is a key component of bone mineral. It helps strengthen bones and teeth by supporting the structural integrity of bone tissue.
- Protein: Protein is necessary for the synthesis of collagen, which provides the structural framework for bones. Collagen helps to anchor calcium and other minerals within the bone matrix, contributing to bone strength and density.
A Rumor: Does milk facilitate osteoporosis?
If you ask it Chat GPT (AI), it will answer “Some discussion claim that milk may facilitate osteoporosis.”
But it is crucial to recall that Chat GPT gathers and references all information across the internet, including claims not based on science.
Actually, of the 139 papers published in the 25 years between 1975 and 2000 that investigated the effects of milk on bone health, not one found that drinking too much milk causes osteoporosis.
Neither osteoporosis foundations in Japan nor the World Health Organization (WHO) have never made such an announcement. On the contrary, the WHO clearly states that “the best source of calcium is milk and dairy products.”
A rumor: Does milk’s calcium prohibits calcium absorption?
Ingested calcium get solubilized in the stomach, and small intestine absorbs some of it. But most of it travels to the lower part of the small intestine, where it combines with phosphate and becomes insolubilized, making it difficult to absorb. This system may be the root of this rumor.
But the scientific explanation by Japan Dairy Association is as the following.
Approximately 60% of the calcium (calcium phosphate) contained in milk is thought to exist in the form of colloidal particles (*2) called casein micelles (*1).
Casein has a peptide region in which the amino acid serine is phosphorylated, called “CPP (casein phosphopeptide)” (*3).
The unique mechanism of calcium absorption in milk, where negatively charged CPP binds to positively charged calcium ions in the lower part of the small intestine, prevents calcium from precipitating and allows for its absorption. They believe that this mechanism is a key factor in the high calcium absorption rate of milk.
Some research findings are compelling. A study conducted on young Japanese women found that the absorption rate of calcium in milk was significantly higher than that of other calcium-containing foods.
Specifically, the absorption rate was 40% in milk, compared to 33% in small fish and a mere 19% in vegetables.
Food Faddism and Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience and food faddism thrive due to a combination of factors such as societal trends, misinformation, and marketing tactics.
Quick fixes and sensationalized claims about health and wellness often draw people. They make them susceptible to pseudoscientific beliefs.
Additionally, the rise of social media and influencers has amplified the spread of misinformation and promoted unrealistic ideals regarding food and nutrition. Challenges against widespread common sense and traditional ideas or ultimate tips will quickly grab people’s attention, which is why Influencers and media tend to broadcast such ideas.
The question “Does milk help bone strength?” may be one of such compelling arguments.
Food faddism also benefits from the marketing strategies of companies looking to profit from popular trends, creating a cycle of demand that perpetuates the proliferation of pseudoscience in the health and wellness industry.
It will be crucial that you see through such intentions often hidden behind an ultimate and eye-catching ideas.
As a natural supplement brand made with Japanese traditional healthy food, we stand by science and human’s long experience at first, and be careful against radical new ideas with uncertain scientific groundings.
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