You’ve heard it a thousand times when you were a child, threats from your mom, dad, teacher, guardian or loved one threatening your 7 year old self, “Finish that glass of milk, or else you won’t get strong!” or “You have to drink your milk, or else your bones will break.” Back in the second grade, I was terrified of what I heard when asked about the negative effects of not drinking milk. Looking back on the situation now, I wonder, does milk actually make you stronger or was it just ploy used by mom to get me to stay healthy….
I decided to do some researched on the internet and came to an article, here, that i found very interesting and somewhat helpful. Milk has calcium. The human body needs calcium. Thats the simple explanation for why kids were forced by their parents there entire childhood to drink milk. Plain and simple. Here’s the real interesting part though….. you don’t need to have milk to stay healthy and keep your bones strong. You could have no milk at all your entire life and be one of the strongest, most healthy people around. Now how is this possible??? That means I don’t have to have any milk and still be a healthy strong human being? Why would you lie to me mom?!? The actual science of it, is that what milk mainly provides you, calcium, most people attain from their regular diet. The problem is, if you don’t get enough calcium from your daily diet, your body will start to take calcium from your bones, making you weaker. Ahhhh, there it is, the answer to the burning question. Milk doesn’t actually make you stronger, it helps to prevent you from becoming WEAKER. Your parents have lied to you…. my parents have lied to me…. they have been preaching false statements from the very first day they asked you to drink some milk. The lines they should be threatening you with should sound more like “Finish that glass of milk, or else you’ll get weak!!”, and even this isn’t necessarily true. Milk only helps certain people with certain daily diets.
No, skeleton the truth is 1% milk helps PREVENT WEAK bones..
Funny story… I was a very rambunctious little kid, so growing up I broke seven bones, and yes you read that correctly, SEVEN! Apparently I had weak bones or just horrendous luck. When I was younger I would get so upset that I constantly would break, fracture and injure my bones because I drank so much milk, practically with every meal. When you are a kid you believe anything that you are told, and I was told that if you drank lots of milk you would have strong bones. Obviously drinking milk was not helping me and I eventually started to HATE when people would say that by drinking lots of milk you will grow up to be strong. Reading your blog it made me cringe that only “1% milk helps prevent weak bones” because we are all under the impression that the number should be much higher! I also noticed that you included a “Got Milk” ad, which was very popular for our generation growing up, but that campaign actually ended in 2014. You can reminisce and read up on the campaign details here: http://milkinggotmilk.com/campaign-history/
Very interesting and funny post! After breaking my collarbone this past spring, I started to do more research on the formation of the bones and what makes them stronger. My orthopedist told me to eat nutritious food and sleep as these would both make my bone heal at the fastest rate possible. After doing some research I too learned that sufficient calcium consumption leads to healthy bones, not necessarily stronger bones. This article supports your view but also explains how there has been a correlation between milk consumption and increased risk of fractures. http://www.medicaldaily.com/does-milk-actually-build-strong-bones-sugar-content-may-lead-greater-fracture-risks-308157
Thanks for sharing this article! When I was younger, I wasn’t allowed to drink soda at our house, but my parents were and I always protested this. They wanted me to drink milk, water, or juice so that I wouldn’t go crazy and drink a lot of sugary soda. I always knew that we needed milk to maintain and improve our bone health, but without calcium we could become weaker. So, the milk drinking concept should apply to people of all ages and not only growing children. Great post!
I loved this post because I myself don’t drink milk; well cow’s milk that is. So immediately I thought about we don’t actually need to get our calcium from dairy. There are various vegetables that contain the calcium we need in order to maintain strong a healthy bones. I actually found a link arguing that cow’s milk is bad for us, and instead of preventing bone deterioration it induces it. So while many believe that milk prevents weak bones or strengthens bones, I on the other hand believe milk weakens our bones and makes them more vulnerable to breaking. Also I don’t quite understand why we drink cow’s milk anyway. It’s not like we’re calves. I would much rather drink almond milk and find adequate sources of calcium with my diet. Below is a link to the site claiming that milk is indeed bad for us as humans.
http://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/
I have always wondered which type of milk is the best for you. While there are so many options at the grocery store, I’ve been a 2% kind of guy. Nowadays the popularity of skim and soy milks have risen, so are these really better options? Find out here:http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2015/03/18/which-type-of-milk-is-healthiest