The Risk of Milking it.

milk

We’ve all heard it before, ‘Finish your milk it will make your bones strong’. It’s been said by parents, and children’s television, reminding us that drinking milk is an important part of healthy living and growing up to be tall and strong. But what if they were all wrong? A study was conducted in Sweden over the course of 23 years, with 100,000 participants suggests that they very well might be.

The study found no link between milk consumption and fracture risks decreasing. Surprisingly, higher milk consumption in women was linked to an increased risk of hip fractures, by almost 60%. The most worrying find of the study suggests that women were more likely to die of heart disease with an increase of milk incorporated into their diet. Yet the Dietary Guidelines for America recommend three cups of milk a day for anyone over the age of eight, and many European countries also follow this suggestion. So what can be said for this rule? The researchers of this trial point out that no randomized control trials were made to support the daily consumption of milk being conducive to ones health, and any observational studies have had inconclusive results. But it may not be time to swear off the stuff just yet.

The authors of the study point out that while they factored in smoking, alcohol intake, and weight they may have been understated, and there is always a risk that the results could be up to chance. They also made note that the people used in the study were aged from 40 to 75, so the death rates are not all that surprising. While chance is still a very real option in this study it is safe to rule out reverse causation, because it would suggest that people more likely to fracture bones were more likely to be chosen to drink higher levels of milk in the trial, which is highly unlikely. The study may also suffer from the Texas Sharpshooter Problem, with so many factors including age, daily lives, and previous health history, it’s a very real possibility that there are other aspects to consider.

With all of this in mind, I’m probably not going to completely cut milk from my diet. Though I will most definitely reduce the amount, I’m a little to impartial to chocolate milk to swear off the creamery for good without more conclusive proof.

 

Works Cited:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/milk-might-not-be-as-good-for-us-as-we-thought-study-suggests-9823870.html

http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-sn-milk-health-risks-20141029-story.html#page=1

 

4 thoughts on “The Risk of Milking it.

  1. gel5088

    My mom always told me when I was younger that I would have to drink milk if I wanted to grow up and be big and strong. Ironically later down the road I found out that I was lactose intolerant and now I have to drink almond milk. So if there is no actual correlation between milk consumption and decreased fracture risk then why are we told to drink milk? One of the main concepts in science is accepting the fact that strongly held beliefs might be wrong and I think this is a perfect example of that. If there is no correlation there is also no causation. The only way that a study could be done on this is an observational study. Scientists would have to watch each person’s milk consumption and follow them for a few years and see how likely they are to break/fracture their bones. We would also have to consider the third confounding variable that could play into this study. For example, depending on the activities that one participates in could have an effect on how likely they are to break a bone.

  2. Xiaotong Wang

    Because of self curious, after reading your post, I searched this topic on the internet that “does milk really good for bones” and the answer I think is yes. Although drinking too much milk may bring people some problems like increasing the risk of several cancer or adding body fat, but because the high calcium contained in the milk, it will improve people’s bones’ health. If people afraid of the risk of drinking too much milk, there’s some good ways to improve bones either like doing excise regularly or taking some extra Vitamin D or K. Any way, most of people, include me, drink milk is not because milk’s ability to do what for our body, but just because we love it.

  3. Valerie Ortense

    This is heart breaking if it is true. I have always tried to drink at least around three glasses of milk a week even though i absolutely despise the taste. it has been torture, so it would be very sad if all of my efforts have been for nothing. But I thought your boned are made of calcium which is a major component in milk. So it is hard to believe that there is no benefit from it. However, I will be cutting down my milk consumption now.

  4. Ann

    Definitely agreed that it’s hard to cut out creamery chocolate milk. WebMD holds a similar idea with you. That milk has it’s ups and downs. Being as you can get calcium, potassium, and vitamin D all from milk, that is a huge benefit. But, a doctor was quoted that it is very unlikely to reduce fractures. So maybe milk won’t make us big and strong, but it will give us some good vitamins!

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthy-kitchen-11/dairy-truths

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