Week Seven: Dairy, Calcium

Week Seven 

The goal for week seven is to start choosing fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese (basically everything in diary group). Consuming milk and milk products provides health benefits such as lowering the risk of osteoporosis. Foods in the milk group provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body such as calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein. However, choosing certain foods from this group contain high saturated fat and cholesterol that may have health implications; therefore it is very important to start choosing fat-free or low-fat. Previous week’s goals apply to this week’s goals as well.

Dairy or Milk

All milk products and many foods made from milk are considered part of this food group. Foods made from milk that retain their calcium content are part of the group, while foods made from milk that have little to no calcium, such as cream cheese, cream, and butter, are not. Most milk group choices should be fat-free or low-fat.

Some commonly eaten choices in the milk, yogurt, and cheese group are:

*Selection Tips: Choose fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese.

Consuming milk and milk products provides health benefits—people who have a diet rich in milk and milk products can reduce the risk of low bone mass throughout the life cycle. Foods in the milk group provide nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.

Health benefits

• Diets rich in milk and milk products help build and maintain bone mass throughout the life cycle. This may reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• The intake of milk products is especially important to bone health during childhood and adolescence, when bone mass is being built.
• Diets that include milk products tend to have a higher overall nutritional quality.

Nutrients

• Calcium is used for building bones and teeth and in maintaining bone mass. Milk products are the primary source of calcium in American diets. Diets that provide 3 cups or the equivalent of milk products per day can improve bone mass.
• Diets rich in potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Milk products, especially yogurt and fluid milk, provide potassium.
• Vitamin D functions in the body to maintain proper levels of calcium and phosphorous, thereby helping to build and maintain bones. Milk that is fortified with vitamin D is a good source of this nutrient. Other sources include vitamin D-fortified yogurt and vitamin D-fortified ready-to-eat breakfast cereals.
• Milk products that are consumed in their low-fat or fat-free forms provide little or no solid fat.

Why is it important to make fat-free or low-fat choices from the milk group?

Choosing foods from the milk group that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol can have health implications. Diets high in saturated fats raise “bad” cholesterol levels in the blood. The “bad” cholesterol is called LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. High LDL cholesterol, in turn, increases the risk for coronary heart disease. Many cheeses, whole milk, and products made from them are high in saturated fat. To help keep blood cholesterol levels healthy, limit the amount of these foods you eat. In addition, a high intake of fats makes it difficult to avoid consuming more calories than are needed.

Calcium

What Is Calcium, and Where Do We Get It?

Calcium is a mineral that the body needs for numerous functions, including building and maintaining bones and teeth, blood clotting, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the regulation of the heart’s rhythm. Ninety-nine percent of the calcium in the human body is stored in the bones and teeth. The remaining 1 percent is found in the blood and other tissues.

The body gets the calcium it needs in two ways. One is by eating foods that contain calcium, or by taking calcium supplements. Good sources include dairy products, which have the highest concentration per serving of highly absorbable calcium, and dark leafy greens or dried beans, which have varying amounts of absorbable calcium.

The other way the body gets calcium is by pulling it from bones. This happens when blood levels of calcium drop too low, usually when it’s been awhile since having eaten a meal containing calcium. Ideally, the calcium that is “borrowed” from the bones will be replaced at a later point. But, this doesn’t always happen. Most important, this payback can’t be accomplished simply by eating more calcium.

Growing Healthy Bones

Bone is living tissue that is always in flux. Throughout the lifespan, bones are constantly being broken down and built up in a process known as remodeling. Bone cells called osteoblasts build bone, while other bone cells called osteoclasts break down bone.

In healthy individuals who get enough calcium and physical activity, bone production exceeds bone destruction up to about age 30. After that, destruction typically exceeds production.

What Is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis, or “porous bones,” is the weakening of bones caused by an imbalance between bone building and bone destruction. People typically lose bone as they age, despite consuming the recommended intake of calcium necessary to maintain optimal bone health. An estimated 10 million Americans—8 million women and 2 million men—have osteoporosis. Another 34 million have low bone mass, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis.

Achieving adequate calcium intake and maximizing bone stores during the time when bone is rapidly deposited (up to age 30) provides an important foundation for the future. But it will not prevent bone loss later in life. The loss of bone with aging is the result of several factors, including genetic factors, physical inactivity, and lower levels of circulating hormones (estrogen in women and testosterone in men).

Postmenopausal women account for 80 percent of all cases of osteoporosis because estrogen production declines rapidly at menopause. Of course, men are also at risk of developing osteoporosis, but they tend to do so 5 to 10 years later than women, since testosterone levels do not fall abruptly the way estrogen does in women. It is estimated that osteoporosis will cause half of all women over age 50 to suffer a fracture of the hip, wrist, or vertebra.

How Can Osteoporosis Be Slowed Down?

Preventing osteoporosis depends on two things: making the strongest, densest bones possible during the first 30 years of life and limiting the amount of bone loss in adulthood.

There are a number of lifestyle factors that can help:

• Getting regular exercise, especially resistance training and muscle strengthening exercise.
• Getting adequate vitamin D, whether through diet, exposure to sunshine, or supplements.
• Consuming enough calcium to reduce the amount the body has to borrow from bone.
• Consuming adequate vitamin K, found in green, leafy vegetables.
• Not getting too much preformed vitamin A.

Should You Get Calcium from Milk?

When most people in the United States think of calcium, they immediately think of milk. But should this be so? Milk is actually only one of many sources of calcium—dark leafy green vegetables and some types of legumes are among the other sources—and there are some important reasons why milk may not be the best source for everyone. These reasons include the following:

Lactose Intolerance

Many people have some degree of lactose intolerance. For them, eating or drinking dairy products causes problems like cramping, bloating, gas, and diarrhea. These symptoms can range from mild to severe.

One alternative for those who are lactose intolerant but who still enjoy consuming dairy products is to take a pill containing enzymes that digest milk sugar along with the dairy product, or to consume milk that has the lactase enzyme added to it.

High Saturated Fat Content

Many dairy products are high in saturated fats, and a high saturated fat intake is a risk factor for heart disease. And while it’s true that most dairy products are now available in fat-reduced or nonfat options.

The Bottom Line: Recommendations for Calcium Intake and Bone Health

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Lisa Olson: Certified Personal Trainer / Fitness & Nutrition Consultation /

Independent Beachbody Coach ID# 117974