Dr Bollmann, Anti-Aging and Skin Care Specialist

Being raised as a milk drinker, I have been amazed at the number of studies saying milk is bad for you. Since I drink milk daily, I disagree. Below are positive studies on the benefits of milk.

Dairy and dairy products have been studied extensively for their promising health benefits:

• Combat Heart Disease & Stroke:  University of Reading (United Kingdom) researchers studied findings from 324 studies of milk consumption as predictors of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke and, diabetes. Data on milk consumption and cancer were based on the recent World Cancer Research Fund report.    The team found that drinking milk can lessen the chances of dying from illnesses such as coronary heart disease and stroke by up to 15-20%.  Separately, researchers from Bristol University (United Kingdom) studied data from the Carnegie (“Boyd Orr”) survey of diet and health in pre-war Britain.  Tracking the lives and the dairy intake of 4,374 children between 1948 and 2005, the researchers found that 1,468 (34%) of them had died, and 378 of those deaths were caused by coronary heart disease and 121 were due to stroke.  Not only did the study suggest that dairy rich diets in childhood do not contribute to heart problems later, the team found that higher childhood calcium intake was associated with lower stroke mortality. In addition, children who were in the group that had the highest calcium intake and dairy product consumption were found to have lower mortality rates than those in the lower intake groups.

• Maintain Cognitive Health:    Researchers from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom) studied whether foods rich in Vitamin B-12 might counter homocysteine, a compound for which high levels are linked to an increased risk of heart disease and cognitive decline including Alzheimer's Disease. The team monitored 5,937 subjects in two age groups (47-49 years, and 71-74 years) participating in the Hordaland Homocysteine Study in Norway, surveying them for their daily food intake patterns.  The team observed that those subjects with low B-12 levels suffered twice as much brain shrinkage as compared to those study participants with higher blood levels of the vitamin.  The researchers observed two glasses of skim milk daily can help that raise plasma vitamin B-12 levels.