Did your elementary school teacher ever tell you that if there were no bones, you might just be a limp mass on the ground? Or maybe you’ve heard the popular song about human skeletons: “Ankle bones are connected to shin bones, shin bones are connected to knee bones”. Anyway, when you were a kid, you probably heard that drinking milk helps strengthen your bones and teeth because we don’t want to become a bony mess, and because so many celebrities have made milk commercials touting the benefits of milk, so we drink milk – which is to bone health what bees are to honey. The average American consumes the most milk and dairy products in the world, so it seems that Americans should have very strong bones. ? The myth of milk is that “excess hip fracture” is often a reliable indicator of osteoporosis, a bone disease that is usually caused by insufficient calcium intake, especially in women after menopause. As a result, those responsible for health policy often recommend that people consume more calcium, and because dairy products are rich in calcium, the dairy industry has been very supportive of efforts made as a result of this policy. Something is clearly wrong, because the populations of those countries that consume the most cow’s milk and dairy products not only have the highest fracture rates, but also the worst bones. A possible explanation found in one report is that there is a strong association between higher fracture rates and higher animal protein intake, even among women in different countries. A 1922 report by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine on protein intake and fracture rates, based on thirty-four independent studies from 16 countries (scattered in 29 peer-reviewed journals), all of which included women over the age of 50, found that 70% of fractures were associated with animal protein consumption. The body’s acidic load The researchers’ explanation is that animal protein, unlike vegetable protein, will increase the body’s acidic load, so that the body’s blood and tissues will become more acidic. Since the body does not like the acidic environment, it will begin to fight back, using calcium, a powerful ingredient to neutralize the acid, but calcium must be taken from somewhere in the body, so take calcium from the bones. However, with less calcium, the bones become progressively weaker and become susceptible to fractures. More than a hundred years ago, there was evidence that animal protein could damage bone health. For example, it was first suggested in the 1880s that animal proteins produced excess metabolic acid, which was documented in 1920; furthermore, we know that animal proteins increase the metabolic acid load in the body more than vegetable proteins. In 2000, the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco published a study that gathered 87 surveys from 33 countries on the relationship between animal and plant protein intake and fracture rates and found that the higher the intake of plant protein compared to animal protein, the less fractures occurred. Too much calcium is not necessarily good We are told almost daily that we must consume dairy foods to replenish the calcium needed for strong bones, and numerous reviews and analyses have warned that most people do not have the standard calcium requirements, especially those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. But the benefits of calcium have not been proven, as a study of ten countries showed that higher calcium intakes were associated with higher, rather than lower, fracture rates. Mark Hegstedt Mark Hegsted, a senior professor at Harvard University, has been studying calcium-related issues since the early 1950s. Professor Hegsted believes that chronic overconsumption of calcium impairs the body’s ability to control how much calcium is consumed and when. In healthy conditions, the body uses active vitamin D, or calcitriol, to regulate the amount of calcium consumed from food and the amount that should be secreted and distributed to the bones. Active vitamin D is a hormone that increases calcium absorption and limits calcium secretion if the body needs more calcium. However, if too much calcium is consumed over a long period of time, the body may lose its ability to regulate active vitamin D and permanently or temporarily disrupt calcium absorption and secretion. If the regulatory mechanism is disrupted in this way, it can cause osteoporosis in menopausal and postmenopausal women. Taken together, these findings suggest that humans are at increased risk of osteoporosis if they overconsume animal protein and calcium. Unfortunately, dairy products are the only foods that are rich in these nutrients. Backed up by the aforementioned research evidence on calcium, Hagstay’s 1986 paper states: “…… Hip fractures are usually found in countries where dairy consumption is most prevalent and calcium intake is quite high”. Three principles to prevent osteoporosis Obviously, the dairy industry’s recommendations to promote dairy products to help prevent osteoporosis are now strongly challenged by studies in the literature. So, what can we do to reduce the risk of osteoporosis? The following three points can be your reference: 1. Keep physically active and exercise more. After doing exercise, you will feel more comfortable and your bones will be stronger. 2, consume different kinds of whole plant foods, and avoid animal foods, even dairy products do not touch. Plant foods such as beans and leafy vegetables contain a lot of calcium, and as long as you stay away from refined carbohydrates such as candy, pasta and white bread, you shouldn’t have a calcium deficiency. (Eggs are also animal protein, which is also bad.) 3. Keep salt intake to a minimum. Highly processed and packaged foods contain a lot of salt, so avoid them as much as possible. (Dietitian: A person should not exceed 6 grams a day, otherwise it will lead to high blood pressure.)