Do We Need Milk?

By Bridget Hennessy

Studies are starting to show that the recommended three cups of milk a day is actually too high and is a risk to women’s health. In a Swedish study, women who drank at least three glasses of milk daily were twice as likely to die in twenty years than others who drank less milk daily.

It was also found that there is a direct relationship between milk intake and women’s risk of bone fracture as intake increases. There’s more evidence that galactose, a sugar found in milk, might induce oxidative stress and inflammation in women, which affects mortality and fractures. This low-grade inflammation is persistent and is characterized by dilated blood vessels and overly active immune system, which, when tested on by giving animals galactose, caused them to die much faster. 

From this evidence in the health of animals, scientists watched 61,433 women for twenty years. During this time, almost a quarter of the women died and more than a quarter had fractures. After looking at age, body mass index, and alcohol consumption, the researchers found that women who drank the recommended amount of milk everyday were 1.93 times more likely to die than were women who drank less than a glass of milk per day. For males, though, there is no connection between milk consumption and mortality or fractures. 


Source: http://www.livescience.com/48503-3-servings-milk-linked-higher-mortality.html

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