This story only has positive points to make about dairy consumption, encouraging everyone, children included, to get three servings of dairy a day!
In the life of a human bone, it’s all downhill after 30. That’s the typical cut-off point for bone-building, so experts say it’s crucial that younger people take in enough calcium and another nutrient, vitamin D, to maximize the skeleton’s potential. After age 30, those same two nutrients are key to slowing the gradual bone loss that comes with age. Calcium isn’t just important to bones, though.
“It’s also important to help prevent colon cancer and for good muscle contraction, including heart muscle,” said Katharine Tallmadge, a Washington, D.C., dietitian and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “It might even be important for lowering blood pressure and helping to burn off fat.” In fact, calcium is so important to so many aspects of health that “if we don’t get enough in our diet, our body pulls it from the bones,” Tallmadge said. “It’s a critical mineral.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recommended daily allowance of calcium amounts to about 1,000 milligrams a day for adults ages 19 to 50 years of age and 1,200 milligrams a day for adults over 50. While many people turn to supplements for their calcium, Tallmadge said food is always a better bet.
“I encourage people to get three high-dairy foods per day, each containing about a third of the daily requirement” she said. “That could be a cup of milk, fortified soy milk, fortified orange juice, a cup of yogurt, one-and-a-half ounces of hard cheese.” Lactose-intolerant individuals should still be able to consume skim or lactate-free varieties of milk, or they can turn to fortified non-dairy products. There are also calcium-laden food sources besides dairy products — such as grains and vegetables — but it’s tougher for the body to get enough of the nutrient from these foods, Tallmadge said.