Harvard Declares Dairy NOT Part of a Healthy Diet

The Harvard School of Public Health sent a strong message to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and nutrition experts everywhere with the recent release of its “Healthy Eating Plate” food guide. The university was responding to the USDA’s new MyPlate guide for healthy eating, which replaced the outdated and misguided food pyramid.

Harvard’s nutrition experts did not pull punches, declaring that the university’s food guide was based on sound nutrition research and more importantly, not influenced by food industry lobbyists. The greatest evidence of its research focus is the absence of dairy products from the “Healthy Eating Plate” based on Harvard’s assessment that “…high intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer.” The Harvard experts also referred to the high levels of saturated fat in most dairy products and suggested that collards, bok choy, fortified soy milk, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium, as are high quality supplements.

Kudos to Harvard for promoting greater consumption of vegetables and fruits, as well as healthier protein options such as fish, beans or nuts. And kudos to Harvard for ignoring the lobbyists and showing the USDA what healthy eating is all about.

Adapted from World’s Healthiest News by Michelle Schoffro Cook, PhD. Get your free e-news subscription here.

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Melanie B.

2:55PM PST on Feb 21, 2012

No one is flip flopping Lika. The science is in and has been for ages. All mammals produce milk for their young. Cows for baby calves, rats for baby rats and so on. We were never meant to consume the milk of another species. If you can give me one good reason why we the human species should drink the milk of another species? The countries that consume the most dairy have the highest rates of bone fracture, osteoporosis as well as certain cancers. It is a known fact that breast cancer is linked to dairy. I urge everyone who doubts the science to read Whitewash by Joseph Keon. Become educated. Why are we drinking cow's milk anyway? For calcium? There are many healthful sources of calcium. It is not how much calcium we consume anyway, it is how much our bodies retain and the more acidic our bodies are, from animal protein, the more we will excrete. The only people advocating drinking cow's milk are in fact not the 'experts' but the industries beneffiting from this myth and lie. Have any of you ever seen an ad for kale or raspberries? It is shocking how much everyone has bought into these lies perpetrated by corporations out to make dollars and they and the pharmaceutical companies benefit. Be careful where you get your information from. Many of the so called research is in fact skewed by the dairy industry iteself. Take a look at forksoverknives.com

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Jes d.

8:04AM PST on Feb 13, 2012

Milk goes to the mother of the animal it's meant to feed. Exceptions to this are very rare.

LP R.

5:22PM PST on Feb 3, 2012

@Tonya- have you and yours tried USDA Organic, grass-fed milk? It contains none of the creepy cruddy things you mentioned in your comment, and the grass-fed quality enhances the health benefits of the milk. Food for thought, so to speak. :)

Tonya V.

6:05AM PST on Feb 3, 2012

I do not give my son dairy milk anyway because of what goes into the cows..... Antibiotics, pesticides, I could go on & on... This is why the need for stronger antibiotics because we have built up a high tolerance level from drinking cows milk! And they say milk does a body good!!!. I put my son on a gluten free/casein free diet for a year & when I reintroduced dairy milk back into his diet, his seizures got worse & more frequent! So we are dairy free at our house!!

Rachel R.

7:20PM PST on Jan 27, 2012

I notice that a lot of other comments are also wanted a more moderate line here. I too am getting sick of Care2 articles that put things in such black and white terms. Too much of anything is likely to be bad for you. I have found that dairy doesn't agree with me, but I don't think that it is so harmful to everyone that no one should have it ever!! Moderation please! In diet and in reporting.

LaDiva D.

7:13AM PST on Jan 24, 2012

There is no anti-milk lobby just a number of scientists, like myself, who have done much research about dairy products and realize that it is an incredibly deleterious material for the human body. Anything made to take a 60 pound calf and turn it into a 600 pound cow in six months is not for human consumption. Milk was taken away from babies because the protein were so high and destructive it killed them. As a dietitian, we advise mothers to never give dairy products to children until the age of 1. But since milk is connected with type 1 diabetes, please keep your children safe. Use full fat soy milk.

colleen p.

5:58AM PST on Jan 24, 2012

i just was told, with wild horses. If the lead mare has ample food, she will produce milk for babys and the very elderly herd members. Only if there is an over abundance of food.

Maxime S.

5:55AM PST on Jan 24, 2012

That's not exactly what they said... They mentionned limiting milk and dairy intake to 1-2 servings per day primarly to reduce saturated fat intake. Carefull not to fall into the anti-milk lobby ;)

Brenda T.

7:20AM PST on Jan 21, 2012

We consume far too much dairy.

Lika S.

12:05AM PST on Jan 17, 2012

Oh, and wasn't it just a few years ago that low fat milk was a super food that could help us lose weight? Now "large amounts" lead to POSSIBLE (not definite) cancer.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. A bushel of apples causes diarrhea.