Why Drinking Milk Daily Can Cause Osteoporosis?

Many people suffer from osteoporosis, especially women. From climacteric and menopause, they may wonder why they lack calcium despite their daily consumption of milk or calcium-enriched supplements.
In the rest of this article, we will explain this phenomenon to you and offer you healthy alternatives to provide your body with all the calcium it needs, in a simple and natural way.

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a pathology characterized by a decrease in bone mass and progressive deterioration of the skeleton.

This disorder increases the brittleness of the bones and, consequently, the risk of suffering from fractures.

Women are more affected by this disease than men, especially when they reach middle age, although other factors, such as heredity, can influence its onset.

Here are other probable causes of osteoporosis:

• Malnutrition
• An unbalanced diet
• Taking certain medications
• Sedentarism
• Hormonal issues

The main problem with osteoporosis is that it doesn’t show any symptoms until a fracture or pain suddenly appears.

This is why we must be particularly vigilant if we have a family predisposition to suffer from it.

Is milk a good source of calcium?

To get the amount of calcium needed to prevent the onset of osteoporosis, doctors have often advised drinking at least one glass of cow’s milk daily.

However, in recent years, we have realized that osteoporosis is on the rise, and that it can even appear at an earlier age.

In the first place, we could explain this phenomenon by saying that milk is less and less rich in nutrients, because it is transformed by processes which are more and more harmful.

However, it remains a product rich in calcium, in the form of mineral salts (caseinates and phosphates). Thanks to its lactose content, it is relatively well absorbed by our body.

However, two factors can drastically reduce the absorption of calcium by our body : our consumption of proteins and our possible lactose intolerance.

Many people suffer from the latter problem without even knowing it. They continue to consume it and weaken their intestines, which can no longer properly assimilate nutrients.

Milk and osteoporosis

Recent studies show that regular consumption of cow’s milk does not prevent or fight osteoporosis. Worse still, this habit would increase the risk of suffering from ovarian or prostate cancer, as well as cardiovascular pathologies.

It therefore seems interesting to look for new sources of calcium, to permanently replace cow’s milk.

Calcium supplements

When we take medicinal supplements, our bodies don’t necessarily absorb the main nutrient they contain in the way we want them to.

In the case of calcium, if we consume it in the form of supplements, we take the risk of increasing our chances of suffering from calcifications, kidney stones and cardiovascular disease.

If we are forced to consume them, the best thing to do is to distribute the intakes throughout the day and always ingest them at the same time as our main meals, to obtain a good amount of vitamin D.

However, if you are simply looking to prevent osteoporosis and you do not have it yet, we advise you to opt for natural alternatives rich in calcium.

Natural alternatives rich in calcium

If you want to eat a diet rich in calcium, you should incorporate the following ingredients into your diet daily. They do not contain any derivative of milk.

• Sardines
• Seafood
• Certain vegetables (leeks, broccoli, spinach or chard)
• Sesame seeds (raw, toasted, in the form of first cold-pressed oil or spread, tahini)
• Certain dried fruits (almonds, hazelnuts)
• Certain dried fruits (figs, dates)
• Certain dried vegetables (chickpeas, lentils)
• Cumin
• Parsley

Other tips to prevent the onset of osteoporosis

If we want to paint a complete picture of osteoporosis, we must point out that other means of preventing and treating it, than those we have already mentioned, exist:

• Exposure to the sun (regularly, but with care) and consume vitamin D3 supplements, under the supervision of a professional.
• Regulate our hormones during stages of change, such as during menopause, to keep them under control (estrogen in women, testosterone in men).
• Avoid the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
• Reduce our consumption of sugar and foods containing added sugars.
• Practice regular physical activity, at least two or three times a week, because it greatly affects the quality of our bones.