For regular readers of the Rantings, it will come as no surprise that I am not a fan of dairy. I fully realize that this flies in the face of pretty much every public health recommendation in the US. However, the research is not favorable to dairy.
Particularly disturbing, dairy consumption has been linked to Type 1 diabetes in infants and children.
This particular study looks at the same issue from a different angle. They looked at infants who were determined to be at increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes (based on their HLA type). The autoantibodies to their own beta cells of the pancreas were compared when put on regular cow’s milk formula vs a bovine insulin free formula. Researchers found that the numbers of infants containing at least one autoantibody dropped from 6.3% down to 2.6% in the bovine insulin free formula. That’s 61% drop.
As if there wasn’t enough evidence to raise concern over the fact that “milk: it does a body good” is not quite as accurate as the marketing people at the dairy council would have us believe. Consider this next time you think cow’s milk formula is a good option or you think you need to teach your toddler to drink milk.
Stephanie says
What do you think about rice milk or have you heard anything?
James Bogash says
Rice milk instead of formula? I guess I’d need some more specifics. Rice milk would not be sufficient to replace formula, but for a toddler on up it should be just fine.
Alice says
What about almond milk?