No dairy for 8yrs and at 65, the bones of a 25yr old
by Sue Kira, Naturopath & Clinical Nutritionist
This case study is about my husband Rod, who has never been diagnosed with osteoporosis. But more about him shortly.
The question I almost always get asked by clients when I recommend they go off dairy products for the sake of their health is, “What about my calcium levels to prevent osteoporosis?” I then explain about the benefits of calcium absorption from vegetables vs dairy products and the advantages of an alkaline diet and they are generally fine.
If anyone feels uncomfortable about it, they still have the option of taking a calcium supplement (which are sometimes also needed for other reasons).
Now back to Rod. In April 2014 when Rod was 65 (he’s older now, but still vital!) after being off dairy for eight years, he asked me the same question about his bones and the potential for osteoporosis, so I suggested for him to get a bone density scan to see how things were looking.
After the test, the technician was amazed at the results. His bone density was so good that she rated it the same as a healthy 25yr old which is the peak age for bone density. Rod was rapt. The technician said, “you must eat a lot of dairy products”.
Rod told her that he had not eaten any dairy products for the preceding eight years and ate a healthy plant based diet with good fats and healthy amounts of protein mostly from fish. He also mentioned he kept quite active by maintaining a couple of acres (and the chooks) where my clinic was previously located and he regularly went for walks. The technician was quite surprised, and a touch sceptical.
This isn’t to suggest that this is all you need to do to prevent osteoporosis, as there can be many other factors involved.