Vegan Hacks: The Calcium Myth

Growing up my mum would always tell me; “drink all your milk up and you’ll have strong healthy bones”. Everybody knows this. It’s something instilled in us from an early age. It’s also something that seems to be perpetuated ad infinitum by the dairy industry itself.

Aren’t they nice, caring about our health so much!

The problem is, it’s all a lie. An ingenious marketing ploy to sell more milk. One of the greatest marketing campaigns ever created it seems.

Milk does contain Calcium, there’s no disputing that. But things are a little more complicated.

Numerous peer-reviewed studies have discovered a surprising and very distinct correlation in their data; the countries with the highest rates of dairy consumption also have the highest rates of hip fractures – a key indicator of Osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones, which become brittle and susceptible to fracture due to poor density. The low density is a result of a lack of Calcium.

So what’s happening?

Well, when milk is digested in the body it becomes acidic. It actually acidifies our entire body. To restore a favourable Ph balance, our bodies need to neutralise the acid. They do this by releasing Calcium into our bloodstream.

This calcium is drawn from reserves stored in our body – namely our bones. After doing its job the calcium is then urinated out of the body.

The amount of Calcium taken from the bones to neutralise the acid actually outweighs the Calcium received from the milk we drank in the first place. The result – a net loss.

With continuously high levels of dairy consumption, this can eventually lead to problems such a Osteoporosis.

 

Luckily there are plenty of fantastic plant based sources of calcium; Dark leafy vegetables like Spinach, Collard Greens, Kale, Broccoli are excellent sources. Chickpeas, Chia seeds and Oranges are all high in Calcium too.

The point is – we don’t need dairy products to maintain a healthy diet. Dairy is a cruel industry that results in suffering and unnecessary death. Choose a plant based diet and make the world a better place!