Bill Marler is a nationally recognized foodborne illness lawyer, an expert in food safety and one of the most influential voices in food policy in the world. His law firm Marler Clark has represented thousands of victims in practically every major foodborne illness outbreak in the United States. In 1993, he represented Brianne Kiner, the young girl that survived the most significant of injuries in the historic Jack in the Box E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak, resulting in a $15.6 million settlement that changed the way we process food in America today. His websites Food Safety News and blog MarlerBlog.com inform millions of readers daily with award-winning reporting on foodborne illnesses.

Today, Darya and Bill discuss the latest in food recalls, why eating organic vegetables is just as risky as hamburgers these days, and what we can all do to stay safe.

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Thanks to those of you who participated in this episode on the role of dairy in health and weight loss. Show notes are below.

Please note that the date for the probiotics episode (#6) has changed to Monday, April 25 @ 6:30p PST (previously Tuesday, April 26).

April 11, 2011 | Does milk really protect against osteoporosis? Will too much calcium give you prostate cancer? Can you reduce acne if you stop eating dairy? What’s the deal with raw milk?

The answers may surprise you.

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Show notes:

There is a huge amount of politics surrounding this science, because of the powerful influence of dairy industries around the world. This makes data difficult to interpret. The following review and its rebuttal regarding the role of milk in type 1 diabetes is a perfect example of what I mean:

Dairy & type 1 diabetes

• Literature review
  http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v59/n5/full/1602104a.html#bib11

• Critique of review based on funding influences
  http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v60/n3/full/1602322a.html

Dairy and osteoporosis

• Recommended calcium intake = 1,000 mg for adults

• Osteoporosis is more common in Western countries than in Asia, Africa or So. America
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3004072/figure/F0001/
• Western and developed countries consume the most dairy, and as countries consume more osteoporosis becomes more common
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15775506
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18947030
  • http://www.foodscience.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/intro.html
• Correlation between high calcium intake and hip fractures
  • Eat, Drink & Be Healthy, by Walter Willett

• Also, much of the world is lactose intolerant
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactose_intolerance
• Some evidence that dairy protects against osteoporosis
  • http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/full/19/suppl_2/83S
• Calcium supplementation does not protect against fractures
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18286218?dopt=Abstract
  • but might with vitamin D http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17720017?dopt=Abstract
• Vitamin D, calcium, fruits and vegetables, protein important for bone health
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19968914
• Diet “acidity” (from protein & other sources) is not a factor in osteoporosis
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19754972

Dairy and acne

• Dairy consistently shown to promote acne, probably via hormonal mechanisms
  • http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-4632.2009.04002.x/full
• Treat acne with low GI foods (skip sugar & flour) and omega-3 fatty acids

Dairy/calcium and heart disease

• Calcium supplementation increases CVD risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20671013
  • http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c3856.long

Dairy/calcium and prostate cancer

• Calcium increases prostate cancer risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20516117
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21335998
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20843485
• Reduce risk with legumes, nuts, seafood
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20232354

Dairy/calcium and colon cancer

• Calcium decreases colorectal cancer risk
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21335998
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19423533
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19237724
• Though data is inconsistent
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8333412

Dairy & breast cancer

• Dairy and meat do not promote cancer in adult women
  • http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/3/455.long
• Some studies show reduced risk of cancer (both from China)
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21442197
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21128178
• Milk from cows given rBGH (hormone from Monsanto) increase cancer risk
  • http://www.preventcancer.com/press/releases/july8_98.htm

Dairy & weight loss (very tough to find studies not funded by dairy industry)

• Moderate weight loss from dairy (but rarely from intervention studies w/o caloric restriction)
  • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21320381
• Possible mechanisms include:
  • Ca++
  • protein
  • conjugated lineoleic acid (CLA)
  • medium-chain fatty acids
• My interpretation: dairy not likely to have big impact on body weight

Cheese protects against cancer and heart disease?

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20335553
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19179058
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21447660

Extras

• Raw Milk, A Potentially Risky Elixer, by Bill Marler