2024-03-07 09:46:29
Doctors Rosaura Leis and Rosa Mª Ortega provide medical and scientific reasons to eat 3 servings of dairy foods a day between milk, cheese and yogurt
Submitted.- Reference experts emphasize that milk, cheese and yogurt should be included in the diet due to their proven healthy benefits. For the doctor of Pharmacy, Professor of Nutrition, member of the Dairy Sustainability Committee and various national and international associations, Rosa María Ortega, “dairy products are an important source of proteins, minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory components or peptides. bioactives; and recent studies indicate that they favorably modulate the composition of the intestinal microbiota.”
As Ortega values, the recommended consumption of dairy products is 2-4 servings (hence the recommended average of 3 a day). The largest portions (3-4) – he adds – will correspond to the groups that have the highest calcium needs: adolescents, pregnant women, during breastfeeding, the elderly or for athletes… “The possibility of alternating the consumption of various foods such as milk, yogurt, cheese – he explains – makes it easier to achieve the recommended consumption.”
Likewise, it draws attention to the false beliefs of consumers who mistakenly think that dairy foods can be easily replaced by others. Ortega remembers, for example, that vegetable drinks (soy, almonds, oats…) do not replace milk or other dairy products. “Vegetable drinks can be consumed as part of a correct diet, but without losing sight of the fact that they are just that, vegetables and never dairy products, and they cannot replace them. Some of these plant products are enriched with calcium and other nutrients to bring them closer in composition to milk, but the resulting product, the dairy matrix, will never be the same,” he specifies.
And, in the face of false beliefs, this prestigious professor also points out that people with lactose intolerance can consume dairy products perfectly, choosing the versions with lower content or lactose-free, “so there is no reason to eliminate the consumption of dairy products for This problem, which has often not been properly diagnosed, but assumed by the individual considering their knowledge and perception, which has been proven wrong in many cases. A medical diagnosis of the problem – to know or rule it out – would be desirable to take appropriate measures with greater safety.”
In Ortega’s opinion, dairy products are, consequently, “valuable foods that should not be excluded from the diet, given that the consumption of milk, cheese and yogurt within the framework of the Mediterranean or Atlantic diet and an active lifestyle is associated with great health benefits. On the contrary, the messages circulating regarding the dangers associated with dairy consumption are erroneous.”
The abandonment of dairy products is, therefore, a mistake that we must avoid, as added by the prestigious Dr. Rosaura Leis, professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and member of the InLac Dairy Sustainability Committee. “Making a food restriction in our diet is not trivial, since it involves changes in the eating pattern and can represent a significant nutritional risk, also when we talk regarding dairy products,” warns this leading expert. Dairy foods have always been part of traditional healthy and sustainable diets, such as the Mediterranean or Atlantic, “which largely explains why we have a high life expectancy in our country and that Communities like Galicia enjoy longevity in their lives.” population similar to Japan,” Leis stressed. She has also recalled the special importance of not neglecting the intake of dairy products in pediatric age as it is a “fundamental” food for the “growth and development” of the child and for good “bone mineralization.”
Scientific evidence recommends taking an average of three dairy products a day throughout life, highlights this senior researcher from the Pediatric Nutrition group at the Santiago Health Research Institute; member of Cyber Obesity; president of the Spanish Nutrition Foundation (FEN) and the Nutrition and Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association, among other responsibilities. In fact, these foods provide an intake of macro and micronutrients that help meet recommendations for good health. They are the main source of calcium, but also fat-soluble vitamins, proteins of high biological value and bioactive components. Without forgetting the fats in dairy products, since more and more scientific research observes its association with a lower risk of certain diseases.
In this context, “let us not forget that one of the most prevalent and degenerative diseases during adulthood is osteoporosis. With an adequate intake of dairy products, we can also reach a maximum peak of bone mass at the end of adolescence, although we must then maintain its consumption throughout life,” he concludes.
A balanced diet includes 2-3 servings of dairy products a day for children and adults and 3-4 if we talk regarding certain stages and groups with additional needs, as these experts point out. A serving of milk is equivalent to 200-250 milliliters (a cup or glass) and the serving of yogurt is 250 grams (2 yogurts). Meanwhile, the recommended portion of semi-cured or cured cheese is around 30 grams and that of fresh cheese reaches up to 60 grams per day.
European campaign “Count on European dairy products”
The European campaign “Feature European dairy products”driven by the Interprofessional Dairy Organization (InLac), disseminates the nutritional and healthy values of these foods. Aspects such as quality, traceability, animal welfare, food safety and environmental commitment are strong points of the European production model.
The initiative therefore tries to inform from a scientific perspective of the values behind the dairy sector, also on an environmental level. The dairy sector is very sensitive to climate change, and therefore, it is working on a roadmap to achieve climate neutrality, which begins by evaluating the levels of emissions associated with the production, processing and marketing of dairy products. The objective is to progressively reduce emissions to produce the same amount of milk, optimizing resources and reducing our environmental footprint. In addition, the pastures themselves are a natural carbon sink, and livestock activity helps maintain them.
In InLac’s opinion, public opinion should be aware of all the positive implications derived from grazing, which helps disperse seeds, thus favoring the regeneration of plant species, while helping to prevent forest fires.
A dairy sector, in short, firmly committed to the production of quality food, and increasingly respectful of the Planet.
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