Milk is a good source of quality protein. My mom needs protein to keep her skin healthy and help her small pressure sore heal. I try to have protein at every meal. Milk is very easy to incorporate in puddings or cereal. Thankfully milk is not so expensive, yet.
Whatever works, but for the most part, while we need calcium, mg++ and so on, we don't need milk a whole lot after childhood as long as our diet is balanced. I still remember my dad, having had a major surgery for kidney stones, being asked by the doc if he had a high calcium diet and my dad proudly saying "Oh, YES! I love milk and drink it with every meal and a big bowl of ice cream every night!" "Well, " said the doc "THAT will have to STOP!" When you form stones in the kidney they are either uric acid of calcium. My Dad's were the latter. Poor guy. He never DID give up that ice cream. It's good to hear that your Dad is feeling well; we will take it how we can get it!
I know a lot of older people that love milk. I don't see a problem with it. Whole milk if they can handle it, skim milk, 2%, 1% what ever dads doctor says is good. Me, I love chocolate milk but only on ice and only whole - however that's not good for me at this time in my life per doctors orders so I don't drink it. (I don't even keep it in the house) Hee hee. I do take calcium supplements as I need the calcium.
My husband still likes to drink skimmed milk, which actually has a lot of sugar in it. When FairLife came out I decided to buy only that since it has 50% less sugar, more protein and no lactose.
At my last bone density test I had +3.5 on both sides. The doc said the numbers were good and that it is not very common to see symmetrical numbers. I grew up in a 2nd gen Italian family. The only milk I ever drank was in the coffee I had for breakfast before I walked to my elementary school (yes, they gave me coffee then sent me off to those unsuspecting, underpaid teachers). We never ate "American" meals like mac-n-cheese or PBJs, but mostly a very Mediterranean diet. FYI my gen of Italian-Americans don't eat meals like the ones they serve at Bucca's or Olive Garden -- that's *holiday* food. We Italians would weigh 1000 lbs if we ate like that every day (plus the cooks would die from exhaustion). We came from southern peasants, so we ate mostly veggies, beans, and pasta, and when we had meat it was chicken, pork, lamb and fish. Not very much red meat.
I really don't know why my bone density is good -- I'm sure part of it is probably just genetics. But my 63-years of Mediterranean diet includeds TONS of dark, leafy greens: broccoli rapini, chard, spinach, kale, beet greens, collards, etc., -- and fortunately I love these foods. My favorite thing about visiting family in FL is getting Andy Boy broccoli rabe at Publix (can't get that brand in MN) -- it's the best! I have it as my side salad instead of lame romaine. My family insists that eating good greens is the reason all my Mom's 8 siblings lived well into their 90's and 2 into their 100s.
Those meds don't just make bones easier to break after prolonged use, they make the bones brittle so they do not break cleanly, they shatter and repair is very difficult!
My boss said we are the only mammals that don't wean our young off of milk. She felt we didn't need it after infancy. My daughter, a Vegan, says Cows milk is for fattening calves. Also, now Cows are given hormones to produce more milk. So, we get these same hormones when we drink it.
Me, never been a milk drinker. I am 73 and just had my hip scan. It showed I am still borderline osteo and have been for years. Menopause causes women to lose bone mass. Have you noticed those bone commercials are not on anymore. It was found that those shots may prevent osteo but it makes the bones brittle and easily broken.
Many people come to the forum struggling to find enough appealing foods to maintain an adequate calorie intake, if he enjoys milk and isn't lactose intolerant then let him have as much as he wants.
The dairy and bone health link is one of the most pervasive milk myths. One large-scale Harvard study followed 72,000 women for two decades and found no evidence that drinking milk can prevent bone fractures or osteoporosis. Another study of more than 96,000 people found that the more milk men consumed as teenagers, the more bone fractures they experience as adults. Similarly, another study found that adolescent girls who consumed the most calcium, mostly in the form of dairy products, were at greater risk for stress fractures than those consuming less calcium." (see rest of article at the link)
Think about the countries where they consumer very little dairy (Asia, for example). Do they have more bone problems because of it? I've not heard anything regarding this.
My Italian Grandma consumed almost no dairy except some hard cheeses like Parmesan. Took no viatmins or supplements, ate no "fortified" American foods. In her late 70s I watched a chair slip out from under her and fall hard onto the kitchen floor trying to change a light bulb. Landed directly onto her side. Popped up with an embarrassed laugh. Most American women that age would probably have needed a trip to the ER.
I'm glad your Dad is "doing better" (and this is a vague statement so not really sure what it means -- he could have been dehydrated and literally any liquid would have helped him?)
I'm not suggesting that dairy does *nothing* -- I just think it gets more credit than it deserves. For the past 2 decades at least I've been told by orthopaedists that weight bearing exercise is what creates or keeps bone density in our later years. Maybe this will also become a myth at some point.
My mom drank milk all of her life. She loved it! She had incredibly strong bones. She fell quite a bit due to her Parkinson’s disease but never once broke a bone.
I don’t like milk as much as mom and didn’t drink much as an adult. I had a horrific bicycle accident in my early 40’s and I broke both bones in my arm. It was an open compound fracture that required placing two steal rods in my arm.
One of the first things that my orthopedic surgeon asked me was if I consumed dairy. He said that milk was needed for healing. I asked him about calcium supplements and he said that he preferred dairy intake. My orthopedic surgeon is a top notch surgeon in my area. I trust him.
You will get a completely different opinion from someone who is vegan. They have a totally different outlook and feel that dairy isn’t necessary.
Vegans don’t eat anything that has a face, or consume any of the byproducts. They have to follow a strict regimen in order to get all of their nutrients. This is their choice. I respect their decision but I don’t think that it’s best for everyone.
I am glad that your dad is enjoying his milk. If he doesn’t have any issues such as being lactose intolerant, then he can drink it.
Great that your dad is feeling better. My DH aunt at one time would drink a gallon of milk in a couple of days. Then she stopped and doesn’t drink milk these days. I think it is great that your dad has rediscovered that he likes milk. Benefiber can be very beneficial (no pun intended). You can even serve it stirred into the milk. 🤗
"Well, " said the doc "THAT will have to STOP!" When you form stones in the kidney they are either uric acid of calcium. My Dad's were the latter. Poor guy. He never DID give up that ice cream.
It's good to hear that your Dad is feeling well; we will take it how we can get it!
At my last bone density test I had +3.5 on both sides. The doc said the numbers were good and that it is not very common to see symmetrical numbers. I grew up in a 2nd gen Italian family. The only milk I ever drank was in the coffee I had for breakfast before I walked to my elementary school (yes, they gave me coffee then sent me off to those unsuspecting, underpaid teachers). We never ate "American" meals like mac-n-cheese or PBJs, but mostly a very Mediterranean diet. FYI my gen of Italian-Americans don't eat meals like the ones they serve at Bucca's or Olive Garden -- that's *holiday* food. We Italians would weigh 1000 lbs if we ate like that every day (plus the cooks would die from exhaustion). We came from southern peasants, so we ate mostly veggies, beans, and pasta, and when we had meat it was chicken, pork, lamb and fish. Not very much red meat.
I really don't know why my bone density is good -- I'm sure part of it is probably just genetics. But my 63-years of Mediterranean diet includeds TONS of dark, leafy greens: broccoli rapini, chard, spinach, kale, beet greens, collards, etc., -- and fortunately I love these foods. My favorite thing about visiting family in FL is getting Andy Boy broccoli rabe at Publix (can't get that brand in MN) -- it's the best! I have it as my side salad instead of lame romaine. My family insists that eating good greens is the reason all my Mom's 8 siblings lived well into their 90's and 2 into their 100s.
Me, never been a milk drinker. I am 73 and just had my hip scan. It showed I am still borderline osteo and have been for years. Menopause causes women to lose bone mass. Have you noticed those bone commercials are not on anymore. It was found that those shots may prevent osteo but it makes the bones brittle and easily broken.
The dairy and bone health link is one of the most pervasive milk myths. One large-scale Harvard study followed 72,000 women for two decades and found no evidence that drinking milk can prevent bone fractures or osteoporosis. Another study of more than 96,000 people found that the more milk men consumed as teenagers, the more bone fractures they experience as adults. Similarly, another study found that adolescent girls who consumed the most calcium, mostly in the form of dairy products, were at greater risk for stress fractures than those consuming less calcium." (see rest of article at the link)
source: https://www.pcrm.org/news/blog/white-lies-five-myths-debunked
Think about the countries where they consumer very little dairy (Asia, for example). Do they have more bone problems because of it? I've not heard anything regarding this.
My Italian Grandma consumed almost no dairy except some hard cheeses like Parmesan. Took no viatmins or supplements, ate no "fortified" American foods. In her late 70s I watched a chair slip out from under her and fall hard onto the kitchen floor trying to change a light bulb. Landed directly onto her side. Popped up with an embarrassed laugh. Most American women that age would probably have needed a trip to the ER.
I'm glad your Dad is "doing better" (and this is a vague statement so not really sure what it means -- he could have been dehydrated and literally any liquid would have helped him?)
I'm not suggesting that dairy does *nothing* -- I just think it gets more credit than it deserves. For the past 2 decades at least I've been told by orthopaedists that weight bearing exercise is what creates or keeps bone density in our later years. Maybe this will also become a myth at some point.
Milk is thicker than water. So easier to swallow if any swallowing issues, especially if any history of stroke.
I don’t like milk as much as mom and didn’t drink much as an adult. I had a horrific bicycle accident in my early 40’s and I broke both bones in my arm. It was an open compound fracture that required placing two steal rods in my arm.
One of the first things that my orthopedic surgeon asked me was if I consumed dairy. He said that milk was needed for healing. I asked him about calcium supplements and he said that he preferred dairy intake. My orthopedic surgeon is a top notch surgeon in my area. I trust him.
You will get a completely different opinion from someone who is vegan. They have a totally different outlook and feel that dairy isn’t necessary.
Vegans don’t eat anything that has a face, or consume any of the byproducts. They have to follow a strict regimen in order to get all of their nutrients. This is their choice. I respect their decision but I don’t think that it’s best for everyone.
I am glad that your dad is enjoying his milk. If he doesn’t have any issues such as being lactose intolerant, then he can drink it.