Rethinking Dairy: Health Implications and Cultural Perspectives

Is Dairy Good For Us? | This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox

We have no biological requirement for dairy, and yet, we’ve been told over and over again that this food is a great source of calcium and that milk makes healthy bones and we should drink it daily. However, the research shows that none of this is true. In fact, close to 70 percent of the world’s population is genetically unable to properly digest milk and other dairy products—a problem known as lactose intolerance. But even if you aren’t lactose intolerant, consuming dairy can lead to weight gain, bloating, acne, gas, allergies, eczema, brittle bones, and sometimes even cancer.

In this mini-episode, Dr. Hyman discusses why he often works with patients to eliminate dairy in conversations with his colleagues Lisa Dreher and Dr. Elizabeth Boham. He also speaks with Dr. David Ludwig about his recent research on milk and dairy products.

Lisa Dreher is a registered dietitian who got her undergraduate nutrition degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology and completed a dietetic internship through Cornell University. Lisa first worked in the acute care hospital setting and became a Clinical Nutrition Specialist working in Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. At the same time, she pursued her Masters degree in Nutrition and Integrative Health from the Maryland University of Integrative Health and started practicing integrative and functional nutrition in private practice before joining UWC in 2015. She has since received additional training through the Institute for Functional Medicine. 

Over the past 10 years, Lisa has delivered several public health lectures on the role of food as medicine and her work has been showcased in Reader’s Digest, on National Public Radio, and she was featured in the Broken Brain 2 series. She also developed the Digestive Health and Gut Microbiome training module for the Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine practice group through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 

Elizabeth Boham is a physician and nutritionist who practices Functional Medicine at The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. Through her practice and lecturing she has helped thousands of people achieve their goals of optimum health and wellness. She witnesses the power of nutrition every day in her practice and is committed to training other physicians to utilize nutrition in healing. Dr. Boham has contributed to many articles and wrote the latest chapter on Obesity for the Rankel Textbook of Family Medicine. She is part of the faculty of the Institute for Functional Medicine and has been featured on the Dr. Oz show and in a variety of publications and media including Huffington Post, The Chalkboard Magazine, and Experience Life. Her DVD Breast Wellness: Tools to Prevent and Heal from Breast Cancer explores the Functional Medicine approach to keeping your breasts and whole body well.

David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. He holds the rank of Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Ludwig is co-director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center and founder of the Optimal Weight for Life program, one of the country’s oldest and largest clinics for the care of overweight children. 

For more than 25 years, Dr. Ludwig has studied the effects of dietary composition on metabolism, body weight, and risk for chronic disease. Described as an “obesity warrior” by Time Magazine, Dr. Ludwig has fought for fundamental policy changes to improve the food environment. He has been a Principal Investigator on numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and philanthropic organizations and has published over 200 scientific articles. Dr. Ludwig was a Contributing Writer at JAMA for 10 years and presently serves as an editor for The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and The BMJ. He has written 3 books for the general public, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Always, Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently.

This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox. Right now ButcherBox has a special offer for new members. If you sign up today you’ll get 2 ribeye steaks free in your first box plus $10 off by going to butcherbox.com/farmacy.

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Lisa Dreher, “A Simple Diet Experiment That May Solve Most Of Your Health Issues” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/FeJHNRJ3

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Boham, “Acne, Weight Gain, Facial Hair, Hair Loss, Infertility: Is PCOS The Cause?” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/68G64S1Y

Find Dr. Hyman’s full-length conversation with Dr. David Ludwig, “Why Most Everything We Were Told About Dairy Is Wrong” here: https://DrMarkHyman.lnk.to/DrDavidLudwig

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