So what do I think of dairy? My opinion is based on what I’ve learnt from scientific research, what I’ve seen in practice, and my own personal experience, i.e., my seven years as a vegetarian and two years as a vegan. I’m now an eat-what- I-like omnivore.


In short: I don’t think dairy is inherently ‘bad’ or ‘good’. Rather, I think that for some people it’s a health food, and for others it brings disease.


The case(in) for genetics Why do some races and cultures do well on


dairy, thriving on raw milk products and kefir from infancy to old age, while others suffer from respiratory problems, lowered immunity and digestion issues when they consume any milk products – including organic? Why does one person thrive on a vegan diet while another feels weak after a few days without animal flesh? Besides factors such as quality


(go for organic if you can), age, health status, and environment, genetic inheritance plays a huge part in whether or not certain foods are suitable, or will ever be suitable, for a person to include in their diet. As a student dietitian I worked with newly


arrived migrants in community health settings, including a group of migrants from Burma. We would teach the group cooking skills, which was laughable considering their far superior skills in cooking amazing Burmese cuisine. We also ‘enlightened’ them on the five food groups from which they were supposed to eat, and where they could find these foods in Australian supermarkets.


One of the recommendations from the Australian Guidelines to Healthy Eating was that each adult should include the (then) 2-3 serves of dairy foods per day (this has since increased to 2.5-4 serves.) These were a people


who had never eaten dairy foods in their lives, and had never milked other animals for any reason – and here


we were telling them they needed to start consuming considerable amounts of breast milk from another mammalian species in order to maintain bone health. Even though in the west such foods are deemed essential, the fact is they


work well for certain groups but not so well for others. Certain African, Oriental and Eastern European ethnic groups show a demonstrable intolerance for milk products.


Some African and Asian groups typically lack the lactase enzyme needed to break down the milk sugar lactose. On the other hand, people of Eastern European descent do have a high lactase concentration yet frequently show an unusual sensitivity to dairy products.


Many ethnic groups traditionally ate lots of dairy, sometimes as their staple food. The Abkhasians of Russia are an example. But in contrast to most westerners, the dairy these people traditionally ate was fresh, not homogenised or pasteurised, organic, and included cultured milk products which are high in probiotics, which in turn may have supported their ability to break down dairy sugars and proteins. Being half Chinese, I battled with terrible lactose intolerance as a kid, and


don’t touch milk nowadays. However I do find I can get away with eating some high quality goat’s cheese because cheese is much lower in lactose. Goats’ cheese works best digestively – for me. Additionally, cultural beliefs play a large part in


the inclusion of dairy in many diets. In India the cow is revered as a sacred animal, a manifestation of mother and sustainer of life. Milk is consumed in many forms as a highly nutritious food, and for thousands of years ghee has been used in therapeutic interventions in Ayurvedic health. For someone to deem dairy ‘bad’ would be offensive and nonsensical to someone of Indian descent with deeply instilled Hindu values. It is quite understandable for someone with a


high lactase concentration or of Indo-European descent to conclude that dairy products digest seamlessly and are ‘good’ for health. It is just as natural for those with a low lactase level to


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