Is milk essential?
The drink has long been touted as essential to good health. But the science is more complicated.
In the New York Times article Does Drinking Milk Actually Make Your Bones Stronger?, Jeri Nieves, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery and a longtime faculty member at the Institute of Human Nutrition, noted that while calcium is essential for bone health, milk is not the only source.
“If you like milk, drink it. If you don’t like milk, or if you can’t tolerate it, use some other source,” Dr. Nieves said.
Calcium can also be obtained from leafy greens, tofu, bony fish, fortified plant-based milks, and fermented dairy such as yogurt and cheese, which may offer additional benefits for the gut microbiome. Maintaining bone health is a lifelong process that depends on steady calcium intake from diverse foods, along with overall dietary quality and consistent physical activity.