Hanselman: Dairy Is Tough To Live Without

The National Milk Producers Federation is going on the offensive, telling the American people how important dairy is to their diets and everyday lives. The NMPF’s Miquela Hanselman said the argument that dairy isn’t important to human diets would be laughable if it were not so dangerous.

Hanselman said several studies have linked dairy consumption to numerous health benefit, including reduced inflammation, improved digestive health and a healthier immune system. Dairy she noted is especially important to pregnant women as a source of iodine. Hanselman added dairy should also be a cornerstone of a healthy vegetarian diet.

“Especially because it’ll likely be the only animal sourced protein, and animal sourced proteins are known as complete proteins where they offer all of the amino acids humans need basically in one bite so you don’t have to go to multiple sources.”

Hanselman added when dairy is omitted from a diet, its not just amino acids that are missed, but a long list of other important nutrients. Some claim the dairy industry is bad for human diets as well as the environment. Hanselman said again, the science does not back up that argument.

“One scenario replaced dairy cows with vegetable production and that led to a slight increase in greenhouse gas emissions and a significant decrease in the availability of essential nutrients.  And then the other scenario milk production with nuts and pulses, which had a minimal impact on greenhouse gas emissions, but substantially decreased the availability of essential nutrients.”

If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekmedia.com