I once told you that height is an important indicator of health, development and overall nutritional status of children, and that it has been studied that those who are fed with cow’s milk and its derivatives daily are taller in size than those who replace them with vegetable alternatives.
In this same line, and with subsequent research, we once again prove and prove how the consumption of dairy products, milk and its derivatives, favors us in all stages of life, since ancestral times.
Natural selection, as Darwin preached, together with the evolution of the species, makes an individual of a certain species adapt to the environment, so we find that the best adapted is the one that survives… but we do not only want to survive, right?
We want to grow by developing in the best possible way, all our physical and intellectual potential, which, throughout the history of mankind, we understood to be… infinite? I think so. But I am also sure that it is not by following ridiculous nutritional fads that we are going to achieve it.
In some regions of the planet there was a marked increase in the height and body mass of human beings. A study by the University of Western Ontario found that this difference was marked by the consumption of dairy products. And that’s a fact, not a story.
In those regions, humans genetically evolved to produce milk-digesting enzymes in adulthood, or in other words, they became lactase-resistant.
16 researchers compared the height and body mass of 3,507 skeletons from 366 different archaeological sites and obtained a wealth of data to compare and examine variation in the human body over time and geographic location.
Skeletons found in areas where agriculture did not flourish and people shifted from producing cheese and yogurt to consuming raw milk directly, with much higher lactose levels, were larger than in the others.
In regions where there is genetic evidence of higher milk consumption, there are also increases in height and body mass.
The legacy of ancient milk consumption continues to set the pattern today, through different trends of lactose intolerance in different populations: people in northern Europe tolerate lactose more often than those in the south, for example.
Dairy consumption has been culturally important in all continents, which see in their populations the genetic legacy of milk proteins, from parents to children, from generation to generation, since ancient times.
Milk and its derivatives are an essential source of nutrients that provide energy, high quality proteins, carbohydrates (lactose) that contribute to the absorption of calcium and fats that are essential for the transport of fat-soluble vitamins, are a complete food in a balanced diet from the age of one year of life, always and forever.
A complete, balanced and healthy diet will be determined by the sociocultural context, habits, the accessibility of nutrients, the characteristics of individuals such as their age, gender, whether they suffer from chronic diseases and their degree of physical activity. However, the principles of healthy eating have been making their mark with dairy products for 7,000 years.
Physical fitness has a major influence on health and is associated with a lower risk of disease. The development of our intellectual capacities is directly related to the quality of our nutrition, from our first hours in this world, and throughout life. Size matters, and so does content.
Consuming dairy products is good for you. Have you had your glass of milk today?
