What does everyone think of dairy?

I love milk, however, after talking with a few people I think it is what is causing my acne. Also, it seems alot of "dieters" cut out dairy.

What is your take on dairy??

Dairy is awesome, it doesn't cause acne, and anyone who is cutting out dairy to lose weight is being silly and sort changing themselves.

In fact low-fat or reduced fat dairy is one of the best ways to get protein and calcium in your diet. Things like yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and even 2% and skim milk are excellent sources of nutrition and protein while you're trying to lose weight.

Women especially should try to get in as many natural, food based sources of calcium as they can to help prevent osteoporosis.

I've heard that dairy causes acne because of all the hormones they pump in the cows to produce lots of milk. I have heard from many people who swear by it and have seen the results myself with their face clearing up. My doctor even admitted that there may be a link.

But i see what you're saying about the diet part and it being good. And i love milk!!

Why don't you just buy hormone free, organic milk? If you are allergic to milk or have lactose intolerance, I think it's a different story. But otherwise, I don't know why you would need to keep milk out (as long as you fit it within your caloric needs). I've actually only drink whole milk and have done so through my weight loss. As long as I keep my total calories lower than what I was expending I was losing weight.

This is another one of those things that drives me crazy. SOME people are sensitive to the hormones that are used and SOME people may develop acne or other symptoms. That doesn't mean that EVERYONE will or that EVERYONE should avoid milk or even that the hormones are necessarily bad (although I personally would rather they weren't used).

If YOU are affected in that way by milk, then by all means, buy hormone free milk or avoid milk products. But blanket statements that everyone should avoid milk because of ... X ... is just dumb. This is one of my HUGEST pet peeves in the world.

People think that because some people have an adverse reaction to something that EVERYONE should avoid it. If we were to go by that standard, then let's say that EVERYONE should avoid peanut butter because in SOME people it causes an allergic reaction that could even be fatal. Let's say that peanut butter is DEADLY because it affects SOME people.

CRITICAL THINKING, folks.

THINK about what you're told and what you see and what you hear. Apply it to your life and your experience. Sure ... it's human nature to want a "rule" ... but rules just don't apply like that in real life.

Geez, I was just asking for other people's opinions since I said that I thought milk was causing MY acne (not everyones) and also said that I know of people who also are in the same boat (once again not ALL people). I was just trying to confirm if anyone else had similar experiences.

Thanks for calling me dumb though. I feel the love.

Do you think that goat's milk would be hormone free? They sell it at the grocery store I go to but it doesnt actually specify if it is. Or should I just go for milk that specifically states "organic".

Kitty ... I wasn't calling you dumb. I apologize if it came across that way.

My point is that as of right now there is no *proof* of any link. If YOU personally think it's making a difference and you want to cut out dairy, then I say go for it. But you asked what we think of it ... and my opinion is that cutting out dairy just because it's dairy is kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Kara, apology accepted. and of course milk does not cause acne in everyone, because there are tons of people who drink it and have beautiful skin.

But, here are some links about milk and acne that sort of link the two (still under debate of course), just thought you might find them interesting.

Spot the culprit: How milk can trigger acne - Health News, Health & Families - The Independent

Four Ways Milk Causes Acne

Interesting stuff. I hope my skin calms down on it's own though....cause I love milk!!!

Not sure about goat milk (does it taste like cow milk?). But my store has milk that says specifically that it's hormone free. I think also if it says organic it should be hormone free as well.

My grocery store sells hormone free cows milk from several different dairies.

Doing a little research, I find that Canada has banned BGH/BST, so are you sure your milk has hormones in it?

The articles that Kitty linked to are interesting. I can see how there could be something to it. If this hypothesis is correct, drinking organic milk won't help at all: the hormones in milk are produced naturally by the cows. This is partially because milk cows must be kept perpetually pregnant so they will keep producing milk. There are also natural growth hormones in milk. Both types of hormones are associated with teen acne. It sounds like the evidence for the milk-acne link is tentative at best, but not totally implausible.

Clearly, if dairy products are linked to acne it is not the case for everybody. It would be really sad if people stopped eating a healthful food because it MIGHT cause acne in a subset of susceptible people. But it's easy enough to test the effect on a specific individual by cutting out dairy products for a week or two. If you have chronic acne (as I did as a teenager and young adult) you can detect improvement very quickly.

If it were me, I would try that. I would also try replacing cow's milk with goat's milk. I'm not sure what the difference between the two really is, but babies that are allergic to cow's milk can often drink goat's milk, so there is a significant difference in the chemical makeup.