Drinking milk builds dairy producers' profits, but as the above studies show, it's more likely to harm your bones than to help them. Of course, calcium is an essential mineral, and it is possible to have a calcium deficiency. If you are looking for extra calcium, fortified orange, apple, or grapefruit juices are good choices. It makes no more sense for humans to consume the mother's milk of cows than for us to consume the mother's milk of rats, cats, dogs, giraffes, or any other mammal. Nature created human mother's milk for baby humans, cow mother's milk for baby cows, and so on.
Children stay in better calcium balance when their protein comes from plant sources.
Dr. Spock recommends human mother's milk for baby humans, as nature intended. It is hard to turn on the television without hearing commercials suggesting that milk promotes strong bones. The commercials do not point out that only 30 percent of milk's calcium is absorbed by the body or that osteoporosis is common among milk drinkers. The association between the intake of animal protein and fracture rates appears to be as strong as the association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. To the contrary, it's part of the problem.