It turns out that the relationship between the proteins in dairy products and the calcium in bones is a rocky one. Since the average American's diet is protein-heavy to begin with, some experts say that eating lots of dairy foods may actually cause people to lose calcium. To buttress her point, Herlock points to a portion of the Harvard Nurses' Health study published in the June 1997 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The study found that women who ate lots of dairy products had higher rates of bone fractures than women who rarely touched the stuff. It suggested that drinking more milk didn't provide any substantial protection against hip or forearm fractures in middle-aged and older women, writes Diane Feskanich, ScD, a professor at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass., and the study's lead author.
Milk advocates pooh-pooh the protein concern.
Robert Heaney, MD, a professor of medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., who specializes in bone biology, also shrugs off dairy dissenters. It's the logical way to go. For a woman about to turn 60, her bones are in great shape. But according to one recent study that dairy doubters add to their arsenal, she has more than milk to thank for that bragging right. According to scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, exercise during crucial bone-building years is the best predictor of a woman's adult bone health.