DAIRY EXCLUSION DIETS
Dairy foods, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese are well recognised as sources of essential nutrients. Excluding or limiting dairy products from the diet may compromise intakes of many important vitamins and minerals, particularly calcium and good-quality protein. The decision to exclude any food group from the diet should be taken in consultation with a medical expert, such as a registered dietitian.
Most vegetarian diets include eggs and dairy products while excluding meat, poultry, and fish and any other animal flesh products.
A vegan diet refers to someone that consume no animal-sourced foods; a pescatarian is a basic vegetarian diet, but they also include fish. Meat is a good source of dietary protein, and when it is excluded from the diet, dairy can be used as a source of high-quality protein to supplement what can be obtained from plant sources. Dairy also gives a vegetarian diet variety and provides important nutrients such as calcium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B12, iodine, potassium and phosphorus. Vitamin B12 is generally found only in foods of animal origin, which means that dairy and eggs are important sources of vitamin B 12 for those who follow a plant-based diet without animal-flesh products.
A vegan diet can be healthy, but because it excludes all animal-sourced foods (meat, eggs and dairy), it is more challenging for someone following a vegan diet to meet the daily requirement for all nutrients from food. People who follow a vegan diet often need to take vitamin B12 and iron supplements to avoid anaemia. Vitamin B12 is only found in foods of animal origin. In addition, by consuming only plant-derived proteins, people with a vegan diet may find it more challenging to obtain all the essential amino acids, which are more readily available in animal foods. Animal proteins are considered to be ‘complete’ proteins because they contain all of the essential amino acids that the body needs. Meeting calcium needs can also be difficult with a vegan diet. Owing to the oxalate and phytate content of vegetables and pulses, the serving sizes of in an exclusively plant-based diet are not realistic to ensure sufficient calcium intake, and supplementation is therefore usually required
The most common reasons for people not being able to consume dairy comfortably are being allergic to cow’s milk or being lactose intolerant. However, any condition that prevents the consumption of dairy should be diagnosed and managed by a registered clinician so as to not compromise nutritional intake.
Milk allergy is most common in young children (at a prevalence 2-3%), but usually disappear by the age of 5. Even if a child is allergic to cow’s milk protein, unnecessary avoidance should be treated with care. A registered dietitian can assist mom’s with children that are allergic to cow’s milk to include some milk with the help of a process called milk laddering.
In contrast, someone who is lactose intolerant has a reduced ability to digest lactose, the type of sugar found naturally in milk. However, depending on the level of intolerance, most people can consume some lactose, typically 12–15 g spread throughout the day. A glass of milk (250 mL) contains approximately 12 g lactose, while it is considerably less in fermented dairy products such as yoghurt and cheese: 5.9 g in a 125 mL serving of plain yoghurt and <1 g in 25 g of Cheddar cheese. Someone who is lactose intolerant can still benefit from the nutrients in dairy.
- Include small amounts of full-cream dairy in your diet throughout the day
- Mix milk with other foods ((e.g. having milk with high-fibre cereal or oats cooked with milk and water) to slow down the digestion process and improve tolerance
- Have fermented dairy products such as yoghurt or amasi which naturally contains less lactose
- Have hard cheeses like Gouda or cheddar, as these contain almost no lactose
- Try and use lactose free milk
Ideally all babies should drink the milk of their own species and this is why exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months should be encouraged. Most mammals discontinue drinking milk once they have been weaned onto solid foods. However, infant nutrition is a specialised area and separate from general healthy eating guidelines. Cow’s milk is recognised as a nutritious food to be included after the age of 1 year. Derived products such as yoghurt and cheese, or milk as part of a food dish can be included as part of a baby’s solid diet from the age of 6 months.
In general, humans consume the milk of other species in the same way they consume other animal products such as meat or eggs because all of these provide important nutrients that are essential for life. As humans advanced, they recognised the benefits of dairy consumption, whether from drinking milk or consuming derived products such as yoghurt and cheese, and so the practice of dairy farming evolved.