The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) is taking some time to stand up for the dairy industry. Their goal is to share with people the importance of keeping dairy in their diet, even when some people argue that it’s not a big deal.
NMPF’s Miquela Hanselman talked about some of the health benefits of dairy such as reduced inflammation, improved digestive health, and dairy can also help keep your immune system healthy. She explained that it’s especially important for pregnant women because dairy’s a source of iodine.
Even if you’re a vegetarian, you should be consuming dairy products. “Especially because it’ll likely be the only animal-sourced protein, and animal-sourced proteins are known as complete proteins where they offer all of the amino acids humans need basically in one bite, so you don’t have to go to multiple sources,” Hanselman said. When you take dairy out of your diet, you’re not just losing the amino acids, but there’s a huge list of nutrients you end up missing out on.
She also mentioned that some of the people who try to write off dairy as bad for humans are also some of the ones who say that dairy’s bad for the environment. Both of these claims are simply untrue and she has the science to prove it. “One scenario replaced dairy cows with vegetable production and that led to a slight increase in greenhouse gas emissions and a significant decrease in the availability of essential nutrients,” Hanselman brought up one other scenario, “And then the other scenario replaced milk production with nuts and pulses, which had a minimal impact on greenhouse gas emissions, but substantially decreased the availability of essential nutrients.”
So next time you see someone on social media or hear someone trying to talk down to the dairy industry, share with them the facts. Be a voice for the farmers.
