Tag: dairy Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Three-a-Day Dairy Important to a Healthy Life, National Medical Association Leader Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

With the dietary guidelines for American Scientific Advisory Committee reviewing the science for the upcoming 2025 guidelines, better nutrition for diverse American communities is getting a lot of attention. Dr. Priscilla Mpasi, a Philadelphia physician and board member of the National Medical Association, said dairy’s essential to support in the dietary recommendations the guidelines make, given its importance to nutrition in families with diverse backgrounds.

“The science is very clear about the health benefits, from birth to our senior population,” said Mpasi, a primary care pediatrician, in a Dairy Defined Podcast released today. “The recommendations have been three servings of dairy a day, and we’re hoping it stays at three servings of dairy a day.”

Mpasi also addresses misperceptions regarding lactose intolerance, misinformation on dairy among consumers, and the contrasts between dairy and plant-based beverages.

You can find and subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts, under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

Media outlets may use clips from the podcast on the condition of attribution to the National Milk Producers Federation.

Dairy Diversity Ready to Grow

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

It might sound crazy to think that a product that’s already in 94 percent of U.S. households has room to grow, but the numbers indicate it’s true. Here’s what we’re talking about:

This comes from a study done by the International Food Information Council, supported by NMPF and the International Dairy Foods Association, on consumption habits among diverse U.S. populations. What’s striking is that, even though self-reported lactose intolerance among non-White populations runs at roughly 30 percent (according to the same study), clear majorities among Black, Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander populations haven’t even tried milk that addresses that intolerance, forgoing an option that provides 13 essential nutrients. And presumably, some of those non-milk drinkers are in that 6 percent who don’t have it in their refrigerators.

(And conversely, some of that 94 percent must include lactose-intolerant consumers. Are they taking lactase pills to aid in digestion? Are other household members the milk drinkers? There’s still much to know.)

The point is this: At a time when the committee drafting recommendations for the next Dietary Guidelines for Americans is looking at nutrition science and contemplating recommendations that are appropriate to the lived experiences of a wide range of Americans, it’s important to meet people where they are. For the overwhelming majority of them, that means a place where they have milk in the fridge. Those who aren’t there are in a place where awareness of the numerous ways to benefit from dairy nutrition, regardless of lactose tolerance, isn’t what it needs to be.

That suggests a need to double down on offering dairy’s benefits in a way that’s tailored to the needs of individual communities. It means listening to communities that value dairy and wish it could be offered more readily, in more accessible forms. It means serving that 94 percent of households with milk — and using the tools available to raise that percentage. It emphatically does not mean de-emphasizing dairy as a critical nutritional option for all Americans — or even worse, suggesting it be replaced by sources that aren’t nutritionally equivalent.

NMPF has a call to action that dairy advocates can use to help get this message across. Public health, and the best public health guidance, is important to all Americans. And dairy is ready to provide high-quality nutrition that’s affordable and accessible to all.

 

NMPF’s Bjerga on Milk’s Value for Everyone

Posted on by Alan Bjerga

NMPF Executive Vice President of Communications Alan Bjerga discusses the plethora of low- and no-lactose dairy products available to meet America’s nutritional needs in an interview with Dairy Radio Now. With societal concerns about equitable nutrition access informing conversations over the upcoming Dietary Guidelines, dairy needs to make it clear that it’s a nutrition solution for all, Bjerga says.

Milk Serves Americans Well, Lipps Says

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The federal government is seeking comments related to the next iteration of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans as it reviews the science behind healthy eating, with a plan expected next year. Dairy has always had a central role in proper nutrition, and newer science reinforces that. That doesn’t mean the process is easy, two experts said in a Dairy Defined podcast released today.

“One of the biggest distinguishing factors in this year’s advisory committee is a focus on using a health equity lens to ensure that the committee considers factors such as socioeconomic position, food security, race, and, or ethnicity and culture,” said Brandon Lipps, who during his time as USDA deputy undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, oversaw the writing of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services. “With products like milk that have so many available nutrients, we can serve Americans so well. And we need to make sure that the committee thinks about the basics when they’re talking about that.”

Lipps, co-founder of Caprock Strategies, was joined by NMPF Director of Regulatory Affairs Miquela Hanselman in the podcast. You can find and subscribe to the Dairy Defined podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify under the podcast name “Dairy Defined.”

Media outlets may use clips from the podcast on the condition of attribution to the National Milk Producers Federation.

Milk Advocates Stress Dairy’s Unique Nutrition Benefits Before Dietary Guidelines Committee

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF’s Regulatory Affairs Director, along with an Olympic athlete (and dairy farmer), told the government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee how dairy is a critical component of diet that should be considered in light of its full range of benefits in comments made today before the panel.

Miquela Hanselman from NMPF, and Elle St. Pierre, a farmer-member of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and a world medalist track athlete who represented the United States in the women’s 1,500-meter race in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, both offered their perspectives on dairy’s role in diet before the panel that will shape the scientific report informing the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Both Hanselman and St. Pierre hold degrees in nutrition and public health.

“Nearly 90% of Americans don’t consume the recommended servings of dairy,” said Hanselman. “Dairy products have always been an integral part of the dietary guidelines. Milk is a good or excellent source of 13 essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium and vitamin D, three of the four nutrients of public health concern.”

Hanselman’s comments focused heavily on how dairy at all fat levels benefits diverse communities and how current guidelines work against including varieties of milk that Americans consume the most. “With the scientific question focused on sources of saturated fats, this committee has the opportunity to remedy a previous oversight and include the newer science on dairy fats and the dairy matrix,” she said. “Dairy foods, regardless of fat level, appear to have either neutral or beneficial effects on chronic disease risks including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and stroke. This committee shouldn’t default to the overly broad recommendation to avoid saturated fats regardless of food source.”

St. Pierre, a U.S. track and field champion and recent new mom, spoke out against the proliferation of plant-based imitation beverages that offer wildly inconsistent nutritional value, cautioning against any consideration of them as potential dairy replacements. Plant-based beverages “are so nutritionally different from real milk that whether one views them positively or negatively, their impact on health cannot be assumed to be the same as, or even similar to, that of milk,” said St. Pierre, who lives near Berkshire, VT. “I strongly caution against and oppose any inference that health impacts associated with milk consumption would apply to plant-based milk alternatives.”

Today’s hearing is part of the committee’s information-gathering process for the next set of guidelines. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee is convened every five years by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services to make recommendations for American diets, affecting numerous federal nutrition programs.