The Truth About Dairy and Dental Health | Dr Helen Voronina

It’s a longstanding myth that dairy is a magical ingredient that is necessary for the health of your teeth and bones. “A glass of milk, a slice of cheese, and a tub of yogurt” were long touted as the holy grail of recommended calcium sources.

It’s true. We do need calcium to promote bone cell turnover. For your teeth? Not so much. See, once adult teeth are formed, they don’t actually require all that much calcium. As a child, calcium is important in the formation of adult teeth, but after that, calcium is mostly beneficial for bone health.

But calcium isn’t just found in dairy, and in fact emerging evidence has linked the consumption of dairy with type two diabetes, breast cancer, and prostate cancers. Dairy also comes with saturated fat, which is damaging to the heart, brain, and liver.

Calcium is one of the most abundant micronutrients in nature. Nearly every plant food has calcium. Broccoli, beans, even watermelon! Plant based foods have no saturated fat or cholesterol, and a host of other nutrients that are health-promoting instead.

One of the ‘magical’ ingredients dairy milk does have, however, is a protein called casein. Casein coats the teeth and can help form a barrier that helps keep your enamel from acid damage when you eat sugar or high-acidity foods. However, if you eat a lot of sugar or high-acidity foods, casein won’t do enough to prevent inevitable decay. It’s a bandaid on a bullet wound. Instead, eating a healthy diet low in sugar is your best bet, and you won’t need casein because you won’t have decay!