“Buy six gallons of milk, get the seventh free!” A massive banner draped across the refrigerated aisle promotes the bone-building qualities of a hearty glass of American-made milk. If you think these advertisements are a bit excessive for one grocery store trip you’d be in agreement with Walter Willet, a Harvard University nutritionist who’s got a bone to pick with the dairy industry.
In a paper published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal, Willet and one of his colleagues detail findings from a decades-long longitudinal study involving 96,000 men, women and their respective cow milk consumption habits. Contrary to common folk wisdom the study found no evidence that drinking milk in adolescence decreases the incidence of hip fractures in later years.
Willet, a quiet man with massive rapport in the nutritional business, steps up to the soapbox with a great deal of clout. The Boston Globe has dubbed him “the world’s most influential nutritionist,” and for good reason. Willet was a pioneer in the anti-trans fat movement and has performed work on the harmful effects of excess red meat consumption. He is healthy by all accounts of the word, and his daily habits reflect his nutritional beliefs. The man literally practices what he preaches.
But Willet is no hater. He does not warn against cow milk consumption but instead simply suggests the benefits of imbibing the products of bovine lactation are — for the most part — fictitious. He points to the fact that drinking cow milk is a relatively recent advancement in the history of humankind, explaining that it is a result of culture rather than evolutionary necessity.
Willet, however, is less of a moderate on the issue of advertising. Behind his tufty mustache and kind eyes, the esteemed Harvardite believes that the billions of dollars poured into junk food advertising need to be redirected. Most of these companies target young children; Willet understands that those early years are critical for forming life-long eating habits.
While he is quick to clarify that drinking cow milk isn’t toxic, he seems rather keen on keeping his trademark handlebar and forgoing the classic marketing mustache. What do you think: got milk?
