Nutrition expert Professor Tim Spector says 'I've stopped drinking milk and telling my patients to'

Nutrition guru Professor Tim Spector has revealed that he’s stopped drinking milk- and explained why. The professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and founder of the Zoe health app said that for many years he believed milk was really important for preventing osteoporosis and supporting bone health and used to recommend it to his patients.

But now he said that research has shown that consuming a diverse diet packed with plenty of plants might be a better way to support your health. He said: “I’ve given up milk. I only now have fermented dairy products like yoghurt cheese and kefir because of the probiotic microbes that are good for my gut.

“I used to advise my patients to drink milk and dairy, and the research has changed over the years. Now very clear that having large amounts of calcium-rich dairy does not protect your bones against osteoporosis. It doesn’t have any major benefits for the body. And there’s increasing evidence that extra calcium, particularly in the form of calcium supplements, increases your risk of heart disease.

“So unless you have some really important medical disorder or some in inability to absorb calcium naturally you don’t need supplements.” Prof Spector said that taking calcium supplements could in fact be harmful to health and explained: “Most people don’t realise that many other sources of calcium exist, particularly things like leafy greens or nuts and seeds. And we’ve evolved fantastic systems to absorb all the calcium we need.”

The fact that milk is produced by cattle, which is one of the most environmentally unfriendly ways of farming means that cutting back is a way of being environmentally friendly. To see the full Zoe podcast with Professor Cyrus Cooper click here.