Got Milked?

March 16, 2015
Hamilton, whose previous book (Squeezed) took on orange juice, here challenges the USDA’s MyPlate dairy recommendation of three servings of dairy per day and its emphasis on fluid milk as the perfect version of that requirement. According to her, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), Adequate Intake (AI), and Upper Intake (UI) numbers set by various panels of doctors and government agencies are used by food marketers (often also funded directly and indirectly by the dairy industry) to make milk seem like the superfood it is not. Hamilton asserts that milk is not the only source of all-important nutrients: the vitamins—D, K, B, and calcium—at the core of health claims about milk can also be found in superfoods like amaranth and chia. The book includes a selection of recipes for these healthful foods, which Hamilton presents as viable alternatives currently making inroads beyond health food store devotees. She especially highlights the pressure on parents to follow USDA nutritional guidelines. The cost of dairy’s dominance may be the weight and health of America, with one study finding that 90% of Asian-Americans and 75% of African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Jews are lactose intolerant. Hamilton triumphs with this resounding critique of lobbyist influence on nutritional guidelines. Agent: Rick Broadhead, Rick Broadhead & Associates Literary Agency.

April 1, 2015

Hamilton (Squeezed) has penned another expose, this time indicting the dairy business. A confluence of factors in that industry, says the author, has created a subpar product that is overmarketed and widely believed to be a panacea in the dietary realm. Milk's production skyrocketed during World War II owing to the need for longer-lasting, shelf-stable powdered products. The fluid form needed a market as well, so the government added milk to the school lunch program. Since then, the low-fat diet craze has turned milk into a stripped-down product that must be fortified with fillers to make it palatable. The persistent thinking that milk is essential is evident in the USDA's Choose My Plate program, but does milk deserve this exalted position? Hamilton unpacks the history, science, and nutritional claims surrounding this food group, the only one to receive its own place in the program, in a way that's academic and engaging. VERDICT Recommended reading for anyone who is skeptical about health claims of food items.--Diana Hartle, Univ. of Georgia Science Lib., Athens

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