You may have heard the news today, regarding the USDA’s announcement of the new MyPlate. This tool is intended to educate Americans about the healthy choices they make regarding their diet. The shape may have shifted from pyramid to plate, but the message remains the same: dairy is an important part of the daily diet, for adults and children alike.
For that reason, the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and other dairy organizations today praised the USDA’s new MyPlate education tool, which provides a clear and visual message that a healthy diet is comprised of a variety of nutrient-rich foods, including low-fat and fat-free milk, cheese, and yogurt.
America’s dairy farmers and processors commended the USDA for including a light blue circle depicting a serving of “Dairy” – milk, cheese, or yogurt – next to the dinner plate to illustrate how to build a healthy eating plan, including a serving of dairy at every meal.
“Dairy foods are rightfully being recognized — from the school house to the White House — as an important part of everyone’s diet,” noted NMPF President and CEO Jerry Kozak. “USDA’s new MyPlate, the simple visual metaphor of a serving of dairy products alongside a plate, says it’s vital to consume three servings of low-fat and fat-free dairy foods every day.”
Other dairy industry leaders similarly applauded the new graphic. “Knowing what we do about dairy’s ability to reduce the risk of conditions like osteoporosis, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, we think it’s exciting that dairy is highlighted individually,” said Jean Ragalie, R.D., president of National Dairy Council. “The location of dairy on the graphic really helps it stand out as an essential part of a healthy eating plan,” she added.
“Milk provides a unique package of nine essential nutrients and dairy foods are a substantial contributor of many nutrients that are important for good health,” offered Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program. “We are firm believers in the importance of ‘pouring one more’ serving of dairy, and this tool will be a fresh reminder to all Americans as they sit down at their tables with their families.”
Dairy contributes beyond the glass, as well. A serving of nutrient-rich, low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese, or yogurt has, on average, at least as much protein as an egg. In fact, dairy foods contribute 18 percent of the protein to the American diet. Simple steps, like adding lower fat cheese to a veggie sandwich or topping a baked potato with fat-free plain yogurt can give any meal a nutrient boost.
Americans currently average about 2 daily servings of dairy foods, while USDA’s dietary guidelines encourage 3 daily servings of low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products for adults and children nine years and older. This underscores the importance of a direct, visual metaphor like the MyPlate tool in relaying this guidance to a population being urged to get more nutrients per calorie at every meal.
“We’re delighted that this new education tool makes it clear that milk and other dairy products are important for a nutritious diet,” said Connie Tipton, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association. “It highlights how beneficial a serving of dairy at every meal can be and helps to educate people about dairy’s role on the table and in the American diet.”
The new MyPlate will encourage a variety of dietary patterns that support a healthy lifestyle, and it will make clear that dairy foods are a nutritional fit for most everyone. Whether it’s flavored or lactose-free milk, Greek yogurt or frozen yogurt, or one of the many reduced-fat cheese options available, the dairy industry is committed to providing tasty, healthy and affordable options to help Americans consume essential nutrients that can be hard to get from other foods.
Posted: May 24, 2011 at 5:43 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
With the hot days of summer nearly here, Novus International has developed a complete nutrition program to help dairy cows deal with heat stress while improving milk production, overall cow performance and profitability.
It’s all about keeping oxidative balance and avoiding oxidative stress due to heat.
Oxidative balance describes the normal amount of free radicals and levels of oxidation in an animal’s system. Free radicals are compounds in the body that alter cells and cause oxidation, a part of a cow’s life. When an animal is under stress, free radicals accumulate beyond the normal level, damage cells and cause inefficiencies.
Stephanie Gable, Ruminant Global Marketing Manager, explains why Novus pays attention to oxidative balance: “Oxidative stress is displayed through a number of clinical signs that reduce profitability, from mastitis to reproductive inefficiency. Dealing with that stress requires energy that cows could use for milk production, growth, reproduction and overall productivity. A good nutrition program with an antioxidant can reduce stress, maintain oxidative balance, and improve milk production and milk fat levels.”
Geoff Zanton, Novus Ruminant Nutrition Manager, compares the oxidative balance of a cow to the building blocks of a house. “Not everything will manifest itself in production loss because a cow can deal with a certain amount of stress, or a few blocks taken away. But heat stress is a major challenge, and milk production can tumble, unless we reinforce other parts of the house.”
To maintain oxidative balance, the Novus program includes a regimen of supplements with highly bioavailable chelated trace minerals, methionine and antioxidants.
This program was introduced to a large dairy herd in Washington state when the daily temperatures reached as high as 110 degrees. Because of the extreme heat, milk production collapsed. When the cows were supplemented with MINTREX, MFP and AGRADO Plus—each part of the Novus Oxidative Balance Program—their milk production recovered, even when temperatures climbed higher.
“Managing oxidative stress when a cow is under heat stress is challenging and needs to start before the temperature climbs,” explains Zanton. “The antioxidants, trace minerals and amino acids that she needs take time to take effect and prepare the cow to deal with additional stress.”
To start your own nutrition program before your herd’s milk production suffers from heat stress, talk to your nutritionist or contact a Novus representative. Learn more about oxidative balance in dairy cows by visiting www.dairybalance.com.
Posted: May 24, 2011 at 9:36 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Dairy cows on a University of Kentucky research farm have been accessorized with tags to measure everything from health to behavior in a new study to advance precision dairy farming.
A research and extension team led by dairy systems management extension specialist Jeffrey Bewley, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Department of Animal and Food Sciences, is embarking on the two-year study at the UK Coldstream Dairy Research Farm.
Using several different technologies, the team will gather biological and observational data that indicate health status and estrus behavior. Detection of heat stress, the onset of calving, lameness, and early detection of mastitis, metritis, and metabolic disorders are also areas of interest.
A milking system will measure drops in yield in each quarter of the cow’s udder, and in particular, electrical conductivity of the milk at the quarter level during milking. There is an indirect connection between electrical conductivity and mastitis. Tags will measure rumination, or cud chewing, providing an opportunity to react quickly to, say, onset of illness or disadvantageous feeding changes, at the single-animal and herd level. A second set of tags will take the surface temperature of the inside of the right ear of each fresh cow every five minutes. Another technology will monitor lying behavior and activity. And a passive bolus system will monitor animal core temperature, which provides information for early disease detection, ovulation detection and parturition. Finally, an eartag will monitor ear temperature and activity to identify potential peripheral shock (cold extremities), which may be particularly useful for early identification of milk fever.
Combined, these devices will provide data that measures cow comfort, which can then be extrapolated to make changes in the dairy’s facilities. Cow comfort can lead to better overall health, which lowers the cost of animal care and/or treatment and can increase animal longevity and boost milk yield.
Posted: February 22, 2011 at 6:59 pm
By News Editor
New research suggests that whole-fat dairy products — generally shunned by health experts — contain a fatty acid that may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.
The fatty acid is called trans-palmitoleic acid, according to the study in the Dec. 21 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, and people with the highest blood levels of this fatty acid reduce their odds of diabetes by 62 percent compared to those with the lowest blood levels of it.
In addition, “people who had higher levels of this fatty acid had better cholesterol and triglyceride levels, lower insulin resistance and lower levels of inflammatory markers,” said study author Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, co-director of the program in cardiovascular epidemiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health.
Circulating palmitoleic acid is found naturally in the human body. It’s also found in small quantities in dairy foods. When it’s found in sources outside the human body, it’s referred to as trans-palmitoleic acid. Whole milk has more trans-palmitoleic acid than 2 percent milk, and 2 percent milk has more of this fatty acid than does skim milk.
“The amount of trans-palmitoleic acid is proportional to the amount of dairy fat,” said Mozaffarian.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, concurred, noting, “this was a very nice, and very robust, association. Maybe whole milk isn’t so bad, but I don’t think there’s enough evidence to show that we should start drinking whole milk. We need to understand the mechanism behind this association. Dietary changes in this country tend to be to extremes, but this study should not be used to make changes in the diet; it’s just an observation right now.”
Posted: February 10, 2011 at 11:52 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
A friend of mine sent me this hilarious “Got Milk” video about how milk can help relieve symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. It is at least four years old and appears to be a legit commercial produced by the dairy campaign at one time, but it’s not really clear if it ever actually aired on television.
PMS is often the butt of female jokes, but it really is no laughing matter for women who suffer from it. The premise that calcium can help relieve PMS symptoms is actually true, according to many websites devoted to the topic. For example, according to pmsingblog.com, “Symptoms of premenstrual syndrome can debilitate some women, but there is clear evidence that calcium may help naturally relieving PMS.”
The American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published a great study, describing the ability of the calcium to help naturally relieving PMS. According to the results of a study, more than a thousand women took 1,200 milligrams of calcium for three month, and it helped them ease PMS symptoms, significantly decreasing them by half. According to some other researches, women suffering from heavy PMS symptoms usually have problems with calcium metabolism, and that is the main source of their symptoms. When it comes to the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, calcium appears to be an essential mineral.
Posted: July 8, 2010 at 3:14 pm
By Cindy Zimmerman
Pfizer Animal Health has launched a new online resource — www.milkqualityfocus.com — offering technical and actionable information on mastitis management and milk quality.
“We understand the challenges dairy producers face and the constant commitment they must have to manage mastitis and produce high-quality milk,” says Dr. Bradley Mills, DVM, Veterinary Operations, Pfizer Animal Health. “With more stringent European Union somatic cell count (SCC) standards on the way, Milk Quality Focus will provide a timely and valuable source of technical, practical and easy-to-use information on mastitis and milk quality.”
Each month, Milk Quality Focus will feature video perspectives from industry experts, veterinarians, dairy producers and processors on a new topic that incorporates the most recent research and efficacy data on mastitis therapies; practical and easy-to-implement advice on mastitis management; and insight on ways to improve milk quality and increase productivity.
The video series currently posted explores dry cow mastitis therapies. Future videos will highlight benefits of extended therapy and broad-spectrum treatment, how milk quality impacts the bottom line, the incidence and management of coliform mastitis, positive impacts of a structured milk quality management plan, and the milk quality supply chain.
Pfizer advises dairy producers to use Milk Quality Focus as a starting point for discussions with their veterinarian or animal health representative about improving their mastitis management program.
Prof. Joachim Kleen, Alta Genetics Germany, told us all about SARA in dairy herds at the Dairy Solutions Symposium. SARA is sub-acute ruminal acidosis and becoming a real problem. Understanding it better and what is being done to reduce or control it was the subject of his presentation.
As most dairy farmers might think, proper nutrition and animal care is the best way to decrease the impact of this rumen fermentation disorder. I spoke with Joe before his presentation to get his take away message for participants of this Symposium.
He says that it’s a subject we know a lot about but “we do not know a lot how ruminal acidosis is working, what it’s effects are.” He says he’ll be happy if symposium participants take away from his presentation that there are conflicting aspects to this problem.
According to the company, UterFlush is administered intrauterine post-calving to help restore the cow’s uterus back to normal as quickly as possible. It can be given immediately after calving or later on when problems arise. The flush not only assists with uterine problems post-calving, but also sustains the cow’s reproductive performance reducing the breed back time frame.
UterFlush contains essential oils with antimicrobial properties that maintain and restore normal uterine environment. A natural foaming agent, called yucca, helps the UterFlush reach all areas of the uterus. UterFlush is an all-natural product that requires no milk withholding and leaves no drug residue. UterFlush is similar to our current product, Royal Uterine Capsules, but is in a convenient and easy to use liquid form. The UterFlush syringe has a dial to ensure the accurate amount is expelled when mixing the product. UterFlush is available in a 30ml syringe. The product is sold through all major livestock and dairy distributors.
Posted: April 6, 2010 at 10:22 am
By Cindy Zimmerman
Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease that causes loss of production and abortion in beef cattle and significant decreases in milk production in dairy cattle. Each individual case of anaplasmosis is estimated to cost about $400 per animal, and the total cost to the industry is estimated to be above $300 million in the U.S.
While producers in the Southern U.S. – where anaplasmosis is considered endemic – may be familiar with the disease, the USDA’s most recent cow-calf survey found that only 16% of producers are “fairly knowledgeable” about anaplasmosis and 47 percent had never heard of it before.
This spring, Alpharma Animal Health will offer an online webinar that discusses the current status of anaplasmosis in the U.S. The webinar is based on an expert panel that convened in late 2009 featuring Dr. Hans Coetzee and Dr. Denny Hausmann, experts with extensive experience managing the disease and incorporating new strategies for diagnosis and control.
The webinar provides a continued education credit hour for veterinarians; producers and other cattle industry stakeholders also are encouraged to participate. For more information or to be notified when the webinar goes live, contact Ryan Dunn with Alpharma Animal Health at ryan.dunn@alpharma.com.
Posted: January 19, 2010 at 4:48 pm
By Amanda Nolz
Have you seen those cool commercials for the new campaign, Fuel Up to Play 60, where football players are running and playing with school kids? They are aimed to get kids moving and staying fueled for play with a healthy, balanced diet. Wisconsin Ag Connection just released an article about this program. Check it out.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has joined a campaign to fight and defeat childhood obesity in cooperation with the NFL, National Dairy Council, multiple health organizations and several major corporations. The campaign, known as Fuel Up to Play 60, is funded with an initial private sector financial commitment of $250 million over five years by America’s Dairy Farmers. Funding is expected to grow as government, business, communities and families join this effort to improve nutrient-rich food choices and achieve 60 minutes of physical activity each day among children. More than 58,000, or 60 percent, of the nation’s 96,000 private and public schools are currently enrolled in Fuel Up to Play 60.
Posted: December 4, 2009 at 5:03 pm
By Amanda Nolz
Wow, what a positive message about dairy as a healthy part of a well-balanced diet! As shared by WLWT News in Omaha, Neb., athletes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are now downing chocolate milk after practice, and they are liking the taste and the results they are getting from that glass of power and strength. What a great story! Check it out!
The strength coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha has switched his athletes to chocolate milk from sports drinks, a move supported by mounting research that shows the childhood standby drink provides superior muscle recovery, KETV in Omaha reported. With its protein and sugar content, chocolate milk has been shown to rebuild muscles and replenish the body after strenuous workouts. In the past, UNO athletes have chugged pricey, carbohydrate-packed drinks after workouts. Now, Roberts Dairy supplies 1,600 cartons of chocolate milk a week at a low price.
“It’s good for your stomach, it’s good for your bones and it tastes good. I like it,” said UNO track and field athlete Madison Haugland.
Posted: November 17, 2009 at 4:13 pm
By News Editor
A joint press release from National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) addresses the need for the regulation of raw milk production facilities.
Although unpasteurized, or raw, milk products pose a significant food safety hazard, facilities producing these products are not covered by any of the food safety regulations proposed so far this year by Congress. These facilities also remain exempt from existing regulations enforced by all states, which are know as the Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), that set the standard for maintaining the safety of the nation’s milk and milk product supply. Cheeses made from unpasteurized milk that have been aged to eliminate the risk of food borne illnesses are not considered raw milk products.
IDFA and NMPF have asked senators planning to mark up key food safety legislation next week to rectify this omission. In a letter to Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Michael Enzi (R-WY), the committee’s ranking member, the dairy groups called for requiring all facilities producing raw or unpasteurized milk products for direct human consumption to register with FDA and adhere to the tried-and-true food safety requirements that are followed by all other facilities producing milk products.
IDFA and NMPF support the proposed “FDA Food Safety Modernization Act” and urge the senators to expand the regulations to include facilities producing raw milk products for direct human consumption. In addition, the dairy groups would like the bill to recognize that state inspections of dairy facilities under the PMO already meets necessary food safety requirements and no duplicate functions are warranted.
Posted: November 3, 2009 at 6:51 pm
By Amanda Nolz
A featured article at the Dairy Site, Predicting Changes for Parasite and Vector Induced Animal Diseases, discusses climate change and the livestock industry. Eric Hoberg, an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) zoologist at the Agricultural Research Center in Beltsville, discusses how climate change could have a major influence on animal health, by affecting parasites and vectors that spread disease. This is an interesting read for anyone in the dairy cattle industry. Check it out.
Climate change can alter an animal’s relationship with parasites and vectors. These changes can influence where parasites and vectors thrive, making certain geographical regions more or less amenable to them. Climate change can also alter when and for how long parasites and vectors pose a threat to agricultural animals. Climate can determine how pathogens are distributed, transmitted and evolve, and can influence the factors associated with emerging disease and how animals respond to those diseases. Significant environmental changes have been well documented in recent decades, and some of these changes are causing trouble for livestock.
Dr. Eric Hoberg is one of many ARS scientists investigating the probable impact of climate changes on agricultural parasites and virus vectors. Their research is generating information that could help producers prepare for and respond to heightened disease threats.
In one study, Dr. Hoberg collaborated with several Canadian scientists to investigate the influence of climate change on parasitic lungworms known as Protostrongylus stilesi in Arctic mammals. Although the lungworms had never before been observed in muskoxen, the scientists observed them in muskoxen that share habitat with Dall’s sheep. Environmental changes that bring the two animals into contact more frequently could result in larger parasite populations.
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
There were a record 755 companies exhibiting at World Dairy Expo this year, which made it difficult to visit them all, but we did what we could!
One booth I visited was Arm and Hammer Animal Nutrition where I talked with president Curt Siverling who says it has been a challenging year for them along with the rest of the dairy industry, since they are primarily a dairy nutrition focused company. Curt says the economic situation has forced many producers to make some “irrational ration decisions” that will eventually have to be reversed. “What’s encouraging to us, however, is even in this very difficult time, we continue to get dairymen to begin using some of our products for the first time,” Curt said. AH offers seven different branded products, starting with the original sodium bicarbonate buffer where the company started, all of which they back up with university studies that prove return on investment for producers.
I also stopped by the Novartis Animal Health booth to talk about Healthy Heifer™, a new heifer management program designed to maximize the long-term value of dairy replacement heifers through established health and management protocols. Director of Veterinary Services Dr. Doug Scholz says they just launched this program last month. “We try to take a full management approach,” Doug says. “They need to use reproductive vaccines, vaccines to prevent calf scours, but really the program is much deeper than that. Doing the proper nutritional management, proper animal husbandry management, proper deworming – its really an encompassing program.”
Novartis feels that veterinarians need to be the knowledge source for producers, so the program requires the involvement of the herd veterinarian for enrollment. Listen to Doug explain more about Healthy Heifer here:
World Dairy Diary coverage of World Dairy Expo is sponsored by:
A global event like World Dairy Expo is a natural fit for a global company like Novus International. “It really fits with the vision of Novus,” says Stephanie Gable, Novus Global Marketing Manager. “One of the things we concentrate on at Novus is actually feeding the world. We want to make sure that we can provide the ingredients to help our customers do a better job of feeding protein to the world. So, we’re here talking about a variety of products that help to increase milk protein, milk fat, milk volume, can help with immunity issues – all for the dairy producers.”
Northeast U.S. sales manager Suzy Demeester says they have a “three legged stool” of products for dairy producers. “ALIMET is the foundation of our products, it is a methionine analog that increases milk production, improves components and also has some health effects,” Demeester says. “We’ve got AGRADO Plus, which is a blend of dietary antioxidants that really helps keep the cows in balance with their oxidative stress, and then MINTREX, a chelated brand of minerals that has a special methionine component to it that also helps contribute to the improvement in component production.”
Demeester says they recently conducted a trial with all three products that resulted in an increase of 10 pounds of milk per cow, plus improvement of components, decrease in somatic cell count and overall profitability improvement for the producer.
Listen to my back-to-back interviews with Stephanie and Suzy from World Dairy Expo here:
Posted: September 30, 2009 at 3:29 pm
By News Editor
The National Dairy Council (NDC) is excited to announce the launch of its new blog, “The Dairy Report: News, analysis and opinion on nutrition and health research.” This new blog offers expertise, opinions and dialogue related to current trends and events in dairy foods, nutrition and science.
A new post on The Dairy Report highlights a study that provides further evidence that milk consumption, including flavored milk, is not associated with body fatness in children and adolescents. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that only sweetened beverage intake (such as sweetened fruit flavored drinks or sodas) at five years of age, but not milk, flavored milk or 100 percent fruit juice, was a significant predictor of girls’ body fatness from 5 years to 15 years.
Readers are encouraged to add The Dairy Report to their RSS feeds, join the e-mail distribution list, share feedback, express opinions regarding posts, and call attention to upcoming research or topics of interest.
Posted: September 26, 2009 at 6:01 am
By Amanda Nolz
Charlotte Johnston with TheDairySite offers up some tips for efficiently dealing with lameness in dairy cows, including a reference for mobility scoring by DairyCo. Here is an excerpt from her article, “Tackling Lameness Efficiently.”
The mobility of cows refers to the ability of the cow to walk with a regular gait, without factors of lameness having an adverse effect on the walking pattern.
Poor mobility in cows can cost farmers an average of £180 per case through lost milk sales, treatments and productivity according to research by DairyCo. It is estimated that 25 per cent of the national herd are lame at various levels at any one time. Simon Hopcraft, a foot trimmer in Northampton believes that the incidence of lameness is twice what it was when he started trimming feet back in 1992.
Mobility scoring allows stockmen to assess the levels of lameness of individual animals in the herd and allows for early intervention and treatment if necessary.
Calling all chefs and bakers! Get your favorite recipes shined up and ready to go for this upcoming contest. Check out the details, and let me know if you enter! I would love to share your recipes!
Beginning today, everyday home cooks from Maine to Rhode Island have extra incentive to get creative with Hood(R) dairy products with the launch of the “Hood New England Dairy Cook-Off” contest. The contest gives amateur cooks a chance to share their best recipe featuring Hood dairy products and demonstrate their skills at a live cook-off in front of hundreds of people — with a $10,000 grand prize on the line.
“For more than 160 years, Hood dairy products have been a staple in New England kitchens and an important ingredient in everything from comfort food to culinary masterpieces,” said Lynne Bohan, Hood spokesperson. “We’re inviting home cooks to share those great recipes that their family and friends have enjoyed and get a chance to win a $10,000 payday for their creativity.”
To enter, log onto HoodCookOff.com and submit your best Hood dairy recipe by October 2nd. Five semi-finalists from each of the six New England states will be selected to compete head-to-head at a televised cook-off being held at the Ocean Gateway terminal in Portland, Maine, on November 1st, 2009.
“The live cook-off is an exciting element to this contest where we’ll get to see the 30 semi-finalists create their dishes and compete for the $10,000 grand prize. We’re eager to see how the cream rises to the top — so to speak!” added Bohan.
There will be five semi-finalist categories: breakfast/brunch; soups/chowders; appetizers/side dishes; lunch/dinner (entree); and dessert. Each recipe submitted must include at least one of the following Hood products: Hood Milk, Hood Simply Smart(R) Milk, Hood Cream, Hood Country Creamer(R), Hood Sour Cream, Hood Cottage Cheese, Hood Buttermilk, Hood EggNog or Hood Calorie Countdown(TM). Judging will be based on taste, presentation/appearance, and creativity/originality.
New evidence suggests that children who consume dairy products may have a lower mortality rate compared with those who do not, according to research to be published in the journal Heart. A 65-year follow-up of a study into the eating habits of families carried out in the 1930s found that dairy products and a diet high in calcium made a difference to how long people lived.
“My father used to say milk was the only true, natural drink,” said Eifion Huws, dairy committee chairman at the Farmers Union of Wales.
In one of the first studies, in 1937-39, the food consumption of children from 1,343 families in England and Scotland were assessed from seven-day household food inventories. The data came from the Carnegie (“Boyd Orr”) survey of diet and health in pre-war Britain.
Now researchers in Bristol and Brisbane, Australia, have carried out a 65-year follow-up study to discover what happened to 4,374 of these children between 1948 and 2005. By 2005, 1,468 (34%) of them had died, including 378 deaths due to coronary heart disease and 121 deaths due to stroke. The researchers looked at two main causes of deaths – stroke and cardiovascular disease.
While warning that other factors may play a part, such as socioeconomic differences, they concluded: “Children whose family diet in the 1930s was high in calcium were at reduced risk of death from stroke.
“Furthermore, childhood diets rich in dairy or calcium were associated with lower all-cause mortality in adulthood.”
Another recent review, in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, made similar findings. It found that dairy products conferred an “overall survival advantage” against vascular disease, diabetes and cancer.
Judith Bryans, of the Dairy Council, said the findings were clear: people who are well nourished will be healthier.
“It has long been known that calcium plays an essential in maintaining normal blood pressure and that in turn is important in terms of reducing risk of stroke and heart disease. Milk, cheese and yogurt also provide potassium, another mineral essential for normal blood pressure.”
Here’s some positive media coverage to perk up your Tuesday! Kathleen Blanchard RN is an Examiner from Charlotte who gives “calcium credit” where it’s due: dairy products. Here is an excerpt from her latest blog post…
Eating foods fortified with calcium, or taking calcium supplements may not be as good as dairy intake say Purdue researchers. The team of scientists studied differences in bone health, comparing those rats a nutritious diet supplemented with calcium carbonate with rats given dairy products that contain calcium.The results showed that dairy intake is best for maintaining bone health. Longer, stronger bones were found among the rats given dairy.
The research concluded that consuming dairy products early in life and continuing throughout life is the best way to keep bones strong and reduce risk of osteoporosis, fracture and disability associated with aging.
Professor Connie Weaver, head of the food and nutrition department at Purdue University says, “A lot of companies say, if you don’t drink milk, then take your calcium pills or calcium-fortified food. There has been no study designed properly to compare bone growth from supplements and milk or dairy to see if it has the same effect. We found it was an advantage having milk or dairy while bones were growing over calcium carbonate, and it protects you later in life.”
You may have heard the news today, regarding the USDA’s announcement of the new MyPlate. This tool is intended to educate Americans about the healthy choices they make regarding their diet. The shape may have shifted from pyramid to plate, but the message remains the same: dairy is an important part of the daily diet, for adults and children alike.
It’s all about keeping oxidative balance and avoiding oxidative stress due to heat. 
A research and extension team led by dairy systems management extension specialist Jeffrey Bewley, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Department of Animal and Food Sciences, is embarking on the two-year study at the UK Coldstream Dairy Research Farm.
The video series currently posted explores dry cow mastitis therapies. Future videos will highlight benefits of extended therapy and broad-spectrum treatment, how milk quality impacts the bottom line, the incidence and management of coliform mastitis, positive impacts of a structured milk quality management plan, and the milk quality supply chain. 
Prof. Joachim Kleen, Alta Genetics Germany, told us all about SARA in dairy herds at the 
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