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The Duchess of Cornwall has blasted dairy-free diets, branding them ‘ridiculous’.
Camilla made the comments during an interview with the Mail Online, in which she was promoting the newly rebranded Royal Osteoporosis Society.
The Duchess got involved with the society because she has a family history of the condition which killed both her mother and grandmother.
‘Dairy-free is ridiculous’
“It is this ridiculous dieting, cutting out dairy and all the things that are good for your bones,” Camilla said.
“These girls see ‘Skinny Lizzies’ in a magazine and they all want to be thin. It’s about social media, too.
“We need to find a way of educating children that they need to take care of their bodies now instead of aspiring to look like someone they see in a picture if they want to protect themselves in old age.”
‘Ignorant and unscientific’
But Camilla’s claims have been criticized by one doctor, who branded them ‘ignorant and not based on scientific data’. Dr. Shireen Kassam is a Consultant Haematologist at King’s College Hospital and founder of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK.
“I applaud the Duchess of Cornwall for highlighting the issue of osteoporosis, which can be a debilitating condition,” she told Plant Based News. “However, to cite dairy-free diets as harmful to bone health is just ignorant and not based on scientific data. A healthy diet and lifestyle is fundamental to preventing osteoporosis. Important nutrients for bone health include calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin K and vitamin D, which can all be obtained on a health plant-based/vegan diet.
“The dairy industry has very successfully propagated the myth that dairy consumption is essential for optimal calcium intake, yet lactose intolerance (the inability to break down the sugar in milk) is common, affecting 50-95 percent of people in many non-Caucasian populations.
“Consumption of dairy has not been shown to improve bone health or prevent osteoporosis and bone fractures. In fact, some studies find that milk consumption is associated with a higher fracture rate. Consumption of milk in adolescence does not appear to prevent fractures in later life.”
