Belgian guidelines endorse milk as a vital part of daily diets
The Belgian Superior Health Council (SHC) has confirmed that milk and dairy products deserve a place in a sustainable diet, and recommends an increase in the consumption of milk and dairy products.
In a new recommendation, Belgium’s Superior Health Council advises the consumption of between 250ml and 500ml of milk and milk products per day. Too low milk consumption is identified as a risk factor for nutrition-related health problems. The report refers to the Gezondheidsraad (Health Council of the Netherlands) which states that the consumption of dairy is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer and the consumption of yogurt with a low risk of diabetes.
Responding to the new guidelines, IDF National Committee President for Belgium, Renaat Debergh said: “According to the most recent available data, the average Belgian consumes an average of 177g of milk and dairy products per day. In other words, the recommendations of the Superior Health Council can equate to doubling current consumption.”
The advice of the SHC no longer focuses on the individual nutrients, but on the effects of foodstuffs.
“After all, we do not eat separate nutrients, but we do eat food: we do not consume calcium, but drink milk,” said Debergh “The health effects of foods as a whole often turn out to be different from those of the nutrients they contain. For example, it has been scientifically confirmed that the health effects of cheese is better than the individual nutrients suggest.”
The shift from scientific attention from individual nutrients to whole foods has other implications. For example, the SHC states in its opinion: “the results of research on the health effects of milk and dairy products cannot simply be extended to vegetable juices. Consequently, none of these alternatives are considered equivalent to milk as regards their effects on health (Vanga & Raghavan, 2018).”
The guidelines are available in full on the Health Belgium website: https://www.health.belgium.be/nl/node/36076
