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WEEK 6 - The Storyteller

Tell a New Meaningful Story

Positive Health Principle #39

Add Meaning

Class #39

In today's class you will learn:

1. What research says about health benefits of drinking milk

2. How drinking milk is linked with the risk of bone fractures

3. Why dairy-free diet is not recommended to everyone


When you finish today's class, click the golden button below and take another extra small action! 

REFLECT:  How can you add meaning to your past story?

“We can discover the meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a value; and (3) by suffering.”

 

Victor Frankl

TODAY'S INSPIRATION

health is

Meaning
Add It!

TODAY'S DOSE OF POSITIVE HEALTH

“If you don't change your beliefs, your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?”
W. Somerset Maugham

 

We are the only mammals on the entire planet who drink milk after the infancy period. In fact, we like milk so much that we keep stealing it from other species. Evidence shows that breastfeeding is healthy in early childhood indeed, but after the age of two there is no apparent reason for us to keep drinking milk.

 

Many people believe that we need milk for the calcium and bone strength. Both the European and the American Dietary Guidelines still recommend that we drink up to three glasses of milk a day. What the guidelines don't say however is that those three glasses contain more than 240 calories and more than 36 grams of sugar. Guidelines and recommendations are not the same as science so let’s look at what the research says about drinking milk. 

 

A meta-analysis published a few years ago in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition was looking at how calcium intake may be associated with the risk of hip fractures. The research included seven prospective cohort studies that enroled more than 170,000 women with almost 3,000 hip fractures and five prospective cohort studies that recruited more than 68,000 men with over 200 hip fractures. The researchers found no association between total calcium intake and the risk of hip fracture in both men and women. 

 

Scientists also studied five clinical trials seeking the prove that increasing calcium intake can prevent fractures. More than 5,600 women and 1,000 men took part in these studies with a randomly received calcium supplementation or placebo. This time, researchers were looking at all kinds of fractures and concluded that calcium intake had no significant impact on fracture prevention. 

 

Over the last few years, four randomised controlled clinical trials were looking at the potential link between calcium supplementation and specifically hip fractures. The results were really surprising. It turned out that calcium supplementation actually increased the risk of hip fracture, and for that reason self-prescribed calcium supplements are not recommended. 

 

In 2011, a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research combined all available prospective studies looking for an association between milk intake and the risk of hip fracture. 

 

Researchers found six studies on more than a 195,000 women who sustained more than 3,500 hip fractures, and there was no association between milk intake and the risk of fracture. In the same meta-analysis, based on more than 75,000 men with 195 hip fractures, the data again could not establish a statistically significant relationship between milk intake and the risk of hip fracture.

 

A more recent prospective study published in JAMA Pediatrics enroled nearly 96,000 people in the long-standing Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals follow-up study. Researchers asked the participant to rate their milk consumption as teenagers and then followed them to see if they experienced hip fractures over the next 25 years. It turned out that men who drank more milk as teens had a 9% higher risk of having a hip fracture later on in life than those who drank milk occasionally.

 

Drinking milk doesn’t have proven health benefits. In fact, drinking too much milk can be harmful particularly to children. Researchers at Duke University Health System found that excessive milk consumption is damaging to the gut microbiota and it may prevent iron from being absorbed from diet causing anaemia. Additionally, some children may even experience intestinal bleeding when they drink too much cow’s milk. 

 

Contrary to popular belief, milk doesn’t reduce the risk of bone fracture. It can actually increase the risk by up to 10%. Interestingly, some African and Asian countries with the lowest dairy consumption have the lowest rates of osteoporosis. Calcium isn't as bone protective as we thought. Studies on calcium supplementation have shown no benefits in reducing the risk of fracture. 

 

Milk is an important part of a small child’s diet and just like most things is good for us when consumed in moderation. It’s a great addition to a bowl of oats, a cup of tea or coffee. As adults, however, we need to treat milk as any other beverage that is rich in calories and holds no special place in our positive health toolbox.

 

Should we drink milk?

TODAY'S VIDEO

What is the meaning of life?

TODAY'S INSPIRED ACTION

Write down 3 things that make your life meaningful.

YOUR WEEKLY SESSION

Get ready for your weekly session.
In your fifth session you will focus on reframing your past experiences, focus on finding meaning and set the following intentions: 
1.  Identify and change your old story; replace it with a new meaningful one
2. Forgive yourself and others
3. Transform a post-traumatic stress syndrome into a post-traumatic growth syndrome
Answer the Meaning Questionnaire (download No1), spend a few moments reflecting on the PT Growth Worksheet (download No2), and go through the exercises (download No3) before your next session. Evaluate your session in the Self-Evaluation Worksheet (download No4).


1. Please make sure that you choose a convenient time and a quiet place for your Skype conversations.
2. Let the members of your household know when you need time for yourself, so you are not being interrupted.
3. Check your wifi connection and show up on time.
4. If you are unable to attend, you can still reschedule within the next few days before the Monday of the following week, if your guide has a free time slot. 
5. Your one-to-one sessions are an integral part of the Grace School curriculum. It is, therefore, fundamental that each session is in synchrony with the weekly Grace School module. 

YOUR WEEKLY DOWNLOADS

All files attached below have been created to support and enhance your learning experience.
These are available for download for the next 7 days. Please make sure that you answer the Meaning Questionnaire (No1), reflect on the PT Growth Worksheet (No2), and do the exercises (No3) before your next session.

Use the Self-Evaluation Worksheet (No4) after your session. At the end of the week reflect on your experiences and challenges. Summarise your week with the Self-Reflection Worksheet (No5).
 
Your WEEK 5 Downloads:

1.  Meaning Questionnaire - answer 10 simple questions related to a deeper meaning of life (approx. time 5 minutes)
2. PT Growth Worksheet - grow from your previous experiences (approx. time 10 minutes)  
3. Exercise Worksheet - do the exercises before your next session (approx time 10 minutes)

4. Self-Evaluation Worksheet - evaluate your session and learn from your experience (approx time 10-15 minutes)
5. Self-Reflection Worksheet - at the end of the week reflect on your experiences and challenges (approx time 10-20 minutes)

EMAIL US

EMAIL US

If you have any questions, comments or technical problems, please write:  contact@thesilverlinedheart.org and we will be happy to help.

We strive to respond within 24 business hours Monday-Friday 9am-5pm GMT. No personal information will be released or exposed.

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