Hi Liza,

thanks for sharing your thoughts on calcium. I agree with much of what
you say, but I think the 1000+ mg/day RDA is the safe level *in the
context of the Standard American Diet and Lifestyle (SADL?)*: lack of
sunlight, lack of exercise, presence of phytates (in grains), use of
salt. I am pretty sure that if one gets enough sunlight, exercise,
etc. the daily requirement is much lower (e.g. 400 mg), and that dairy
in not necessary to meet that requirement.

On the other hand, _for people on SADL_, it is safer to recommend
dairy than to exclude it, since people usually won't eat enough green
vegetables, etc. to prevent deficiency. Most people can tolerate
moderate amouts of raw cheese, but there are exceptions (like people
having an allergy condition).

Susan:
> Does this cold indicate that my immune system is faulty due to the dairy or
> do we still get colds even when we are eating an optimum diet?

I don't know what an "optimum diet" is, but on a healthy diet people
report having mild colds that don't last more than 3 days. In your
case, it's too soon to conclude, but if you get another bad cold
within a year, or experience other symptoms, you might consider
suppressing dairy for a while to see if there is an improvement.


--Jean-Louis Tu <[log in to unmask]>