Question: Can you have a healthy diet without drinking milk?! and what will happen to your body if you don't drink milk?! (I don't drink milk, and Im scared about my bones breaking.)... =(

Sally Barber answered on 21 Jun 2010:

Milk contains calcium which is important for bone growth and bone strength. If you don’t like milk it’s important that you get calcium from other sources in your diet like yoghurt and cheese (some cheeses have more calcuim than others – mozerella is a good source). Vitamin D helps your body to absorb the calcium that you eat so you need to make sure you have plenty of vitamin D too. You can get most of your vitamin D from being outside in the sunshine (make sure you don’t get sunburned though). Other ways to get vitamin D are to eat oily fish such as salmon and eggs. To keep your bones healthy make sure you also do impact exercises, this is any type of exercise where your limbs pound against the ground, such as running or jumping (not swimming or cycling). This will also help you to develop strong bones.

It is really important that you look after your bones now whilst you are young. Up until the age of about 20 years old you will still be developing your bone strength. The stonger your bones are now the less quickly they will deteriorate when you get older and the less likely you are to get osteoporosis (disease of the bones which makes them easier to break).