Is animal milk healthy?

Milk is somewhat healthy, but not absolutely necessary.

Question: Is animal milk healthy?
Position‹3 of 4›: Milk can be healthy in certain cases.
Argument: Milk is somewhat healthy, but not absolutely necessary.

Milk does contain valuable nutrients, but these nutrients can be gotten through other foods too.

The argument

Milk does have nutrients such as vitamin D and calcium, and the body can benefit from these nutrients. However, milk is not the only way to obtain these nutrients. Calcium rich foods include beans, almonds, and kale. Vitamin D can be received simply through exposure to sunlight. Milk in moderation can be a good way to get these nutrients. However, milk’s high fat content means other methods can often be a healthier alternative, and milk is not the only way to get these nutrients.

Premises

[P1]Milk does provide beneficial nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. [P2] But those nutrients are also available from foods like beans, almonds, and kale, and from sun exposure, so milk is not the only source. [P3] Because of milk's high fat content, those other sources are often a healthier way to get the same nutrients, though milk in moderation can still help. [C] Therefore, because milk is somewhat healthy but not absolutely necessary, milk can be healthy in certain cases.

Counter-arguments

-It is a lot more difficult to get nutrients from foods besides milk, because they are much lower in content. -Milk’s nutrients outweigh the negative effects of its fat content.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] This holds as far as it goes, though the vitamin D is largely present because milk is fortified in many countries rather than because it is naturally rich in it — a distinction that matters to an argument about what milk itself supplies. [Rejecting P2] The substitutes are not equivalent, which is the counter's point in outline. Calcium absorption varies substantially by source, being high from kale and low from spinach and some legumes because of oxalate and phytate content, so equal quantities on a label do not deliver equal amounts to the body. Sunlight synthesis likewise depends on latitude, season, skin tone, age and sun protection, and is unreliable through winter across much of the temperate world. [Rejecting P3] The fat premise does not hold as stated, since milk is sold across a range of fat contents and the skimmed and semi-skimmed versions retain the calcium and the fortification; dietary guidance has also moved away from treating dairy fat as straightforwardly harmful. The conclusion is oddly weak for the premises, too: showing that milk is one good source among several supports the claim that milk is healthy rather than the hedged position it is filed under. The real case for the hedge would rest on lactose malabsorption, which is the majority condition worldwide and goes unmentioned.