Mary (Pia) DiMarzio writes in her letter ("Benefits of milk well-documented," May 2) that an earlier anti-dairy letter came from a dietitian representing the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which advocates a vegan lifestyle.
This is a fair point to make. Health professionals should be forthright about the organizations to which they are associated. This includes health professionals with ties to the dairy industry. Many pro-dairy articles are written by health professionals who do not reveal their industry ties. These "scientific" articles often read as dairy advertisements.
Ms. DiMarzio's letter states, "Dairy is doctor-recommended," to which I say, "Big deal." Most doctors can't tell a cucumber from a potato. Their nutrition knowledge is beyond abysmal.
Many lifestyle doctors are more up-to-date on nutritional research than many dietitians. This is not a knock on dietitians, but a credit to these doctors.
I'm not a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine member, but I agree with their anti-dairy views. Ms. DiMarzio wrote that she and her health professional colleagues provide accurate nutrition information to clients, not opinions based on a belief system. I interpret this to mean that any dietitian who shares the Physicians Committee's belief that dairy does more harm than good cannot site scientific research to back up his or her views. I find this quite insulting.
John McDougall is a lifestyle doctor who strongly discourages dairy consumption. To suggest he bases his conclusions on a personal belief system rather than scientific evidence is downright silly.
Dairy is at best unnecessary and, at worse, scary.
Dominic Marro
Registered dietitian
Troy