Aaron Rodgers Might Want To Reconsider Dairy

Aaron Rodgers' dedication into prolonging his career is commendable, but what effect will dairy have on his health and performance?

Boy, if Aaron Rodgers wasn't the best QB in the league, a 2 time MVP and the Super Bowl MVP in 2010, there probably would have been a lot more rage at the quarterback shunning dairy products in America's dairyland.  

I ate more of a vegan diet, with some red meat at times and some chicken, but tried to stick to a lot of fruits and vegetables — but mostly vegetables...I just wanted to get healthier, I’ve done a lot of research and talked with Adam Korzun, our nutritionist, and some other friends around the league about how I can extend my career and how I can be and feel healthier. Through your eating, you can reduce inflammation. Because if you do research, you learn the different foods you eat can actually increase the inflammation in your body — and especially in certain parts of your body...With a knee condition I’ve had for a long time, it really started after the surgery, thinking about exactly what I’m going to eat the first couple of weeks after surgery to kind of limit the amount of inflammation in my knee, and carried that around the rest of the offseason.”

Now I'm all for extending Rodgers' career and likely the Packers success but as an immunologist, this comment struck me as a little odd, milk has historically been considered one of the healthier foods and after all many of the components of cow's milk are also present in mother's milk, which most people live off of during the first months of their lives.  I decided to read up a little bit more on the scientific evidence of dairy products triggering inflammation.  First off Rodgers' technically isn't wrong; the metabolism of food can influence the inflammatory process; chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes have been linked to nutrition and the simple act of eating actually triggers a subtle inflammatory response.  However the body is actually quite extraordinary in the sense that it can modulate the immune/inflammatory response and just because inflammation occurs doesn't mean it's all the same or that it's even bad (you would actually want inflammation when you have a cold since this is a result of the body fighting off the cold) 

Bordoni et al. recently published a meta-analysis on the inflammatory effects of dairy products in 2015 titled “Dairy Products and Inflammation: A Review of the Clinical Evidence” (DOI:10.1080/10408398.2014.967385).  For those of you outside of the ivory tower of academics, a meta-analysis is when researchers statistically analyze multiple research publications on a topic and use statistics to form conclusions.  This type of research is considered more holistic since it incorporates many different studies on a wide range of sub-topics to come to a more statistically significant conclusion.   

Of the 78 studies included in the meta-analysis, 52 (66%) of studies actually indicated that the consumption of dairy products actually reduced the level of inflammation in the body.  This correlation was weak but significant (p=.008), meaning at worse dairy products have no effect on inflammation. 

Furthermore many of the studies that reported increased levels of inflammation after consuming dairy products were done in the context of patients with dairy allergies.  Assuming Rodgers does not have a major allergy to dairy (which makes sense given he ate dairy products up until this point), this likely is not applicable to Rodger’s health.

High fat dairy products were also analyzed.  While 9 studies reported higher levels of inflammation after the consumption of high fat dairy products, overall the meta-analysis shows that high fat dairy products are actually anti-inflammatory.  Furthermore, it appears the amount of fat consumed, in particular saturated and trans-fatty acids, were more important than the dairy itself to higher levels of inflammation.  While high fat content is present in a wide variety of foods, the fact that even high fat dairy products overall show anti-inflammatory properties suggest that other compounds in dairy can actually counteract that pro-inflammatory nature of fat. 

Finally fermented dairy products like yogurt and cheese have a long history of reducing the levels of inflammation.  Bacteria used in the production of yogurt such as Lactobacillus and bifidobacteria can produce a wide variety of compounds that have been reported to be anti-inflammatory, in fact many pharmacies actually stock these two bacteria in pill form as a probiotic. 

Now with all the science out of the way, what does this all mean?  Essentially, research shows that dairy products likely can either reduce inflammation or at worse has no effect on inflammation in most people.  Rodgers also probably doesn’t have to worry about the effects of obesity or diabetes given his profession as an athlete, which were correlated to higher levels of inflammation after dairy consumption (Jay Cutler, who is type 1 diabetic, on the other hand may want to consider laying off the dairy). 

Furthermore, Rodgers probably should actually consume low fat and fermented dairy products due to their health benefits.  Overall, it probably doesn’t hurt that Rodgers has stopped eating dairy products but realistically it also isn’t helping him much.  If anything, trading in his orange or grape Crush soda for a glass of milk after a win will probably help his body more than laying off dairy entirely.

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Comments (31)

Fan-Friendly This filter will hide comments which have ratio of 5 to 1 down-vote to up-vote.
packerfan9507's picture

February 13, 2019 at 01:04 am

Go Pack

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TKWorldWide's picture

June 10, 2016 at 12:39 pm

Sing it, Stevie.

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ray nichkee's picture

June 10, 2016 at 12:47 pm

Good tune. I think he's playing a clavinet or something. Love it.

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ray nichkee's picture

June 10, 2016 at 12:45 pm

He should start eating beer battered cheese curds. I don't think they stay in you long enough to do some damage.

On a serious note I used to chug milk until i had a calcium deposit in my hand inbetween the muscle layers. Everytime i hit it it hurt like hell. I had surgury and I cut way back on the milk but still eat cheese and yougurt.

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Guisado's picture

June 10, 2016 at 03:26 pm

I don't see where he mentions dairy. Was that in another quote?

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Dr.Rodgers's picture

June 10, 2016 at 03:52 pm

Useless waste of time article. What's there to discuss? Nutrition affects individuals differently. To be real about this topic, Rodgers would need to have his nutrition intake noted and monitored along with his activity level for about a month with various specimen and blood tests to get a metabolism.

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hobbes's picture

June 10, 2016 at 05:05 pm

How much do you want to bet that Rodgers has done none of that? Furthermore, you probably won't be able see if dairy causes inflammation in you simply through a blood test or recording your nutrition; to get a definite answer you'd likely need to get something like a food allergy test done on a variety of dairy products and their components.

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RobinsonDavis's picture

June 13, 2016 at 06:30 pm

I was at first, very skeptical when reading the headlines, but am delighted to see the honesty in this article. Background: I will not expand on this more, but I was asked to be a part of another meta-analysis group. One of the projects they were working on was specific to some of the dairy analysis discussed here. It is interesting to note that they had similar conclusions. Last, I am not a doctor, but note, inflammatory components can be, and are measured....there is a cascade event that takes place.

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egbertsouse's picture

June 10, 2016 at 05:07 pm

There are too many wonky professors on this site with way too much free time on their hands.

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marpag1's picture

June 10, 2016 at 05:37 pm

Given the frequently appalling lack of research, I would say they must have way too LITTLE free time on their hands.

But at least this article didn't say, "ARod's Decision to Forego Dairy is Basically Communist."

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hobbes's picture

June 10, 2016 at 07:02 pm

I'm actually a little surprised no one went senator McCarthy on me for that article.

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marpag1's picture

June 11, 2016 at 03:20 am

Yeah, I don't think Joe-Mac is one of Wisconsin's favorite sons. I guess a legacy like McCarthy's can get a little tainted when you probably did more to bring on and perpetuate the Cold War than any other person in America.

For the record, I do not think that the NFL bears even a passing resemblance to "communism," but I do think that some of the responses to that article were a bit unfair. "Communism" has a wide range of meaning, depending on who you ask, but it does not necessarily include the concept of an oppressive, totalitarian regime that advocates mass murder and genocide - even if a good number of communist states were historically that way.

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scullyitsme's picture

June 10, 2016 at 05:20 pm

Always thought drinking milk was weird, would you suck on a cow's @@&? I do like my cheese though.

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jeremyjjbrown's picture

June 10, 2016 at 07:14 pm

The only person who can tell what dairy does to Aaron Rodgers digestive tract and joints is Aaron Rodgers. The only way fo him to tell is to stop eating it for a while and then try it again. Any studies done on anyone not named Aaron Rodgers mean jack shit in regards to Aaron Rodgers.

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Teflon Ted's picture

June 11, 2016 at 03:10 am

I've done extensive research on dairy. Milk is not needed for humans long term. We are the only species that continues to drink milk into adult hood and it's not necessary. Think about it, It's all about the money and the dairy industry is getting killed with Rodgers basically coming out against dairy. I've dumped drinking milk 25 years ago and I never looked back.

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Teflon Ted's picture

June 11, 2016 at 03:19 pm

Wow, I can't believe all the people in the dairy industry infiltrating this site. Hey, truth hurts I guess. Milk is not needed!! It's a scam folks!! Drink water and you'll be just fine.

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dobber's picture

June 12, 2016 at 09:32 am

I grew up on a Wisconsin small family dairy farm. My Dad was lactose intolerant. Many people find that to be ironic.

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Teflon Ted's picture

June 13, 2016 at 02:12 am

Ironically I am Dobber and Stroh intolerant.

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dobber's picture

June 11, 2016 at 06:32 am

"I ate more of a vegan diet, with some red meat at times and some chicken"

I laughed at this. It essentially says: I try not to eat meat. But I really like meat. So I eat meat.

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MarkinMadison's picture

June 12, 2016 at 09:29 am

Or that he is supplementing his protein intake to match his workouts...

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dobber's picture

June 12, 2016 at 09:34 am

Likely true. The amino acids you get naturally from eating a variety of meats is a good thing.

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4thand1's picture

June 11, 2016 at 08:09 am

Cow's milk is a lot like mother's milk. I love mother's milk but keep getting shot down from young mother's all the time. I tried Hank's approach from Me, Myself, and Irene and it didn't go well.

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ray nichkee's picture

June 11, 2016 at 09:01 am

I'm sure there is a pnp fetish site out there.

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4thand1's picture

June 11, 2016 at 02:19 pm

there's a site for everything.

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RobinsonDavis's picture

June 13, 2016 at 06:39 pm

HaHaHaHaHa.......!!!!!

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guzzi2000's picture

June 11, 2016 at 10:54 am

One bad game and Twitter will be exploding with Rodgers must of fell off the wagon. The Milk Wagon!

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4EVER's picture

June 11, 2016 at 11:06 am

Greatest snack on earth; hard boiled egg, string cheese, and 5 almonds...daily.

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TKWorldWide's picture

June 11, 2016 at 01:02 pm

How about two hard boiled eggs and three almonds?

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PETER MAIZ's picture

June 12, 2016 at 02:19 am

I said so on a blog recently. Yogurt with fruit, however, s filled with sugar, If not taken with fruit, it's perfect. Studies have shown that when the Republic was an agrarian society, a man's breakfast consisted of about 4500 calories. Why? Farm work and cutting down trees required enormous amount of calories. Yes, cheese and meat are part of a diet that are involved in building muscle. They're part of the essential 8 amino acids required for good health. Today's newfangled veggie diets ar just that, newfangled, and have not withstood the test of time.

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MarkinMadison's picture

June 12, 2016 at 09:37 am

Problem is that we are much more sedentary now - even pro football players. Just look at Eddie Lacy. Unless you spend your days behind a plow or chopping trees. Or maybe if you are a pro swimmer or cyclist - those guys are burning over 8,000 cal a day. They you can pooh pooh veggie diets and talk about the good old days. The rest of us are going to have to think.

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vpi14400's picture

January 21, 2020 at 02:05 am

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