Dairy as a food group? No.

It is so refreshing to see the importance of dairy in our diet finally being questioned in science and mainstream media. Though I am yet to see evidence based practice regarding dairy in professional dietetic environments and publications, I am beginning to have faith that the day will come.

Dairy does not deserve to be considered a vital food group; the science is simply not there. Dairy is also not what it was when there was a faithful family cow - do you really want to be drinking a mixture of milks from goodness knows how many cows who were penned in and not pasture fed (as they should be)? I don't.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have any dairy (if you tolerate it). My advice is to look at it as a condiment, rather than a food group. A sprinkle here, a spread there, a bit of yogurt mixed into sauce etc. But don't just lap up the advice that you need three portions a day for a healthy body; it is simply not true. There is a lot more to bone health than drinking the highly processed milk from another mammal!

See here for a good insight from The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/upshot/got-milk-might-not-be-doing-you-much-good.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0