This review aims to examine the relationship between the consumption of dairy products, mineral absorption, and bone health, and critically evaluates the methods that have been used to investigate this relationship. As people live longer and have lives that are more active in modern societies, bone health is of concern due to the possibility for the increasing incidence of bone disorders, such as osteoporosis. It has been suggested that dairy products can play a key role in bone health due to their high levels of minerals. Whether the positive effect of dairy consumption on bone health is due solely to the concentration of minerals, the action of vitamins, proteins, and lipids present in dairy products, and complex interactions between different milk components remains to be determined. Assessment of how dairy products affect bone health is complex, with apparent contradictory conclusions being reported in the literature. To gain a better understanding of the effects that dairy products have on bone health, this review presents an evaluation of a combination of data obtained using a variety of methods. From those data, we surmise that the preferable approach to investigate the effects of milk on bone health is to obtain data from human, animal, and cell line testing. A combined approach will enable various aspects to be identified, including mechanisms and the assessment of holistic effects, which will enable the effects in the human situation to be ascertained.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of either sheep or cow milk supplementation to a low calcium and phosphorus diet on growth and organ mineral distribution in weanling rats. Rats were fed diets consisting of either a control chow, a 50% reduced calcium and phosphorous chow (low Ca/P), low Ca/P and sheep milk, or low Ca/P and cow milk diet for 28 days. Food intake of the rats, the growth rate of the rats, and the concentrations of minerals in the soft organs and serum were determined. Rats fed the low Ca/P diet alone had lower weight gain than rats consuming either of the milk-supplemented diets (p < 0.05). Both sheep milk and cow milk supplementation overcame the effects of consuming a diet restricted in calcium and phosphorus but the sheep milk was effective at a significantly lower level of milk intake (p < 0.05). Significant differences (p < 0.05) in essential and trace mineral concentrations due to milk type were observed in the kidney, spleen, and liver. For non-essential minerals, significant differences (p < 0.05), related to diet, were observed in all organs for arsenic, cesium, rubidium, and strontium concentrations.

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The concentration of essential and trace minerals in the liver is found to be significantly different between rats fed sheep milk compared to those fed cow milk (p < 0.05). The consumption of sheep milk does not affect the growth of animals.