A lack of milk — or other dairy products, for that matter — isn’t likely to cause you to bruise easily. In fact, bruising easily is rarely linked to diet. It’s more often the result of age, medications and health conditions than anything else. This isn’t to say diet can’t play a role in bruising, but the occurrence is rare.
Diet
According to an article in the September 1984 “Canadian Family Physician,” the official journal of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, easy bruising can sometimes be associated with diet. If your diet contains too little iron, the deficiency may increase your tendency to bleed. The same can be said for zinc and vitamin C. Since bruises form when blood vessels leak blood, it stands to reason that you may begin to bruise much easier than before when deficient in iron, zinc or vitamin C. Milk and other dairy products, however, aren’t often considered good sources of any one of these nutrients, so a lack of dairy in the diet doesn’t increase your chances of bruising.
Foods
If diet is the cause of easy bruising, you may reduce the occurrence by increasing your intake of foods high in iron, zinc or vitamin C, depending on the deficiency. Meat, eggs and green leafy vegetables are rich in iron, but you can also find other foods fortified in this mineral, such as breakfast cereals. Like iron, zinc is found in beef, pork and lamb but also whole grains, legumes and nuts. Vitamin C, on the other hand, is found largely in fruits, such as oranges, grapefruits, lemons, cantaloupe, kiwi, mango and such berries as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Eating plenty of broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage and tomatoes can also increase your intake of this nutrient.
Other Factors
Although diet can play a role, an increase in bruising may be associated with age. As you get older, your skin thins and blood vessels weaken. Without a protective layer of fat, weakened blood vessels are much more prone to rupturing from bumps and light blows. You may also experience easy bruising from certain prescriptions that thin the blood or skin, such as aspirin, warfarin, corticosteroids or clopidogrel.
Warning
If easy bruising is accompanied by bleeding elsewhere on the body, confusion or fever, talk to a doctor. This could be an indication of an underlying medical condition affecting the blood or the blood’s ability to clot. The same can be said when bruises are abnormally large and painful.
