Milk’s gone bad: How nutrition changed the career of Blue Jays’ Justin Turner

TORONTO — When Justin Turner broke his left wrist in 2018, he didn't know it would actually end up extending his career.

Turner was hit by a pitch during a spring training game that year and once the prognosis was determined, his Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Chase Utley wasted no time doling out life-changing advice. 

"First thing, he came to me and was like, 'Hey, if you want to get back as soon as possible, you need to stop eating dairy,'" Turner recalls. "'You already have a ton of inflammation in there. Dairy is just adding more inflammation. You need to get as much out of it as you can.'"

Turner listened to Utley and returned to action in less than two months. He quickly became a believer.  

The Blue Jays designated hitter identifies the decision to eliminate dairy from his diet as one of the main reasons he's been able to prolong his career. Turner, who turned 39 in November, is the oldest position player in MLB this season. 

What's more impressive, though, is his premier level of production. Turner homered twice (Nos. 3 and 4 on the season) during the Blue Jays’ 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday and leads the team in doubles (eight), RBIs (15), hits (28) and slugging percentage (.533). Additionally, as of late Monday night, his .923 OPS ranked eighth in the American League.  

As the season's opening month comes to an end, the 16-year veteran is proving to be an excellent investment for the Blue Jays, who signed Turner to a one-year, $13-million deal in late January. 

Turner spent nine years with the Dodgers and during his time there, giving up milk became the trend. Utley ditched dairy in 2017 as he was approaching 40 and then-teammates Will Smith, Corey Seager and Enrique Hernandez soon followed. 

"It actually got to the point where we had so many guys that weren't eating dairy that our chef just stopped cooking with it and didn't tell anyone," says Turner. "And I don't think guys even knew the difference." 

Scientific research on the link between dairy and inflammation has been inconclusive. For instance, according to a study by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, consuming dairy foods like milk, cheese and yogurt may actually be linked to a decreased risk for inflammation.

Nonetheless, Turner is steadfast in his belief. 

He gave up dairy while rehabbing his injury before reintroducing it to his diet in the middle of the 2018 campaign. However, at the end of that year, his wife, Kourtney, asked him what his New Year's Resolution would be for 2019. 

Turner decided to break up with dairy for good and both he and Kourtney have never gone back. Turner initially missed pizza and loves Mexican food, so the idea of forgoing cheese on tacos and burritos was initially hard. 

"But honestly, in today's world, there's enough non-dairy replacements that you can get by with," he says. "I'm not saying that they taste as good, but they're definitely still good."

When he dines at restaurants, Turner will order vegan options because he believes it's a safer method to ensure there's no dairy used in the cooking process. When his wife prepares meals at home, she integrates butter and cheese alternatives into recipes. As for muscle-building and recovery supplements, Turner avoids whey protein and instead opts for pea-based powder. 

"I feel like I sleep better, I recover better, my knees feel better, I don't ever feel bloated after meals," says Turner, listing the benefits he’s experienced since abstaining from dairy. “I think it's just from not putting inflammation into me."  

His approach is not for everyone, though. Blue Jays teammate Kevin Kiermaier doesn't have any absolutes in his diet. He'll make sure to consume plenty of healthy foods, but if Kiermaier feels like a cheeseburger and fries, the 34-year-old won't deny himself.

"I had some teammates earlier in my career who did not put one bad thing in their body and they still got hurt just as much as anyone else," says Kiermaier, who’s on the 10-day injured list with left hip-flexor inflammation. "I remember a trainer back in the day saying, ‘You guys need to eat what you want to eat every now and then. Obviously, space it out, but don't be afraid to eat a steak or a cheeseburger at times.’ 

"But for me, I know I need to [avoid] eating a lot of sugars and stuff like that for inflammation."

Having said that, the centre-fielder is actually planning to draw blood this week for a food sensitivity test. Kiermaier has noticed days when his energy levels and body "[don't] feel the way I feel like it should," and that's prompted him to undergo the "long overdue" test designed to remove guesswork from one's diet. 

For Turner, there's no guesswork involved in what he loads on his plate or pours in his glass. He learned a long time ago what works for him. In turn, the process of discarding dairy helped Turner and Kourtney dive even deeper into the world of nutrition. 

"The great thing about doing the non-dairy is it led us to try the Whole30 [program], which was cutting out [added] sugar, alcohol, carbs, legumes and dairy," says Turner. "And then, because of that, it led to us actually starting to read labels. And now you're reading labels, and you're seeing all the extra stuff that goes into some of these ingredients, and you're like, 'Oh, man.' 

“It makes you think twice about picking what you're picking when cooking."