Got Milk?
By: Ana Weeks
Dairy products, specifically milk, are strategically advertised to target all ages. In 1988, the dairy industry spent between sixty and seventy million dollars. Evidently the expense paid off. Today the popular taglines, “Got Milk?” and “Milk, Where’s Your Mustache?” are recognized over 90% nationwide.
Conventional wisdom suggests milk is good for you. Children have grown up drinking three glasses of milk each day, they are told it builds strong bones, keeps teeth healthy, and is a good protein source. Milk is “nature’s perfect food”.
However, Dr. Charles Attwood, a doctor who previously recommended a milk diet recently changed his position stating, “milk it now seems clear, is not the solution to poor bone density… its part of the problem”.
Milk is essentially comprised of the following ingredients: water, lactose, fat, vitamins, proteins, and minerals.
Fifty years ago the average dairy cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk per year. Today top producers get 50,000 pounds each year from their cows. You may wonder, how is this possible? It is a combination of drugs, antibiotics, hormones, forced feeding plans, and specialized breeding.
Here are some problems with milk:
1. Milk has been proven to actually extract calcium from the bones. This is because milk changes the blood pH from alkaline to acidic. To re-alkalinize the blood to a healthy balance, the bones donate their alkaline calcium weakening into porous bone “osteoporosis”. Research shows the more milk people drink, the more hip fractures they suffer.
2. Black and Asian populations have the hardest time digesting dairy products. Most individuals of African, Asian, Mayan, Filipino, and Native American desent lose lactate enzymes around the age of weaning. Lactate enzymes help digest lactose or “milk sugar”. Therefore these individuals are often found to be genetically lactose intolerant. When these people drink milk physical and emotional imbalances can occur.
3. Since 1993 the synthetic bovine growth hormone, rGBH, has been injected into dairy cows to increase milk production (10-15%) despite the fact that the Food and Drug Administration admits this could result in cow udder infection, severe reproduction problems, digestive disorders, persistent sores, lacerations and cancer. Not only do the hormones have a direct effect on the cows, they eventually wind up in the milk we drink which leads to early onset of puberty for women and an increased cancer risk.
4. Large doses of antibiotics are injected to cows as well in order to fight illnesses resulting from the cramped living conditions and drugs like rGBH. These antibiotics also end up in the milk and have been found in human tissue and milk from medicated cows. These enormous amounts of antibodies injected into cows have been linked to the recent increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria. If you are allergic to penicillin, you probably would feel healthier not drinking milk.
5. Diabetes is another concern. Finland currently has the highest dairy product consumption rate and world’s highest rate of insulin dependent diabetes. Antibodies, produced against milk proteins, attack and destroy the pancreas in auto immune reactions which result in diabetes.
6. Traces of left over toxic pesticide residue originating from cows have been found in the breast tissue of women who drink cows milk.
Do you still think cows milk is the “perfect food”? It is- but only for baby cows. Certainly not for you and me. Humans are the only mammal to drink milk beyond babyhood.
Surprisingly there is more bio-available calcium in a glass of orange juice than in a proportional glass of milk. This is because, although milk contains more calcium, magnesium is required to digest the calcium and orange juice contains more magnesium than is present in milk.
Patient said…
Try avoiding all dairy products for a period of time and see for yourself.
For further questions see www.notmilk.com