Who hasn’t seen the advertisements in magazines and schools asking you if you have “Got Milk?” The dairy industry has a strong lobby, a positive message and government support. But are they right?

Milk is far from being an essential part of your breakfast.

Let’s explore the reasons to give milk the boot.

Reason #1 to give up milk forever: Calcium not well absorbed

Milk has a high fat and protein content. The latest research is showing that the high fat and protein content of milk is impeding the absorption of calcium in our bodies. Sure, there is calcium  in our milk but what good will it do if our bodies can’t absorb it. Robert Cohen, the author of Milk The Deadly Poison states that the countries who drink the most milk have alarmingly high rates of osteoporosis. Isn’t that what milk is supposed to prevent? New research is pointing to plant based sources of calcium as being better absorbed by our bodies. So Almond milk, fortified orange juice, kale or other leafy greens would be better substitutes.

If you are drinking milk for the protein then you can drink soy milk instead. Cow’s milk isn’t a natural source of Vitamin D either. The Vitamin D is added and plant based milks can have added Vitamin D too.

Reason #2 to give up milk forever: Vitamin D issues

In the book The China Study, T. Colin Campbell PHD states that although Vitamin D continues to be synthesized in the body it become inhibited by animal proteins and therefore cannot fulfill the tasks it needs to. Tasks like stopping the spread of cancerous cells etc.

Reason #3 to give up milk forever: Pus

When cows that has mastitis, which is an infection in the milk-duct caused by a variety of things like not being milked frequently enough or from dirt, she doesn’t get taken off the production line. She continues to be milked, and when she is, pus gets expressed at the same time. Yummy!

Sure, everything is pasteurized so there shouldn’t be concern about bacteria but would you want to drink even sterile pus?

Not only that, but those infections in people are very painful and to be milked by a machine under those circumstances would undoubtedly be excruciating. This is also an animal rights issue!

Reason #4 to give up milk forever: Antibiotics

To treat or prevent mastitis, as well as other diseases incurred from living in close quarters to each other, the cows are given antibiotics. These antibiotics find their way into the milk that we drink. Antibiotics are great in certain instances but a daily dose is hardly recommended. Some scientists are starting to question the link between milk and antibiotic resistance.

Reasons #5 to give up milk forever: Hormones

In western countries we are seeing the effects of hormones in our meat and milk: early puberty! I used to think that this was just because of the growth hormones (rBGH made by Monsanto) but when I found out that we don’t allow rBGH in Canada I had to come to a different conclusion. There are natural hormones in milk that may have an impact. Or maybe early puberty etc. is just a result of the hormones injected in beef.

Either way, hormones aren’t meant for us to be carelessly ingesting. To be fair, there are phytoestrogens in soy products that are known to mimic estrogen. I never advise anyone to eat more than one serving of soy per day.

Reason #6 to give up milk forever: Lactose intolerance

On Food and Cooking states that most people in the world are lactose intolerant. We, in the Western/Northern world have trained ourselves to drink milk. But our bodies don’t digest it very well. And if you’re not convinced that your body knows best then think about this: The only specie in the world to drink milk past infancy is humans. Not only that, but we steal the milk of other animals. Picture a person sucking on a cow’s teat and I think you get the picture. Milk is for babies! There is a reason that adults/humans are allergic to it. And speaking of milk being for babies. The babies of those cows don’t even get to have that milk because we are drinking it. The babies who deserve the milk go on formula while we drink their milk. Milk that is causing an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Milk that suppresses our immune systems. Why do we do this?

Reason #7 to give up milk forever: Animal cruelty

I have written about this before so I will try to be brief. The short and long of it is that cows have to lug around enormous amounts of milk all day and night. They are only milked twice a day, whereas a calf would drink many times in a day. This lack of milking increases their risk of getting Mastitis. A painful milk-duct infection. The milking of the cows that have these infections is very painful too.

The life expectancy of a normal cow in a natural environment is about 25 years. A milk cow has a life expectancy of six years. They also carry up to 40 lbs of milk more than a natural cow would have to.

These cows are also kept pregnant back to back to keep their milk flow going. As someone who has had three children close together I can attest to how exhausting bearing children is. Nursing in exhausting too. The calves born to these cows may or may not get to have their mother’s colostrum. If they do, they only get milk for a few days maximum. Then they are sorted. The female calves are put on formula and raised to be dairy cows. The males are either raised as veal, which most people know is a very short and very cruel life, or they are thrown into dog food grinders.

This is your dairy industry.

Reason #8 to give up milk forever: Chronic diseases and cancers

Campbell (in The China Study) has spent over 40 years proving that casein, the milk protein, causes accelerated growth of cancer cells and helps to increase the progression of many diseases and chronic problems such as Multiple Sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis etc.

Also, the rats and mice in his trials that were given a lower dose of protein than is commanly found in western diets were healthier, exhibited more energy and vitality and lived longer.

Conclusion:

We are seeing more and more articles sneaking into the media about the new research being done to disprove the lies we have been told about milk. Lies like how it’s good and nutritious for us. Lies like how it will reduce our risk of osteoporosis etc.

While it’s hard to find all the pieces to the puzzle there is a picture starting to emerge. Will we take this information and learn from it or will we continue to make decisions that affect the quality of life of our children, ourselves and the animals?

 

Resources:

Books by Robert Cohen: Milk: The Deadly Poison and Milk A-Z

High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk: http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINCOL97457320071219

Milk not best for bones: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7115733

A variety of perspectives in this PETA site (at the bottom of this site is a bunch of links to good articles from reputable sources): http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

Dairy linked with Parkinson’s in Men: http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Dairy-linked-with-Parkinsons-in-men/2007/04/20/1176697046523.html

Dairy causes dementia: http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3285459

Fit Kids (By the Canadian Heart and stroke Foundation) states an increase in childhood stroke from drinking more than two cups (500 ml) a day.

There are a pile of YouTube videos. Some of the ones I have seen and think are worth passing on are:

* About the rBGH in milk and the cover up involved (very good): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

* Interview with Robert Cohen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE

* Cute but more animal rights than anything(28  reasons not to drink milk): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBBFTpTMUbc&feature=related