Milk: Does it Do a Body Good?
What do Angelina Jolie, Britney Spears, Brett Favre, Elton John, Dr. Phil McGraw, Martha Stewart, and Batman all have in common? They have all sported a milk mustache for the long-running “got milk” campaign. It “does a body good”, right? I mean, if actors, entertainers, and athletes are all drinking milk, it must be good for me too . . .
Did you know that the majority of the human population across the globe does NOT drink or use cow’s milk? How about that many people can’t drink milk because their body can’t tolerate it, or that our bodies actually produce an antibody against milk? Some sources say that our bodies lose the enzymes required to digest dairy products by the age of two or three.
Dairy food is a very controversial issue. Many believe that dairy is not fit for human consumption and numerous studies have documented its ill effects on health. Yet, dairy farming is a multi-billion dollar government-subsidized industry whose advertising campaigns lead us to believe that we can’t live without milk.
You’ve seen the milk campaigns on television and in magazines. Now I’d like to share with you some of the information that’s not as readily available.
Osteoporosis occurs when bone breaks down faster than it is formed and it affects over 28 million people each year, 80% of which are women. Most experts recommend drinking lots of milk for calcium, but the more dairy one consumes, the weaker bones can become. Harvard University’s Nurses Health Study followed 78,000 women over a 12-year period and found that the women who consumed the most dairy products broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk.
Think milk is a natural food? Fifty years ago, the average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk annually. Today, thanks to drugs, hormones, and forced feeding plans, top milk producers are putting out 50,000 pounds per year. Bovine Growth Hormone, BGH, has actually been banned in many European countries due to safety concerns.
You’ve heard that you shouldn’t give babies cow’s milk until they are at least a year old, right? Feeding human babies milk that is designed for calves can increase the chances of developing an allergy to cow’s milk. Some symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, persistent colic, eczema, hives, bronchitis, asthma, and sleeplessness. It has even been suggested that some crib deaths can be attributed to dairy allergies.
The conventional food pyramid shows that we should be consuming three servings of dairy products daily for a balanced diet, but milk consumption has been linked to increased risk for cardiovascular disease and breast and prostate cancer. This is not, as previously thought, due to fat content but to the ratio of calcium to magnesium. Ideally, you need twice as much calcium as magnesium. The ratio in milk is 10:1, leading to magnesium (important for bone density) deficiency.
Based on current evidence, dairy products should not be a staple for a healthy diet. Seeds, nuts, cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower provide calcium, magnesium and other minerals that are more in line with our needs. You can try substituting soy or rice milk or buying organic milk. If you think you might have a dairy allergy, cut these products from your diet for two weeks and see if you notice a difference.
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Michelle Woodworth
Getting my calcium from carrots.