Is milk healthy?
From childhood, we are taught that milk is healthy and that we need to consume dairy products for the calcium intake. But today, even doctors say cow's milk can lead to iron deficiency anaemia, allergies, diarrhoea, heart disease, colic, cramps, gastrointestinal bleeding, sinusitis, skin rashes, acne, increased frequency of colds and flu, arthritis, diabetes, ear infections, osteoporosis, asthma and autoimmune diseases.These are some finding of studies:
- Milk is also a cause of malabsorption disorders (2), may be a cause of juvenile diabetes (3), and may promote prostate and testicular cancer (4).
- Preliminary findings indicate that insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in children is associated with an intake of cow's milk prior to weaning. An autoimmune mechanism has been used to explained how cow's milk causes the body to produce antibodies. These antibodies attack the pancreatic cells that make insulin. Research continues to clarify these relationships and the role of genes in triggering this auto-immune response (5).
- Milk and milk products gave the highest correlation coefficient to heart disease, while sugar, animal proteins and animal fats came in second, third,and fourth, respectively (6).
- Milk and many components of milk (butterfat, milk protein, calcium from milk, and riboflavin)… were positively related to coronary heart disease mortality for all 40 countries studied (7).
(1) SM Virtanen et al: .Diabetologia 1994(April);37(4):381-387
(2) Shils, Maurice E. Olson, James A. Shike, Moshe. Ross, Catherine A.(eds). Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Williams and Wilkins. Baltimore, Maryland. 1999. pg. 1506
(3) Gerstein, HC. Cow’s Milk Exposure and Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus – A critical overview of the clinical literature. Diabetes Care. January 1994 17(1):13-19.
(4) Davies TW et al. Adolescent milk, dairy product and fruit consumption and testicular cancer. British Journal of Cancer. August 1996 74(4):657-60.
(5) Martin, J.M. et al (1991). Milk proteins in the etiology of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Annals of Medicine, 23, 447-452.
(6) A Survey of Mortality Rates and Food Consumption Statistics of 24 Countries, Medical Hypothesis 7:907-918, 1981
(7) Circulation 1993; 88(6):2771-2779
Comments
BSE in cow milk?
I dont drink cow milk my body doesnt like cow milk. I avoid soy milk they add too much junk in it. I do drink almond milk.Enconia - 10/12/2013
Probiotics
This is a quote from Sven Thormahlen, Executive Vice President R&D, Danone Research told at the Global Probiotics Council, a committee established in 2004 by Danone and Yakult when announcing the Young Investigator Grant for probiotics research (6/2/2008): "Our two companies have demonstrated their long-standing commitment to advancing research in probiotics. This field continues to be one of the most promising for more discoveries that will benefit human health, which is why Danone and Yakult decided in 2004 to join forces and further encourage more research in a larger number of countries."hat strikes me is that the research is about more discoveries that "will benefit human health". How do they know in advance that a study will give favorable results??? Or are all their experiments set up in such a way that only favorable results can be obtained?The problem with the current probiotic craze is that consumers believe that they can continue to eat unhealthy as long as they take their daily probiotic shot. The only way to improve your gut health is by eating more fruits and vegetables which contain fibers and prebiotic sugars. So eat more onions, leeks, beans, asparagus, artichokes,... and soy products (they contain the prebiotic sugars stachyose and raffinose).
Sonja - 12/12/2014
Is milk unhealthy?
We are a 'big' family of six. After we stopped consuming dairy product (almost, because 100% is not possible) we noticed following: no more ear infections, far less common colds, and if we get them they are not so severe, no more flus. Before we stopped consuming dairy products, we even enjoyed drinking milk. Now we have developed a dislike for it. This is the best proof that our body does not need dairy product. Would you dislike a fresh carrot after not eating it for 3 years?Peter - 18/01/2015
Is milk unhealthy?
I've been dairy-free for 5 weeks now and I can tell that it works very well for me. I don't have any runny nose problems. I feel much better in general since I got away from all these dairy products. If you look at the supermarket shelves: there's so much dairy junk. Who is drinking/eating all this?Happy me!
Betty - 20/01/2015
Prions in cow
Researchers at the biotech firm Alicon confirmed that they were able to detect prions in cow milk, but also in milk of humans, sheep and goats. They did not mention anything about prions in soy milk. :-) These prions are likely not to pose a health danger but there is a possibility that disease-carrying prions, such as BSE prions, could be present in milk from an infected cow. Milk is the only food product which may be derived from animals older than 30 months. These older animals have a higher risk of carrying the BSE prion.Mad cow - 10/12/2013