Healthy Living News & Tips

For years, I’ve studied the available research on milk and other dairy products and have concluded that milk, especially in it’s current form, is not an essential part of a healthy diet that I would recommend, and can actually be harmful to your health.

Case in point. Some years ago I was speaking with a mother that complained about how many reoccuring ear infections her daughter had and that she was constantly on antibiotics. She also suffered from colds and was sick more often than what she would consider normal. After asking some questions about the girls diet, I found that she drank milk more than several times a day, and consumed other dairy foods and foods containing dairy by-products. I recommended she cut out all dairy products and substitute unsweetened soy or rice milk, fresh vegetables and when she had a craving for something sweet, a non-dairy frozen dessert (made with soy or rice milk).

In less than a month, the mother reported that her daughter hadn’t been sick at all during that time, and over the next two years, she had only been sick once or twice with a minor cough or cold. This was a major relief for the mother and a blessing for the girl since she not only felt better, but felt good not having to take medicine all the time.

Now comes evidence that the calcium benefit the dairy industry claims is vital to growing children… well, really isn’t. In one of the most comprehensive review of over 27 studies looking into the benefits of calcium from milk sources found that only three out of the 27 studies found any benefit, and very little benefit at that. Here’s part of the article:

“Earlier this week, a leading medical journal ran an article that found little evidence that children need a milk-heavy diet to build strong bones. Now, the dairy industry is on the defensive, trying to poke holes in the research and claiming the article authors are biased.

At stake are the diets of millions of American children. Should they get their calcium by consuming as many as three servings of dairy products a day, as the federal government now suggests? Or would a glass-and-a-half of milk — perhaps replaced by tofu or fortified orange juice — be all right instead?

The milk skeptics are still a minority view among nutritionists. But the new article, in the March issue of Pediatrics, gave them a powerful platform.

The authors analyzed findings from 27 studies focused on diet and bone health in children and young adults. According to the authors, only nine of those studies found a relationship between calcium intake and bone health, and the effects were small.“

Milk Study Leaves a Sour Taste

Some of the existing research notes that fruit and vegetable sources of calcium are better absorped by our bodies, and that after milk is pasturized and fortified, the calcium is no longer in a form that is easy for us to assimilate and thus not much of a benefit. Studies note that getting out, staying active and exercising will do more for strong bones than drinking milk, a powerful statement that the dairy industry doesn’t want you to hear.

Dairy products have been know to cause excess mucus, carry growth hormones (in almost all non-organic milk and dairy products) and cause allergic reactions to a large portion of humans that can’t digest or are in some way allergic to dairy products (dairy allergies are one of the top allergies we may have – but most don’t know it). It’s also reported to be linked to dozens of diseases and illnesses and may actually cause health problems.

“Milk contains plenty of calories, growth hormones, fat, and cholesterol. The most powerful growth hormone in the human body is identical to the most powerful growth hormone in a cow’s body. That hormone instructs every cell in the human body to grow.

Children are becoming overweight at an early age. By eating growth hormones in combination with animal fat, the body has a way of listening to the signals of those chemical messengers: GROW!”

Robert Cohen, Dairy Education Board

And to add more problems for milk drinkers, chemical toxins have been found in at least 16 states that do tests on milk samples. According to the recent issue of Alternative Medicine, milk samples from the California Department of Food and Agriculture found perchlorate, a toxic chemical from rocket fuel, in every one of the 32 samples taken. 15 other states found similar results. How did rocket fuel residue get in your milk? Apparently the water supply that irrigates cattle feed crops had been contaminated, and animals that ate the crops irrigated with the water gave tainted milk. This chemical can harm the thyroid gland (which regulates metabolism – another tie in with weight gain) and may disrupt the development of motor skills and intelligence in children.

Removing dairy products from your diet has shown to help you lose weight, digest foods better, eliminate properly, reduce frequency of illness and disease (especially in children), actually increase the amount of calcium you absorb, and generally feel good.

The way I look at it, why go through all the problems associated with dairy products when you can get plentiful calcium in other fruits and vegetables, bio-available vitamin supplements and get stronger bones and lose weight by exercising and staying active?

To your best health!

Mark