There exists a plethora of scientific evidence published on the most important medical journals (Neuroepidemiology, Gastroenterology , Nature, British Journal of Cancer, British Journal of Medicine, the Lancet etc.) that lactose or dairy or milk products are correlated with cancers (colon, prostate, breast, ovary) , diabetes, heart disease, autism, Chron’s disease, colitis, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, mucous production and worsening of asthmatic conditions, allergic reactions, etc. etc.
There is also a huge amount of scientific research relating grains consumption to colitis, celiac disease, autism, obesity, diabetes, psoriasis, arthritis, inflammation ….
Milk and grains are the two major food products that humans fabricate for their own consumption and like any other products they have been manipulated (genetically, with hormones and drugs, with preservatives and additives) to be “safe”, transportable and storable for a long time (let alone to be healthy) to answer an ever increasing global demand and need for increasing profit. Both have been introduced relatively early in the history of man for DNA to have had time to catch up and redesign metabolic pathways to make us able to get the best nutrition out of these foods.
Before one decides to avoid eating them (and this is a personal choice everyone has to take, considering personal risks and advantages, from the celiac who has no choice to a diabetic individual treated with drugs, from the breast tumor-hit woman to the chronic psoriasis patient), one can always look for the least refined and whole grains and for dairy, the fermented are the number 1 choice. One can also try milk alternatives such as soy, rice, oat, and nut milks as well as goat and sheep milks, and wheat alternatives as buckwheat (not a grain related to wheat nor a grass but a whole different plant), amaranth, quinoa, millet, teff, oat, barley, spelt, etc.
This chapter deals with the health related information regarding milk.
Cows life-style
Although on U.S. dairy farms there are much less cows than there were in 1950, milk production has continued to increase, up to 185 billion pounds in 2007, thanks to genetic manipulation, antibiotics and hormones, and unnatural high-protein diets.
Most cows raised for the dairy industry are intensively confined, separated from their calves, treated like milk-producing machines: genetically manipulated and pumped full of antibiotics and hormones that cause them to produce more milk. Humans who drink their milk increase their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, increased fractures and many other ailments.
Female cows are artificially inseminated shortly after their first birthdays. After giving birth, they lactate for 10 months and are then inseminated again, continuing the cycle. The stress caused by the conditions on factory farms leads to disease and reproductive problems that render cows worthless to the dairy industry when they are 4 or 5 years old, while their normal life span is 20 years. The growth factors of a pregnant cow, along with the hormones given to make the artificial insemination more successful, will be contained in the milk.
Inflammation of the mammary glands, or mastitis, is common, which may be caused by 150 types of bacteria, one of which is E. coli. For this reason milk's somatic cell count (SCC) (from white blood cells and skin cells) is checked to determine whether the milk is infected. The SCC of healthy milk is below 100,000 cells per milliliter; however, the dairy industry is allowed to combine milk from all the cows in a herd in order to arrive at a "bulk tank" somatic cell count (BTSCC) and milk with a maximum BTSCC of 750,000 cells per milliliter can be sold. This number generally indicates that two-thirds of the cows in the herd are suffering from infections.
Instead of improving conditions in factory farms, such as cleaner housing, more space, better diets, bedding, care and manual milking, that were proven to lower the milk's SCC and the incidence of mastitis, the dairy industry is exploring the use of cattle who have been genetically manipulated to be resistant to mastitis.
Calves:
Calves are often taken away from their mothers when they are as young as 1 day old to be chained for three to 18 weeks and raised for veal; they get fed milk replacers designed to make them gain at least 1kg/day, and low in iron so that their flesh stays pale as a result of anemia. Weighting 45 kg at birth, they gain up to 300 kg after 8-10 months. When the female calves are fed by the cows, for producing more milk producing cows, the milk contain growth factors which lead to proliferation of healthy as well as pre-carcinogenic cells. UHT treatment does not break growth factors, while a boiling process for 10 minutes does.
Environmental Destruction
Large dairy farms have detrimental effect on the environment: for example in California, manure from dairy farms (each of the more than 1 million cows excretes 18 gallons of manure daily) has poisoned groundwater, rivers, and streams. Moreover in California a single cow emits more smog-forming pollutants than a car does.
Two-thirds of all agricultural land in the U.S. is used to raise animals for food or to grow grain to feed them. Each cow raised by the dairy industry consumes as much as 40 gallons of water per day.
Human Bodies Fight Cow's Milk: allergy and intolerance
Besides humans, no species drinks milk beyond infancy or drinks the milk of another species. Cow's milk is the number one cause of food allergies among infants and children, according to the American Gastroenterological Association. Casein is the protein responsible for allergy: 80% of the protein in milk is casein. Casein is a powerful allergen, a histamine that creates lots of mucus.
Most people begin to produce less lactase, the enzyme that helps with the digestion of milk, when they are as young as 2 years old. Millions of Americans and an estimated 90 % of Asian-Americans and 75 % of Native- and African-Americans are lactose intolerant, displaying with bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, and asthma. A U.K. study showed that people who suffered from irregular heartbeats, asthma, headaches, fatigue and digestive problems "showed marked and often complete improvements in their health after cutting milk from their diets."
Bovine milk fat is not appropriately composed for human babies and is only deleterious to the health of children and adults. Cow hormones (up to 59, including in organic milk), herbicides, pesticides (both concentrated in the milk fat), dioxins (up to 200 times the safe levels), up to 52 powerful antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, bacteria and viruses, all contained in cow’s milk, are not meant for humans, neither children nor adults. Of those 59 hormones one is a powerful hormone called Insulin- like Growth Factor ONE (IGF-1), which is identical in cows and humans. This IGF-1 is a key factor in the rapid growth and proliferation of breast, prostate and colon cancers.
Goat's milk is considered to be superior in many ways, having a fat formula more similar to man’s and it appears that the proteins are less problematic for digestion, although allergic intolerance to these can also occur. Goat’s milk has 15 % more calcium, and more vitamin A and D, potassium, copper and manganese than cow’s milk, but less folic acid and vitamin B12 than cow’s milk, as well as a little less zinc. It is also a good source of phosphorous and riboflavin (vitamin B2). Goats also produce less methane than cows. Lactose and hormones would remain an issue, but to date, goats apparently are not injected with extra growth hormone.
Sheepmilk contains up to twice as many minerals (including calcium, phosphorous, zinc and the important B vitamins) as cow's milk. Like goat's milk, it has small fat globules that are easily digested and it’s a rich source of iodine, which is useful for those with thyroid problems. Unfortunately, it’s almost twice as fattening as whole cow's milk and has many more calories. It’s also unsuitable for the lactose intolerant and babies. Although it contains higher levels of butterfat, it’s actually lower in saturated fat than other types of milk.
Calcium and Protein Myths
Although western women consume tremendous amounts of calcium, their rates of osteoporosis are among the highest in the world. Medical studies indicate that milk may increase women's risk of getting osteoporosis: women who consumed two or more glasses of milk per day had higher risks of fractures than those who drank one glass or less per day.
Calcium in cow’s milk has insufficient magnesium to be effectively absorbed therefore dairy's high calcium causes relative deficiencies in magnesium and other bone-building minerals, and its high phosphorus and animal protein reduce calcium availability. In fact, the high content of protein in milk, in concert with other proteins, may actually leach calcium from the body to compensate higher body acidity. Countries that consume high protein diets (meat, milk and dairy) have the highest rates of osteoporosis.
Further, very recently research showed that women consuming larger amounts of milk not only had increased fractures but also, along with men, displayed a higher rate of cardiovascular disease. This is hypothetically explained as caused by galactose from the milk causing oxidation and inflammation in the body, leading to serious diseases.
The best source of calcium is from vegetables, it is absorbed up to 75% compared to the 40% absorbed from animal products
CROHN'S DISEASE
Mycobacterium paratuberculosis causes a bovine disease called "Johne's." Cows diagnosed with Johne's Disease have diarrhea. This bacterium becomes cultured in milk and is not destroyed by pasteurization. This milk-borne bacterium can begin to grow in the human host, and the results are irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's Disease.
Other autoimmune diseases: Large fat molecules cannot get through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. However, homogenization breaks up such large molecules into small ones that do get into the bloodstream leading to immune reactions to the milk proteins as well as carrying along fat-borne toxins (lead, dioxin's, etc.) into the whole human body.
Michael Dosch, M.D., and his team of researchers determined that multiple sclerosis and type I (juvenile) diabetes mellitus are linked to exposure to cow milk proteins in people who are genetically susceptible. The protein lactalbumin from milk, has been identified as a key factor in diabetes.
Further, a study published in the journal Neuroepidemiology revealed an association between dairy foods and an increased prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). and a MS researcher, Luther Lindner, M.D., at Texas A & M University College of Medicine, wrote: "It might be prudent to limit the intake of milk and milk products."
Cancer: Higher milk consumption has also been suggested to affect the risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular disease both through galactose and through insulin growth factor. "Positive correlations between foods and cancer mortality rates were particularly strong in the case of meats and milk for breast cancer, milk for prostate and ovarian cancer, and meats for colon cancer." And, "galactose is linked both to ovarian cancer and infertility...women who consume dairy products on a regular basis, have triple risk of ovarian cancer than other women." . Elevated serum (IGF-I) levels were found to be in association with three of the most prevalent cancers in the United States: prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer. IGFs serve as endocrine, autocrine, and paracrine stimulators of mitogenesis, survival, and cellular transformation." The growth factors are of three types IGF (insulin growth facor) , EGF (Epidermal Growth Factor) et TGF (Transformaing Growth Factor). Only high heat, but not UHT make them inefficient.
Rhinitis and Otitis Media affecting so many children can be due to consuming the foreign proteins intended for calves. In addition, the same children who suffer from thes ailments are likely to suffer from gastroesophageal reflux, asthma and/or eczema from their unnatural habit of drinking cow's milk.
Iron deficiency in infants
According to Frank Oski, the late Chairman of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Medical School, “Drinking large quantities of cow’s milk has long been recognized to produce iron-deficiency anemia in infants… Cow’s milk contains less than 1 mg of iron per quart. Very little of this iron is absorbed from the intestinal tract because other constituents of the milk bind with the iron… Many infants drink 1-2 quarts of milk per day. This tends to satisfy their hunger and they are left with very little appetite for the necessary iron-containing foods.” Breast milk is the best source of iron for infants.
Alternatives
Fortified plant-derived milks (soy, oats, almonds) provide calcium, vitamins, iron, zinc, and protein.
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http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/847876/top_10alternatives_to_cows_milk.html
http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/linda_folden_palmer.html
http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/food_and_drink/847876/top_10alternatives_to_cows_milk.html
http://rense.com/general26/milk.htm
(See http://www.notmilk.com/igf1time.txt for a time line)
