Milk — The big lie.
Milk has one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history. Very few people know the actual truth behind this false advertising. I will do my best to share with you the facts that I know about. But, you say, wait a minute — I need my milk for calcium and my good health! You may want to sit down if you think that milk is good for you.
Dairy Council “Facts”
1) Milk is an essential food.
2) And it is the best source of calcium.
3) And lately they are pushing the issue that it will help us lose weight. So, let’s explore this information.
First, let us talk about regular store-bought milk. This is your average milk that you can purchase just about anywhere, even at most gas station marts. This milk is from cows of course, and it does not matter whether it is whole, 1 or 2% or fat free. These cows are all fed hormones and steroids (to increase milk production), antibiotics (to prevent illness, because the cows live in horrible conditions), and are given food that has pesticides in it. In addition to that, this milk is also pasteurized, homogenized, and often contains synthetic ingredients and growth hormones. What are these processes you ask? Well, pasteurization is when they heat the milk to 150–170 F degrees for at least 30 minutes to kill bacteria to reduce chances of infectious diseases. Interesting that they do this when a temperature of 190 degrees is necessary to kill E. Coli, typhoid, tuberculosis, and other dangerous organisms, such as streptococcus or salmonella. (FYI — there are over 2 million cases of bacterial gastroenteritis every year from salmonella. Gosh, I wonder where it comes from?) Unfortunately, what it does destroy is probiotics or beneficial bacteria, such as Acidophilus, which is very beneficial to our bodies.
Pasteurization also removes vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. In this case, the enzymes that naturally occur in the milk are necessary for our bodies to absorb nutrients from milk. Yes, milk has calcium in it — but without those enzymes — you will not absorb it. In fact, when the milk hits the acid in your stomach, the calcium in it turns into calcium chloride, which is a harsh mineral salt that can often cause intestinal issues such as constipation and diarrhea. So, what this means is now we have a product that has more bacteria in it, and less nutrients then when it was originally milked from the cow.
In addition, it has been said in studies that if you take a baby cow, and give him regular store-bought milk, he will starve to death. Because there are no enzymes, no probiotics, and no natural fats from the cream to feed the baby cow the way nature intended.
Organic store bought milk — Okay, so you think, purchasing organic milk is better, and it is a step up from the standard milk, but only a little step. Yes, these cows are fed only organic food and are not given any steroids or drugs. Unfortunately, “there is no such thing as hormone free milk” — states Robert Cohen — author of Milk: The Deadly Poison. Robert also states “The healthiest milk from the healthiest cow is naturally loaded with lactoferrins, immunoglobulins, steroid, and protein growth hormones. To provide their children with healthy foods, mothers and fathers search out products that are advertised to be “hormone free.” Such marketing is deceptive. When drinking body fluids from animals, or eating their flesh, you ingest their naturally occurring hormones.” This means that milk is an essential food only for baby cows — they need those natural cow hormones to help them grow. We are people, not cows, so we need hormones that our bodies can utilize, and the best source of these is from plants so our body can produce our own hormones naturally. Organic milk also is usually pasteurized as well — so there is still the issue of no enzymes and probiotics again.
Photo by Luke Stackpoole on Unsplash
Raw milk
Okay, so then there is milk straight from the cow, which is how I had it growing up. I fondly remember squirting the cats with the milk as we milked it out of the cow. This must be good right? Well, it is the best of the three options given so far. There are enzymes, probiotics, and the natural cream. There are local farmers around that sell these milks. They are typically not on store shelves other than some health food stores. So, is this good or bad? In Natural Foods; The Safe Way to Health, by Otto Carque’ written in 1925 — Yes this information was known in 1925 — The author states: “…milk products are far from being absolute necessities for the maintenance of health and vigor of the race. The milking of animals is an unnatural process. It lowers their vitality and often makes them victims of disease, while it impairs the quality of the milk.” In the Outline of History, written by H.G. Wells, he states, “The use of milk originated with the Neolithic man some 10,000–12,000 years ago.” Milk is not only NOT essential for humans, but also not natural either. In fact, it was only after much breeding that a continuous supply could be produced from cows for human consumption.
Some additional reasons others have stated showing milk is not good for you:
· Cow’s milk is the number one allergy food in the world.
· A chemical change must take place in our mammary glands for our body to convert the lactose (the sugar in milk) to glucose (which is the sugar in our blood). Mammary glands are only active until our teeth have grown in for us.
· Milk is an acidic food, which actually causes an alkaline response in our stomachs (unfortunately we can’t absorb calcium in an alkaline environment) and leaves what is called an acid residue in our bodies, which can make our bodies over acidic.
· Countries with high milk consumption such as the US, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands have higher breast cancer rates than any other countries that do not drink milk.
· Worldwide, men are for more likely to die of prostate cancer in countries with high dairy consumption.
· Humans are the only animals to continue to drink milk after weaning, and we are the only animals to drink another animal’s milk.
· Cow milk proteins damage the human immune system. Cow’s milk contains many proteins, which are poorly digested causing harm to our immune systems.
· Heavy consumption of milk, especially by small children, may result in vitamin D toxicity because records show dairies do not carefully regulate how much vitamin D is added to milk. (Milk has been “enriched” with Vitamin D ever since deficiencies were found to cause rickets, even though the vitamin is easily obtained from other sources.) The New England Journal of Medicine (April 30, 1992) In addition, the cream that comes with milk naturally contains Vitamin D, but they pull that out, and add synthetic Vitamin D.
· It has been discovered that exposing small children to milk before the age of two is a major cause of juvenile diabetes. (Vaarala O, Knip M, Paronen J, et al. Diabetes 48(1999) 1389–1394
· Robert Cohen, author of Milk: The Deadly Poison, states: “One hundred percent of humans are allergic to casein, a milk protein. … Eat casein and your body produces histamines, then mucous. This sludge congests your organs, mostly the lymph system around organs leading to congestive heart failure and other diseases.
· Dr. Russell Blaylock, a physician who has been a neurosurgeon for over 20 years, states in his book, Health and Nutrition Secrets, states that diabetes is caused from dairy.
Milk Alternatives
So now you are probably asking what the heck am I supposed to drink? Water would be the optimum response to that question. But then what do I put on my cereal? There are many different milk substitutes on the market now. There is, almond milk, rice milk, multi-grain milk, potato milk, oat milk and my favorite, coconut milk. We don’t recommend soy, you can read about that here. Which one is best? Well, that depends on your taste buds and what type of texture you like. Each one is different of course, and some have added sweeteners. Some are organic, and others are not. In my opinion, rice milk is very thin, oat milk is thicker. I like coconut milk because it is similar in texture to the real thing, tastes good and is beneficial for most people. Amazake is another organic rice drink product that can be used in cooking, consumed like a beverage, and comes in many flavors, and can be frozen and eaten like ice cream. Try as many as you can to see which you like the best. Most of these products are very good, are good for you, and can, with very few exceptions, be substituted for regular milk in recipes, for cereal, drinks, etc. Do watch out for added sugar and preservatives that are now added to alternative milks owned by larger companies.
Cheese
What about my cheese? I cannot live without cheese! I hear this one a lot! Another successful marketing campaign — cheese is a huge industry. And many people I have spoken to have no problem with letting go of the milk but have a huge issue with letting go of their cheese. There is soy, almond, and rice cheeses available. Most of these are very good for baking, but not so great for just eating out of the package. If you absolutely must eat cheese, we recommend organic mozzarella or farmer’s cheese or goat’s cheese. These cheeses have natural enzymes, and typically are not processed as much, and tend to be gentler on the digestive system.
Ice Cream
This is really a difficult issue for Washingtonians as I think we are one of the top 2 states in ice cream production. What can you have instead? There is coconut milk ice cream, which is very good and comes in many flavors. There is rice ice cream and then there is sorbet. I make my own sorbet in a food processor. I take organic frozen fruit, and puree it and add in some coconut milk or juice till it thins to the texture I want and serve. It is delicious. There are some yogurt places that offer alternative milk frozen yogurt, often they use coconut milk because it is delicious.
Butter
Finally, what about butter? Isn’t that ok? Butter is made from the cream off the top of the milk, and it has to have enzymes in it because that is what causes it to curdle, to become butter in the first place. Recently health experts have proven how bad margarine is for us, and have recommend for years that we go back to butter. Regular butter also contains a lot of salt to help preserve it and for taste, this salt is typically regular salt, which is inorganic and hard for our bodies to assimilate. Organic butter typically has sea salt which is higher in minerals and easier for our bodies to absorb. Another option to butter is Ghee, which is just butter that has been purified, in other words, all the impurities have been cooked out of it. It is considered to be a good choice for some people that are allergic to butter. However, if you really want to eliminate all dairy, try olive oil on your bread. If you keep olive oil in the fridge, which you should to keep it from going rancid, it will solidify, and then you can easily spread it on bread. I store mine in a nice square glass container in the fridge that it is easy to spread it with a knife. Try it, you might like it — most Europeans do.
Goat’s milk
So, what about goat’s milk? Many people have tried goat’s milk — many when they were children and found out they were allergic to cow’s milk. Most people will tell you that goat’s milk tastes terrible. But I guarantee you they haven’t tried organic goat’s milk from goats that are only grass or grain fed. These goats have milk that is so sweet it is amazing! Goat’s milk has many advantages over cow’s milk. It is easier for our bodies to absorb. The fat globules of goat’s milk are very small and resemble those of mother’s milk, and the casein in goat’s milk forms smaller curds which are more easily digested than cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is considered by many health professionals to be the next best thing to human mothers’ milk. We recommend it often to mothers who can’t nurse their babies. It is so much better for babies than cow’s milk or formula. To get organic fresh goat’s milk, you will need to contact local farmers, or check your health food store. You can also get regular fresh goat’s milk or packaged dry goat’s milk at most supermarkets.
Calcium
This is the biggest lie of all. Best put by Neal Barnard, head of the Washington, D.C. based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in an article in August 2000 of Discover magazine, “It would be hard to imagine a worse vehicle for delivering calcium to the human body.” It took me considerable work to find this original copy as all the online versions that subscribers have access to and all resources at the local library had — seemed to be mysteriously missing.
This milk-calcium connection all started with the lobbying efforts of the dairy industry. There are approximately 1000mg of calcium in 4 cups of milk. Using the theory of nutrition based on the famous 4 food groups, they stated that we need 4 cups of milk or the equivalent in other dairy foods. That is how they came up with the 1000mg requirement. Unfortunately, milk is a very poor source of calcium. Why is this? This is because of the enzymes, and the balance of calcium and other minerals within the milk. When you put calcium in your body it is important that there are enzymes to help your body digest it. There is not any in the milk, so your body pulls enzymes from your liver, pancreas and stomach. But once we start to get older, these enzyme reserves are typically exhausted — so guess where your body gets the enzymes? Your bones — that’s right. Drinking milk causes osteoporosis. It does NOT prevent osteoporosis.
Minerals also need to be available for your body to absorb calcium correctly. As an example, mineral ratios are: cow’s milk has a 1 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Mother’s milk has a 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. This becomes very apparent if you have had your blood work done recently and you look at your levels. It is important in our bodies that we have the optimum amount of organic sodium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and other minerals to help us build bones. When we drink milk, it throws off this healthy balance of minerals which can prevent our bodies from absorbing the right out amount of minerals optimally.
Digging deeper, to fully see the picture, you also need to look at phosphorus levels. You can see the free calcium index in formulation with potassium. The free calcium index will tell you the sum total of organic anions (organic buffers) plus albumin relative to total calcium. If free calcium is high then there is more than likely an acid condition present that the body is working on and a tendency towards anaerobic metabolism. This is apparent when you see calculus forming on teeth and arteries. Magnesium will raise serum potassium levels and reduce free calcium by encouraging movement of excess potassium from the inner cell to the plasma.
Plants are the best source of calcium. Many people that eat lots of vegetables get plenty of calcium. Why? First, because plants are balanced with the correct amount of minerals that our bodies need in the right ratios. Second because they contain enzymes. And third, the calcium they contain is just as high and more easily absorbed than milk. For example, a cup of milk contains about 250mg of calcium; a cup of bok choy contains 250mg; collard greens contain 290mg; and a cup of the herb valerian root contains a whopping 4200mg of calcium. Of course, you wouldn’t take a cup of valerian, you wouldn’t have to in order to get the proper amount of calcium. But if you drink valerian tea or took a valerian capsule, this would be a good source of calcium — this is one reason why it helps to relax many people for sleep. (Remember our moms told us to drink milk to help us sleep?) (Calcium amounts from Nutritional Herbology by Mark Pederson.)
Most of the time people don’t have calcium deficiencies; they have enzyme deficiencies and a lack of negative ions for proper metabolism in order to bind calcium for utilization. In other words, their pH is out of balance and they are most likely too acidic. Milk of course is acidic, so it makes this worse. Horsetail is one of the ultimate choices for calcium because it acts as a messenger to tell the hypothalamus what minerals are really being utilized and what is needed in the body. These minerals are taken up more efficiently and work in a form that is bioavailable to the body without creating excess calcium in the body.
Excess Calcium
What is that you say? Examples of excess calcium are kidney stones, gal stones, bone spurs, hardening of the arteries, cancer, etc. Enzymes and a proper pH are required for calcium to be utilized correctly for bones and not create a calcium excess. If you don’t have the proper pH or enough enzymes present, then you will create a free calcium excess in the body. 55% of the calcium in your body is bound and 45% is unbound. If this ratio is thrown off even slightly by adding excess calcium that cannot be bound, then you can create a calcium excess. Milk is the source of many of these problems in most people. Enzymes, taking plant sources of calcium, and pumpkin seeds are valuable in reducing the levels of free calcium.
In addition, the body can only handle certain amounts of calcium. The body can only utilize about 200 mg at a time of calcium and that is if the digestive system is working optimally, which milk typically disrupts. If your enzymes and hydrochloric acid isn’t functioning, well, then there is no way to get the calcium where it needs to be. Calcium has a very dense structure and a heavy atomic weight. This means that a lot of ideal conditions in the intestines have to be present before calcium is able to be absorbed into the right places. Most people drink milk and take calcium supplements to strengthen bones, assuming that the calcium consumed will just automatically go there. It doesn’t exactly work that way. The whole media hype on calcium is just that — hype.
Calcium is the body’s most abundant cardiac electrolyte and plays many important roles other than just bone development. Lack of calcium is more likely due to it being used for acid conditions in the body and having it robbed from doing things like eating too much protein, refined sugar and drinking carbonated beverages like soda. Chronic inflammation will appear in low calcium levels too. Mostly, by just adding more calcium to your system when you aren’t absorbing it, is going to create what is known as free calcium excess. This is far more detrimental than low calcium levels.
Most people are far more magnesium deficient than calcium deficient.
Weight Loss
I am not exactly sure where this information came from, as I have been unable to uncover the actual studies that the dairy council refers to in their advertisements for this. I am guessing that it comes from the research that Dr. Robert Barefoot came up with to sell his coral calcium products a few years back. Unfortunately, his product, coral calcium, like all coral calcium, is just calcium carbonate. It is great for neutralizing stomach acid, but like milk is not a good source of absorbable calcium. When milk or calcium carbonate meet the hydrochloric acid in the stomach, it turns into calcium chloride which is a harsh mineral salt that can cause many digestive disorders including constipation or diarrhea.
Milk also feeds harmful organisms such as parasites and fungus, which can cause people to gain weight. And as stated before, making digestion worse can prevent someone from losing weight as well.
So really the facts are that milk is only an essential food for baby cows. It is NOT a good source of calcium. And it most likely will not help you lose weight.
Hopefully, this information will pique your interest enough to get you to do your own research, or to at least stop you from drinking your milk.
About the Author
Kasara is educated as a Mental Health Therapist, Master Herbalist, Traditional Naturopath and Energy Worker with over 35 years of helping thousands of clients find alternative health options that work. She writes articles on Medium, and on her website http://truhealth.com/. You may subscribe to her Medium account or her newsletter to stay connected.
