What About Dairy?

_______________________________

If you grew up in Canada, or most any other Western country, chances are that you drank a glass of milk with every meal. If you didn't, you were probably allergic to milk and other dairy products. Today, drugs are on the market that allow lactose intolerant people to drink cow's milk like other "normal, healthy" adults. Did anyone ever stop to think that perhaps normal, healthy adults are not meant to drink milk? After all, human and cow's milk are designed for the digestive systems of their nursing offspring. No animal species continues to drink milk as adults except humans.

What Is Milk?

Mother's milk is the perfect food for nursing offspring. Milk contains all the nutrients for healthy development, and is nature's way of providing for the young before they are capable of eating adult food. Human breast milk is perfect for human babies and cow's milk is perfect for calves. Is cow's milk perfect for humans? The answer is no.

Cow's milk is much higher in protein than human milk and is designed to grow calves into cows and bulls. The amount of protein in milk directly correlates with the amount of time it takes infants of a particular species to double their birth weight. The more quickly an infant needs to grow, the more protein is present in its mother's milk.

Does this mean babies would grow better if we provided them with higher protein milk? Once again, the answer is no. Human babies can only use the amount of protein available in mother's milk; excess is simply wasted. In order to understand our protein needs as adults, it is helpful to look at the protein content of human breast milk.

What About Calcium?

Many people mistakenly think that if they don't drink enough milk they will suffer from calcium deficiency.
Humans, like cows, can get all the calcium they need from plant foods. Many plant foods are much higher in calcium than milk. Fresh vegetables, gains and nuts are loaded with calcium. In fact, only 30% of the calcium in a cup of milk is actually absorbed by the body. Your body would get twice as much calcium from a cup of broccoli.

Ironically, the only people in danger of calcium deficiency are those who eat unnaturally large amounts of animal protein. This is because the body uses a great deal of calcium in the process of excreting excess animal protein—a problem which does not occur with plant protein.

One study found that with an omnivorous diet containing as little as 75 grams of protein per day (the average American diet contains 100 grams), more calcium is lost in the urine than is absorbed by the body. The result is negative calcium balance. Even with a calcium intake far higher than that available in the standard American diet, the body will still lose more calcium that it absorbs, unless the amount of animal protein in the diet is lowered.

If you're worried about calcium, don't drink more milk, just eat less high-protein animal products and more fresh green vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts.

What About Protein?

Nature tells us that baby humans are best served with the modest level of 5% protein found in their mother's milk. Babies grow more rapidly than at any other period in their lives. Their protein needs are, therefore, at a maximum. The biological reality is that we humans need very little protein in our diets.

Many people have come to believe that animal protein is of higher quality than plant protein, and that good health is dependant upon getting enough animal protein in one's diet. Fortunately, this isn't the case. Our biological needs for protein are as easily met by plant foods as they are by animal foods.

A varied diet that adequately meets the calorie needs of a person will also meet her or his protein needs. The widespread belief that it is necessary to carefully combine various plant foods to insure one's protein needs are adequately met is unfounded. People, including some world class athletes, who choose to eat no animal protein whatsoever enjoy excellent health without concern

People, including some world class athletes, who choose to eat no animal protein whatsoever enjoy excellent health without concern for combining proteins. If you want to insure that your diet is top-notch, eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and forget about protein.

What About Allergies?

Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergies, and low-fat dairy products are actually more allergenic than their higher-fat counterparts. It is the proteins in dairy products that induce allergic reactions in many humans.

The list of common symptoms of dairy allergies is a long one, as are the benefits often obtained by people who remove dairy products from their diets. Many studies have shown allergies to dairy products to cause irritability, restlessness, hyperactivity, muscle pain, mental depression, cramps, bloating, diarrhea, headaches, lack of energy, constipation, poor appetite, nasal stuffiness, runny nose, sinusitis, asthma, rashes, eczema and hives.

Pesticides & Hormones

Not only is there too much protein and fat in dairy products for the human diet, there are also substances in dairy that shouldn't be in any diet.

In the 1970s, mounting public concern forced the passage of the Toxic Substances Control Act. However, testing for the more than 50,000 toxic chemicals on the market continues to be lax.

Bio-accumulating pesticides and other chemicals wind up in the fat of animals that ingest them. This makes the fat in dairy products a natural store for many of the chemicals used in dairy production. When humans consume dairy fat, the substances contained in it are transferred to their own body fat.

Recently, the dairy industry, looking for ways to boost the productivity of dairy cows, discovered that bovine growth hormone (BGH) increases a cow's milk production as much as 30%. The US FDA approved the use of this hormone, even though no testing was done to show that it is safe for humans. After lengthy controversial debate, BGH has been rejected for use in Canada due to safety concerns.

Ironically, even before BGH was approved, the government was buying up surplus dairy products.

Modern Dairy Production

The dairy industry today points with considerable pride to the fact that the modern commercial cow produces over three times as much milk in a year as her ancestors. They don't mention that her udder is so large that her calves would have a hard time suckling, and might easily injure her if they were allowed to try.
Nor do they mention that under natural conditions, a cow would live to be 20—25 years old; in the severely stressful world of today's dairy factories, she would be lucky to reach her fourth birthday. In order to produce large quantities of milk, a cow is pregnant all the time. Her nervous system has been made so ragged by breeding practices devoted exclusively to milk production and a regimen that affords her no exercise, that this normally mellow and patient animal often has to be given tranquilizers.

Most people do not know that the majority of male calves from dairy cows make up our veal supply. They are grown in inhumane conditions and given unnatural foods, antibiotics and hormones — all this to produce a food that is high in protein, cholesterol and saturated fat.

By reducing or eliminating your consumption of dairy products, you increase your health and reduce factory farming.

Reprinted by permission from the Canada Earthsaver.