Monday, August 13, 2007

Don't Drink Your Milk

WARNING: This is a long, albeit very interesting, post, just so ya know!

In our home, we don't drink milk.
Some find this absurd, since of course there is a massive money-making campaign in this country that proclaims the health benefits of drinking this white concoction. It is even now supposedly proven to enhance weight-loss.
Schools, childcare centers, hospitals all have it as a staple on their menus, buying into the advertisement that "Milk. It does a body good".
But, does it? Mind you, I am just stating my opinions, based on personal experiences, that I truly believe milk to be one of the most dreadful food items a person could put in his body. My opinion is based on a lot of research prompted by my son's recurring illness as an infant/toddler. Here is what I know:

Years ago I began my research into the qualities of milk after myfirstborn son had repeated ear infections and was constantly ill--coughing, hacking, wheezing, sinus infections, nose bleeds, diarrhea, ear infections..I could go on. His ears remained infected no matter what types of antibiotics he was given. After being directed by a close family friend toward the idea that milk could be the underlying problem, I removed from his diet all milk-containing items for two weeks. At that point I was willing to try anything for my little guy. It was incredible, really. Within days he began to have clear drainage instead of the thick, green glue-like substance that had invaded his little body, and soon after had no drainage at all. Not to mention not one single ear infection to date since the removal of milk from his diet.
When I shared with his pediatrician the change I had made in Jacob's diet and the remarable effects, at Jacob's 2 year well-check, he was skeptical and recommended a profylactic antibiotic instead--to ward off the recurrence of any ear infections-- and to immediately place him back on milk--that his body needed the calcium.
Needless to say, soon after that appointment, I changed pediatricians. (Incidentally we have the same pediatrician now that I switched to then, and he is and has always been totally supportive of the milk-free diet for children.)
Jacob thrived on his Rice milk and soy diet, why would I consider even toying with the possibility that it was all coincidence and "test" it by placing milk back into his diet?
So, now, three children, 8 years, and much research later, none of my kids drink milk and aside from Max, who suffers some with his ears but due to an abnormality in ear structure not diet, none of Jacob's siblings have experienced the level of health issues he experienced at such a young age. This requires some effort on my part, because in school the children are not offered water as a substitue for milk and in chidcare, a doctor's note is required before the center will halt serving milk to the child.

Here are some interesting facts about milk. Medically proven and research-supported: Much of this research and facts can be located at notmilk.com

Milk contains 59 hormones and Of those 59 hormones one is a powerful GROWTH hormone called Insulin- like Growth Factor ONE (IGF-1). By a freak of nature it is identical in cows and humans. Consider this hormone to be a "fuel cell" for any cancer... (the medical world says IGF-1 is a key factor in the rapid growth and proliferation of breast, prostate and colon cancers, and we suspect that most likely it will be found to promote ALL cancers).

IGF-1 is a normal part of ALL milk... the newborn is SUPPOSED to grow quickly! What makes the 50% of obese American consumers think they need MORE growth? Consumers don't think anything about it because they do not have a clue to the problem... nor do most of our doctors.

80% of the protein in milk is casein. Casein is a powerful binder... a
polymer used to make plastics... and a glue that is better used to make
sturdy furniture or hold beer bottle labels in place. It is in
thousands of processed foods as a binder... as "something" caseinate.

Casein is a powerful allergen... a histamine that creates lots of
mucus. The only medicine in Olympic athlete Flo-Jo's body was Benedryl, a power antihistamine she took to combat her last meal... pizza.

Cow's milk is allowed to have feces in it. This is a major source for bacteria. Milk is typically pasteurized more than once before it gets to your table... each time for only 15 seconds at 162 degrees Fahrenheit.
To sanitize water one is told to boil it (212 degrees F) for several minutes. That is a tremendous disparity, isn't it!

PUS:
ONE cubic centimeter (cc) of commercial cow's milk is allowed to have up to 750,000 somatic cells (common name is "PUS") and 20,000 live bacteria... before it is kept off the market.
That amounts to a whopping 20 million live squiggly bacteria and up to 750 MILLION pus cells per liter (bit more than a quart).

LEUKEMIA
According to Hoards Dairyman (Volume 147, number 4)... 89% of America's dairy herds have the leukemia virus

"Milk is a very strong pollutant: it is about 400 times more polluting than untreated sewage. To put it another way, 1,000 gallons of milk has the same polluting potential as the untreated sewage from a town of 7,000 people." Morlais Owen. Chief Scientist for Welsh Water. North Wales Weekly News. 24.3.88.

So says Dr. John McDougle:
If a patient bargained with me, "I'll give up only one of the first two food groups "meat or milk" - hopes of getting well," my recommendation for almost all common health problems in Western society would be, "You're likely to get the most benefits if you give up the dairy products."

So, still gonna reach for that tall glass of milk with those OREO cookies?
Trust me, Rice, Soy, even Goat milk offers a healthful and tasty substitute!

12 comments:

painted maypole said...

My daughter's first pediatrician was strongly against milk, so I'm very familiar with these arguments. When I was a kid I was taken off of milk because of my ear infections. I have not taken a hard stance against it, but I certainly wonder about it, and don't drink a lot of it myself. My husband and daughter do, though. We have not had the health problems, but I do worry about the growth horomones (you left out the part that many, many cows are given EXTRA hormones, which is largely considered to be a reason why girls are developing breasts at an earlier age). Thanks for the reminder. And it is APPALLING to me that a parent's request is not enought for a childcare center to cease giving milk - that it has to be DOCTOR ordered.

thirtysomething said...

Maypole...I TOTALLY agree.

Anonymous said...

Awesome post! I would love to post your personal story on our website - www.godairyfree.org (with link to your blog, but no names required if you wish). Let me know! I can be emailed at alisa@ that website.

S said...

Wow. This is important information. Thanks for sharing it.

RealAge22 said...

Yes, that was a shitty thing to say. He may or may not remember that for the rest of his life.

The thing to remember, though, is that even though you are a mother, you are still human. People make mistakes. Even parents, I guess. Thank god actually (if you'll pardon the expression) because all lessons are learned through mistakes either by oneself our someone else.

Things like that build resolve and character in an individual. Will he be hurt? Probably. Will he be confused? Most likely. Will he build more depth and soul than some sissy-boy rich kid with no problems and a perfect family life? Without question.

And so it comes to pass that the things we are so angry about, the things we seek vengence for with the tenacity of owed justice, are the things which end up teaching us the most about ourselves and our lives. Damn..

mitzh said...

I actually LOVE milk, but this is a great information and it got me thinking...

ewe are here said...

In Europe, food cows / milk cows aren't allowed to be given growth hormones, thank goodness. So a lot of those related problems don't occur over here.

I do think some children are more lactose sensitive - and lactose intolerant - than others, and giving up milk is a good idea. OTOH, severe osteoporosis runs in my family, and giving up milk (and related calcium-rich foods) is not an option. Luckily, milk seems to agree with all of us.

Interesting post. A little appalling, though, that your school required a note from a doctor instead of you, the parent! Ridiculous.

thirtysomething said...

To All--thanks for responding.

ewe are here--to clarify, the lactose is not the causing agent of the health problems, unfortunately, because that would be easy enough to fix. The actual properties of the milk are the health problems. The proteins especially aren't fit for human digestion. OF course, the hormones, both the ones already present as well as the added ones (Maypole, I had to be choosy b/c I was running out of space!), are of great concern. And as for calcium content and absorbtion, milk actually doesn't have the readily-absorbed calcium that the advertising portrays. And it is irrelevant to the Vitamin D content, but as I mentioned much more info can be found on notmilk.com and various other links from there, also as mentioned above godairyfree.org
Thanks!

ME FIRST said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Aliki2006 said...

Great post. We're vegetarians and don't drink milk. We've been drinking soy or rice milk for years now and both kids were brought up on it.

Amy Y said...

Thanks for the great information! I will definitely do more research into this... I once had a friend who said that she quit wetting the bed (at age 6 maybe?) when her mother removed milk from her diet. And it's so freakin' expensive, I wouldn't mind looking for an alternative! I've heard bad things about soy though... but havne't done a lot of research there either... about the chemical process it takes to turn a bean into milk (or tofu or whatever else you turn it into).

niobe said...

This is absolutely fascinating information. I love milk so much that I hate to think of giving it up. I do drink soy as well, though, so maybe I should think about switching entirely to that. Or goat's milk...

Thank you for posting this. I am definitely going to consider all the points you've made.