Do Cow’s Drink Cow’s Milk?     So Why Should We?

If you want to significantly improve your health and vitality, dramatically reduce your consumption of dairy products.

At least 20% of the population can’t produce the enzyme lactase in their bodies, which is needed to digest lactose (milk sugar). One of the most destructive substances you can ingest into your system is dairy products. They are both extremely fatty and create significant amounts of mucous in the system.

Q: Is it true that I must drink milk to obtain adequate amounts of calcium?

A: Every one of the 75 trillion cells that make up your body uses calcium. When your blood levels of calcium are depleted, the body will sacrifice calcium in your bones to replenish and help maintain blood system levels, keeping them in tact.

Dairy products don’t protect your bones from osteoporosis! In fact, excess, salt, protein or tobacco intake promotes calcium to be leached from your bones. Cow’s milk cannot be assimilated by our bodies because it has 20 times the casein (a type of protein) of human milk. With excess protein intake, the blood levels become too acidic unless they can be balanced by leaching calcium from the bones to neutralise the acid. The fat, cholesterol, excess protein and additive’s in cow’s milk make it one of the worst sources for a healthy, balanced diet.

A research study published in the American Journal of Public Health (1997) clearly showed that 78’000 women who obtained most of their calcium intake from dairy products fractured more bones than women who rarely drank milk.

It has been proven that when protein is moderately restricted, it will do more to increase calcium in blood than by ingesting more calcium (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Feb. 1999). Other great sources of dietary calcium include: green leafy vegetables like spinach, legumes and green beans, calcium fortified apple or orange juice, kale, salmon, broccoli, brussel sprouts, chic peas and tofu.

Q: Is cheese a healthy choice for optimum nutrition?

A: Gram-for-gram, cheese has more fat and cholesterol than milk due to the fact that it takes approximately five quarts of milk to make half a kilogram of cheese.

Q: Are there any allergies associated with drinking milk?

A: Many people suffer from lactose intolerance, which is the inability to digest the lactose (milk sugar). Milk allergies differ since they are reactions to casein (type of protein). Common complaints include skin rash, nasal congestion, asthma, infection, irritability and fatigue. The reaction can continue from two to eight hours following the ingestion of milk.

Many people suffer from reactions to cow’s milk that includes increased mucus in the respiratory tract, which may lead to ear infections. Children are not immune either with one out of every five infants suffering from stomach cramps known as colic. The results of numerous doctors’ studies clearly shows reductions in common colds, sinusitis and ear infections with dairy-free diets.

Q: Is milk difficult to digest?

A: Yes, it is. Mal-absorption of nutrients occurs when milk and milk products neutralise the acid in your stomach. This causes your stomach to work harder and at the same time, causes the glands in your stomach to fail.

Additionally, the milk products encourage additional mucus production that adheres to the throat, sinuses, lungs and intestines. The mucus hardens and forms a coating on the inner lining of the intestines that does not allow important nutrients to permeate and causes material that should be eliminated to clog up and pollute the intestines. Consequently, your energy, concentration and performance levels will significantly decrease.

Q: Can drinking milk affect the heart and circulatory system?

A: Dairy products, including milk, butter, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese contribute significant amounts of fat and cholesterol to the diet. Diets high in fat and saturated fat will increase the risk for several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease.
(Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine online at www.pcrm.org).

Q: Are there certain substances in milk that I should be made aware of?

A: A synthetic hormone such as recombinant bovine growth hormone is frequently given to dairy cows to increase their milk production. Since the cow is over stimulated the mammary glands very often become inflamed or infected. Antibiotics given to treat the infection as well as exposure to pesticides and other drugs are frequently found in samples of milk and other dairy products.

Vitamin D levels vary among milk samples with some samples of milk having as much as 500 times the recommended level. Too much vitamin D can be toxic and may result in excess aluminium absorption and calcium deposits in soft tissue.

For a calf to gain close to 450kgs at physical maturity – approximately two years – nature provided cow’s milk with powerful growth hormones. However, humans don’t benefit from or need the growth hormones that the calf needs since a baby’s birth weight is 3-4kgs and reaches physical maturity at 45-90kgs – approximately 21 years later.
(Source: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine online at www.pcrm.org).

Wishing you a very healthy existence!

Mark Guilbert M.Dip PTST

“Reflection is the beginning of reform.”
- Mark Twain