Milk is big business. In fact, it is so big that the overproduction in the EU of 20% is financially supported for sale outside of the EU in order to maintain the high prices. Milk is apparently one of the few foodstuffs of which it is ok to praise the health benefits: it strengthens the bones, prevents osteoporosis, boosts your energy level, etc. But is it all true? Is the praise motivated more by the desire to sell than by the wish to be of benefit to the public? According to the Public Health Institute in Sweden, the large production of milk is not beneficial to public health. This is first and foremost caused by its large content of animal fat.
The fact that milk has been part of the nutrition for many different peoples through several thousand years does not automatically mean that milk is good nutrition. However, it could have been a good source of nutrition, back when homogenization and pasteurization were not widely used - before fertilizers, pesticides, and industrialized farming had seen the light of day. Not many people know this.
Today, milk is being sent through pipes, pumps, nozzles, it is being heated, and the milk particles are being destroyed. This will remove any bovine tuberculosis and listeria bacteria. However, according to the daily press, as many cows suffer from inflammation of the udder, conventional milk is a bacterial soup when seen through a microscope; dead bacteria, to be true, but still matter.
Lactose intolerance is the normal state
More than 50% of the population of the world do not drink milk after they are weaned. Only a minor part of the population of the world can actually tolerate dairy products. The rest of the population cannot tolerate milk because they cannot metabolize the milk sugar, lactose - i.e. they are lactose intolerant. They do not produce the intestinal enzyme that cleaves lactose; lactase. This is a big problem for immigrants from the Middle East and Asia who move to milk-consuming Europe. They are bothered by all sorts of symptoms that they cannot succeed in getting rid of because the influence of milk is often neglected as a possible cause.
British people also suffer from lactose intolerance. It is not a case of allergy, even though the term milk allergy is often used in everyday speech. The condition is intolerance - and not only regarding lactose. Other factors also seem to be involved, although it is not quite clear which ones. The lactose intolerance can be established based on the symptoms and the fact that you will feel better by excluding dairy products from your diet for 8 weeks.
What are the symptoms, then? Unfortunately, they are very different. This makes it difficult to delimit the condition from other sufferings. Common symptoms are colds, a blocked nose, snoring, headaches, tiredness, anaemia, constipation, intestinal gas, thin stools, weight gain, PMS, and menstrual pains, etc.
Particularly in children, a series of repeated cases of otitis media, quinsy, and colds, can be terminated with a dairy-free diet. Often, if your child is ill and eat a dairy-free diet, he or she will get well more quickly. In my experience, about 80% of the ones who try this out will succeed.
It seems as if the lymphatic system in the nose-and throat area functions more slowly when the body is exposed to dairy products. The mucous membranes become swollen and filled with mucus and the function of the immune defence on the mucosal surface is reduced.
Osteoporosis - lifestyle and diet
Now, how will the exclusion of milk influence your bones? Studies involving estimates of the correlation between milk intake and osteoporosis are retrospective in that they look back and calculate how much milk the persons participating in the study had consumed as children, youngsters, and adults. They do not follow two randomized groups of people of which one were given dairy products and not the other one, and then, after 30 years, take a look at the results. Based on the present studies, it has been concluded that having had a large intake of dairy products will reduce the tendency to develop osteoporosis later in life.
However, there is a "but". In the countries where the consumption of milk is highest, the prevalence of osteoporosis is also highest. This could be caused by the fact that consuming animal proteins and fat will acidify the internal bodily environment. In order to neutralize the acid-base balance in the blood, particularly calcium from the bones are used, and this calcium is excreted with the urine. In addition, the utilization ratio of the calcium in milk is only 30% - the utilization ratio of the calcium in cabbage, for example, is higher.
What is being observed in these studies, therefore, is not the whole truth. It does not tell us if the consumption of dairy products was connected to a certain lifestyle and diet.
One study showed that if the diet is of good quality in other respects, then exercise is actually more important to the development and maintenance of the strength of the bones than the intake of calcium. This goes for both young and old individuals.
A varied supply of fruit and vegetables is also important. Fruit and vegetables contain basic salts that help maintain the acid-base balance in the blood at a certain level so that the body does not have to drain the bones of calcium.
In a study from Harvard University including 77,000 nurses, a slightly increased frequency of fractures of the thighbone was observed in the ones who consumed 3 glasses of milk (or more) a day compared to the ones who only drank a little milk or no milk at all. Similar results have also been observed in an Australian study.
Bones do not only consist of calcium - and calcium is not solely responsible for the strength of the bones. Magnesium, zinc, boron, molybdenum, potassium, vitamin C, and other substances are also involved. Milk does not promote the absorption of these minerals. Therefore, a more varied diet is required.
Dairy-free diet
What can be done, then? It is recommended to eat a low-fat diet (this does not apply for children), vegetables that are rich in calcium (e.g. kale, parsley), nuts, sesame seeds, white-, brown-, mung-, and soybeans, and to limit your consumption of salt, animal proteins, and coffee, to quit smoking, and to exercise regularly. Excessive use of sugar and sweets - not least coke - will drain away your calcium supplies.
For small children, you can increase their intake of calcium by giving them porridge made from pre-soaked or pre-sprouted wholemeal. In this way, the phytin, which would otherwise bind the calcium, is decomposed. Very small children should be given strained porridge.
Almond milk, rice milk, and oat milk are alternatives to cow's milk that can be bought in supermarkets and health food shops. Older children can also be given soya milk. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children below 1 year should not be given cow's milk, as they will risk suffering from iron deficiency, colic, food allergy, and chronic constipation.
Cancer and pollution
A total of 16 studies connect the consumption of milk with prostate cancer.
Milk contains a substance called Insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf-1) which increases the risk of breast cancer and is also said to be able to promote prostate cancer. The hormone seems to be necessary to rapid growth of calves. In the US, they give growth hormone to cows which will further increase the amount of Igf-1 in milk. This is another argument for resisting the US pressure of exporting hormone-treated meat to Europe.
The lactose in milk is broken down into two different sugars, galactose and glucose. If the amount of galactose exceeds the body's ability to metabolize it, it will have a toxic effect on the ovaries which whill increase the risk of ovarian cancer and childlessness.
Population studies show a connection between milk and the development of type 1 diabetes - the type where insulin treatment is necessary. The protein in milk seems to be able to create an autoimmune, allergic reaction towards the pancreatic cells where the insulin is produced.
In a Finnish study, it was found that infants who were given cow's milk from the age of 6 months had a very high immune reaction to cow's insulin, compared to children who were not given milk. This reaction to cow's insulin is what researchers believe can cause type 1 diabetes later in life.
Milk contains animal fat regardless of which product you eat. Animal fat increases your cholesterol level and thereby contributes to the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases.
According to Dr. Osler, the homogenization of milk causes the fat particles to become so small that they penetrate the intestinal mucosa unchanged and increase the risk of atherosclerosis and allergy.
Intensive farming will result in many sick animals, and herbicides and insecticides will be present in the feed. Antibiotics and pesticides, therefore, will end up in the milk. In this way, the consumer is exposed to pollution and the risk of developing antibiotic resistance is present.
Finally, a study has led to the suspicion that consumption of milk kan lead to Parkinson's disease. There was an increased incidence of Parkinson's disease in men who drank large amounts of milk. The cause for this is believed to be either pesticides and PCB or a particular type of milk enzymes.
Differences between consuming cow's milk, goat's milk, or sheep's milk has not been investigated. In my own experience, however, people can often tolerate dairy products originating from goats and sheep when they cannot tolerate cow's milk. This is only the case in intolerance, however, and not if suffering from allergy. Infants should preferably continue to only be given breast milk.
All this being said, milk should not be totally disqualified as an ingredient in your diet. For most people, as in so many other situations, it will be a question of the amount consumed. Here also applies that an excessive consumption leads to problems. Besides it being a good idea to try to stop the deterioration of dairy products in the industrialized production and handling, it would also be a good idea to cut down the amount of dairy products that is consumed.
The diet recommendations tell us to consume less animal food and that the animal food we do eat should be as lean as possible. We should eat far more cereal, fruit, and vegetables than we do today. In the US, the recommendation is to eat 9 pieces of fruit/vegetables a day. An idea would be to introduce dairy-free days as well as meat-free days - e.g. only one or two days a week with dairy products.
Individuals suffering from lactose- or milk intolerance should completely avoid consuming dairy products for a period of time in order to avoid the symptoms. After this period, dairy products can be consumed once in a while without noticable symptoms.
Note.
This article is kindly supplied by the editor of the Danish magazine My Health ("Mit helbred") and is translated by Vitaviva.
