Milk-is-good-for-you: dangerous myth

When I had my first child, I breastfed him for over a year, and then gave him spring water to drink when he was thirsty. He never tasted formula and he’s never drunk a glass of milk in his life. One afternoon when I was picking him up from daycare, the daycare lady bailed me up on the stairs and attacked me over the fact my child had a water bottle — not a milk bottle. Now, at the time, the only explanation I had for the fact he wasn’t drinking milk was simply, ‘My gut feeling tells me not to give it to him.” She told me I was inhibiting his natural growth and development, ability to crawl, yada yada, and that I should listen to her because her husband was a nutritionist. I stuck to my guns, and spoke with my vegan friend and my husband (who has been telling people for years, ‘Drinking milk doesn’t help your bones. Look at an elephant — they only eat greens, and they’ve got the biggest, strongest bones on the planet!’) Now I finally have the ‘proof’, thanks to Jessica Ainscough. Her Wellness Warrior website helps to explodes many of the food/health/medical myths that society has been brainwashed with for years. Here’s her easy-to-understand, comprehensive answer as to Why No One Should Drink Cow’s Milk! — wish I’d had a photocopy of it to hand to that daycare lady.

P.S. What’s really scary is the MASSIVE ‘Got milk?’ advertising campaign that’s been running in the USA since 1993, which has roped in celebrities such as Rebecca Romijn, David Beckham, Mischa Barton, Angelina Jolie, Joss Stone, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Beyonce Knowles, Elizabeth Hurley, Carrie Underwood, Sheryl Crow, Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, KISS, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Mandy Moore, Joan Rivers, Barbie(!!) and Lauren Conrad (pictured above) to try and convince people to a) buy more cow’s milk and b) that it can relieve PMS symptoms(?!). Honestly, some of these people ought to be ashamed of themselves… and it’s clear to see the National Milk Processor Board has a big budget — and an even bigger (sinister) agenda.

P.P.S. Have a listen to my just-recorded interview with The Wellness Guys discussing a similarly related topic — breast-feeding — a fun, entertaining and very informative 30min chat. Check it out!

What the dairy industry doesn’t tell you CAN hurt you
by Jessica Ainscough

“When you think of the word “dairy” what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of a nurturing drink that will help send you to sleep at night. Or well looked after mother cows who are gently relieved of their milk by the soft hands of a loving farmer. Or perhaps you have fond memories of chasing the highly anticipated ice-cream truck down the street all for a choc-coated frozen milky treat. And of course, you will think of strong and healthy teeth and bones. Have you ever thought about why these images are so dominantly linked to dairy? The dairy industry has done such a stellar job at making sure these connotations are so firmly imprinted in most of our minds that the information I am about to share with you may come as bit of a shock. You may even feel anger and want to throw milk in my face. But just hear me out. Does dairy really do your body good? Here is what the dairy industry spends gazillions of dollars trying to prevent you from finding out…

Dairy cows are painfully mistreated and pumped full of drugs
Like humans, cows only produce milk after they have given birth. To reap the most benefits, greedy farmers keep their dairy cows constantly pregnant by pumping them full of hormones. Of course, this is terribly unnatural, so the cows are then fed a steady stream of antibiotics and other drugs to make sure they stay alive long enough to make the most milk out of them. Then, the cows are milked by machines that painfully grip and pull at their swollen udders. Blood and puss go into the milk and we drink the whole delicious concoction up. Obviously we would be turned off by the sight of all the blood and pus, so the milk is then pasteurised.

Dairy causes calcium deficiency
Say what?! It turns out all those ads telling us that the calcium in dairy will give us strong bones was all a load of bull-hooey. The consumption of dairy actually contributes largely to a deficiency in calcium in the body. Animal protein (found highly in dairy) increases the acid load in the body. In order to neutralise the acid, the body searches its own reserves for an alkaline mineral. Enter calcium. But this calcium ends up being pulled from our bones, in turn leading to bone-weakening conditions like osteoporosis. Dairy may contain calcium, but it is of no use to our bodies. Shocking, isn’t it? It’s like finding out that the Easter Bunny isn’t real.

Dairy is acidic
As I mentioned above, all animal protein is acidic, and this includes dairy products. Having an acidic environment in your body is like setting up your spare room and welcoming disease to stay over. An acidic body does not absorb vitamins, minerals and other nutrients and reduces our ability to repair cells. Acidity also prevents the blood from carrying oxygen. Our bodies need to be on the alkaline side of the pH scale in order to operate at their best.

Dairy is full of pus cells
Did you know that as long as a litre of milk contains less than 100 million pus cells, it is good to sell? Is it just me, or is that kind of gross? And that’s not the worst part. According to research by the USDA, the average content of pus in milk is 316 million pus cells!

Dairy is designed for baby cows, not humans
Humans are the only animals to drink the milk of other species and to drink milk at all past infancy. Each mammalian species has its own “designer” milk, and cow’s milk is no exception. Its composition is very different to human milk. For example, cow’s milk contains on average three times the amount of protein than human milk. This creates metabolic disturbances in humans that have detrimental bone health consequences.

Dairy is bad for your digestive system
Humans lose the enzyme needed to digest lactose (the sugar found in milk) between the ages of two and five. When undigested, the sugars from dairy end up in the colon, where they begin to ferment, producing gas that can cause cramping, bloating, nausea, flatulence and diarrhoea.

Dairy is highly processed
Until the end of the 19th century in Europe and the beginning of the 20th century in the US, milk was consumed unpasteurised or raw. Later on, homogenisation became the industry’s standard. These processes further alter milk’s chemistry and actually increase its detrimental acidifying effects.

Dairy increases your cancer risk
Milking cows are given antibiotics and most are also injected with a genetically engineered form of bovine growth hormone (rBGH). A man-made or synthetic hormone used to artificially increase milk production; rBGH also increases blood levels of the insulin-growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in those who drink it. And higher levels of IGF-1 are linked to several cancers.

Is any of this so shocking that you are telling yourself it can’t possibly be true? It’s a good idea to do more research to make sure I’m not yanking your chain. The lid is being lifted on the dairy industry in a way that would have them shaking in their gumboots. As people become wise to the cruelty of the industry and the lies about our health, it makes it very easy and important to search for dairy-free substitutes to your favourite foods. Dairy is not a necessary part of the food pyramid!”

Jessica Ainscough is the creator of the online natural health and healing sanctuary, The Wellness Warrior. She is a former magazine writer, current holistic health counsellor and a very proud cancer survivor. In her spare time Jess can be found on her meditation stool, in a downward dog position or trying to come up with different ways to eat rolled oats.
Twitter: @jessainscough
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thewellnesswarrior

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Category: Sex and wellbeing