Is milk good for you or should you go vegan?

Answer 1

Milk is the perfect food…for the infant of the mother who produces it. Mammals produce milk for their infants, and for no other reason. No mammals need to drink their mothers' milk past infancy. That's why they all eventually wean and move on to solid foods. And unless the mother dies or is otherwise unable to provide milk, no mammal needs the milk of another species. So humans old enough to be weaned from breastfeeding have absolutely no need for milk, be it from their mothers or another species. You wouldn't drink the milk from your lactating sister, or a dog, or a horse, or a pig. Why would you drink milk from a cow?

Cow's milk naturally contains the large amount of growth hormones, fat, and protein needed to turn a 80-pound calf into a 1,000 pound cow in one year. Those amounts of protein and hormones are not only unnecessary for humans, they're actually unhealthy. Whole milk is 50% fat, milk advertised as 1% (low fat) is still 18% fat, and cheese is 70% fat.

The vast majority of mammals, including humans, lose the ability to digest the sugar in milk after infancy. About 25% of humans (mostly of northern European descent) have a genetic mutation that allows them to continue to digest milk sugar or lactose. The rest of us (an estimated 75% of us) are lactose-intolerant as adults, including the vast majority of people who are of Asian, African, Native American, and southern European descent. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include bloating, pain or cramps in the lower belly, gas, diarrhea, and vomiting. Another milk sugar, galactose, is toxic. As far back as 1981, cow's milk was reported to cause cataracts.

Cheese, milk, and other dairy products are high in cholesterol and saturated fat, which can lead to Heart disease. Dairy fat is 97% saturated fat. All dairy products (in fact, all animal products) contain cholesterol, which you do not need to consume. According to Dr. John McDougall, MD, "As an animal, you make all the cholesterol you need. Unfortunately, your capacity to eliminate it is limited to a little more than the amount you make. As a result, the cholesterol added by eating animal foods accumulates in your body parts, including your skin, tendons, and arteries. Cholesterol deposited in your arteries is a major contributor to vascular diseases of your heart and brain. Cholesterol also facilitates cancer development."

Dr. T. Colin Campbell, professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University and author of The China Study, says casein is one of the most significant cancer promoters ever discovered. Cow's milk increases hormones that directly stimulate growth. The most powerful of these hormones is called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 is one of the most powerful promoters of cancer growth ever discovered for cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon. In 2011, researchers at Harvard University cautioned that dairy can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer. Dairy products contain high levels of pesticides and herbicides, which cause cancer and brain damage.

Over-stimulation of growth by IGF-1 leads to premature aging, and reducing IGF-1 levels is "anti-aging."

Producing milk is very stressful for cows, and frequently causes mastitis, which requires antibiotics, which make their way into the milk. Synthetic hormones such as recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) are commonly used in dairy cows to increase the production of milk. Growth hormones and antibiotics are not healthy things to consume. Dairy products also contain steroids and other hormones (both naturally occurring and administered).

Dairy products are known to be infected with pathenogenic microbes, including E. Coli, listeria, salmonella, staphylococci, tuberculosis, bovine leukemia viruses, bovine AIDS viruses, and mad cow prions. Dairy products often contain other contaminants, including parasites and mycotoxins. Fresh dairy products are highly perishable, and quickly smell and taste bad.

Milk and cheese have no fiber. (Neither does meat.) In addition, according to Dr. Keith Nemec, MD, "Casein, which is very sticky, is a main component in popular nontoxic glue. Casein coats the digestive system, leading to leaky gut syndrome, malabsorption and/or constipation. These all lead to a weakened immune system and toxic build up in the blood along with a host of other health problems that stem from the leaky gut syndrome." Cow's milk protein causes allergic reactions, which paralyze your bowels, making it almost impossible for to eliminate hard stools. You don't need all the laxatives they're trying to sell you on television. Happiness is a high-fiber diet, and a high-fiber diet is plant-based.

Cow's milk protein is the most common dietary cause of allergy and autoimmune diseases, including nephritis (kidney disease) and severe forms of Arthritis. According to Dr. John McDougall, "Exposure to cow's milk protein early in life, when the intestinal tract is immature, sometimes results in the milk protein entering the blood stream where antibodies to this foreign substance, cow's milk, are made by the immune system. Unfortunately, these same antibodies also attack the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. By glassful of milk after spoonful of ice cream, over a period of about 5 to 7 years, the child destroys his or her own pancreas - and is left with a lifelong, life-threatening, handicap: diabetes. The pancreas is forever destroyed and the child will have to take insulin shots daily. Complications, such as blindness, kidney failure, and heart disease will be a real threat during his or her shortened lifespan." Infants and children fed cow's milk are also more likely to suffer from colic, intestinal bleeding, iron deficiency anemia, ear infections, and weight problems.

People in the countries that consume the most dairy have the highest osteoporosis rates. Osteoporosis and kidney stones are from bone loss caused by eating animal proteins and dietary acids. Hard cheese like Parmesan is the greatest source of dietary acids. The researchers at Harvard suggested that foods like collards, bok choy, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium. In fact, watercress, tofu, mustard greens, turnip greens, basil, collards, spinach, beet greens, spearmint, rapini, chicory, dandelion greens, thyme, parsley, okra, wakame, cardoons, chives, endive, cilantro, chard, kale, butterhead lettuce, bay leaves, celery, leaf lettuce, scallions, broccoli, cabbage, hearts of palm, and nori, all have more calcium per calorie than milk. Other plant foods that contain calcium include: beans, nuts like almonds and seeds like sesame, and whole grains.

Go vegan.