Milk has been linked to diseases including cancer
For years we've been soaking our cereal in cow's milk and gorging on ice cream, but now some nutritionists are suggesting that we shouldn't be eating dairy at all.
It has become the latest food group that people are banishing from their diet and it seems they might have good reason.
Dairy has been linked to a myriad of conditions including eczema, asthma and weight gain. And certain scientists have even linked it to breast and prostrate cancer and diabetes.
Celebrities including Megan Fox and Victoria Beckham have also credited their super-slim figures and glowing complexions to going dairy-free.
Nutritional Health Coach Mel Wells explains why we should all give up dairy
So why should you give up dairy?
Here Mel Wells, Nutritional Health Coach and creator of The Green Goddess Life blog, gives her opinion on why we should ditch dairy for good.
1. MILK CONTAINS HORMONES LINKED TO CANCER
Dairy milk contains cow hormones that have been linked to breast and prostate cancer.
On top of large amounts of oestrogen and progesterone being present in the milk, Bovine Growth Hormone is also injected on a weekly basis into dairy cows in some countries to make them grow bigger faster, and produce more milk to sell.
So when we drink milk – we might be drinking bovine.
Acoording to The China Study, 2005, Bovine causes the chemical IGF-1 to be released, which has been linked to a whole host of diseases, including breast and prostate cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and gynecomastia (growth of breasts in men).
2. MILK PROTEIN (CASEIN) IS LINKED TO CANCER AND CHRONIC DISEASE
In the same study, which looked at the impact of animal protein on health, Dr T Colin Campbell explains the link between the occurrence of cancer and consumption of animal products.
He found that casein (milk protein) promoted cancer in all stages of its development. And that the amount of cancer growth could be controlled based on the amount of casein in the diet.
The core problem is that the immune cells of the body mistakenly recognising the body’s own cells as threatening invaders, and consequently the body attacks itself.
When we drink milk, some of these milk proteins are wholly absorbed into the bloodstream, where they eventually come into contact with our body’s own immune cells.
Recognising the cow’s milk protein as a foreign invader, these immune cells go about attacking the protein, as well as forming a 'memory' of that protein such that, in the event that is ever enters the bloodstream again, the immune cells will be able to respond faster.
However, the cow’s milk protein is very similar to proteins that already exist in our bodies, and as a result the immune cells become 'confused' and start to use their memory to attack the body’s own proteins and cells.
3. THE MYTH ABOUT DAIRY AND CALCIUM
Since childhood, it has been hammered into us that we should drink milk because we need the calcium, otherwise our bones will not grow big and strong.
We are told we will get osteoporosis if we don’t drink milk. We see celebrities on the sides of buses with white milky moustaches, exclaiming “Got Milk?” All this pro-dairy talk has resulted in people adding cheese to everything, and innocent kids downing pints of milk before bed and pouring it over their breakfasts every morning.
However, The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which started in 1989 and followed more than 75,000 women for 12 years, showed absolutely no protective effect of dairy consumption on fracture risk in bones.
Her blog Green Goddess gives an even more detailed explanation to the dangers of dairy
4. LACTOSE (MILK SUGAR) CAN'T BE DIGESTED PROPERLY
In order to digest Lactose, the sugar found in milk, our body must produce the enzyme, Lactase.
But humans naturally lose all traces of this enzyme after they are around two years old - after they should be stopping breast feeding.
But because humans have been so subjected to milk as adults over so many years now, signs that we can’t properly digest milk just go unnoticed.
So many people are still labelled as having Lactose intolerance and milk allergies, but in actual fact we all are intolerant as adults.
Many experts belive that milk is meant for growing babies, not adults. So when adults drink milk, because we have no Lactase to break it down, the undigested milk sugars end up in the colon, producing gas that can cause cramping, bloating, nausea, flatulence and diarrhea.
5. IT'S JUST A BIT WEIRD
We are the only species on the planet that insists on drinking milk as adults. We are also the only species on the planet that drinks the milk of another species. Interesting, isn’t it?
When you look at it from that perspective, it’s really pretty darn weird that us humans drink cows’ milk.
If we should be drinking any milk, surely it should be human milk?
6. MILK IS BAD FOR THE WAISTLINE
What is milk designed for? Think about it. Human breast milk is designed to grow an eight pound newborn into a 24 pound toddler.
Sounds fattening, right? It is. It’s supposed to be. And likewise, cow’s milk is designed to grow a 90 pound calf into a 2000 pound cow.
Sounds even more fattening, doesn’t it? That’s because it is. Because cows are bigger than humans. So if you want to lose weight, why on earth would you drink something that’s sole purpose by design is to make you grow as fast as possible.
7. DAIRY IS BAD FOR YOUR SKIN
Do you know somebody that suffers from eczema, acne, or another skin disorder?
Then you need to relay this information to them immediately. Giving up dairy and milk products is THE best thing you can do for your skin. Ever.
IGF-1 (that nasty hormone in milk we talked about in point 1) causes inflammation, acne, redness and soreness in the skin.
Dairy also causes your skin to produce excess sebum (oil), leading to more clogged pores, more acne, and a breeding ground for spots and bad skin.
Give up dairy if you want your spots to disappear, your skin to clear up and your complexion to massively improve.
HERE MEL OFFERS HER TOP FOODS TO HELP YOU GET YOUR CALCIUM INTAKE
- Almond milk (contains same amount of calcium as in cows milk) also Hazelnut milk, hemp milk, oat milk, rice milk, soya milk.
- Coconut milk/Coyo coconut yoghurt
- Chia seeds (1 tablespoon of chia seeds has more calcium than a whole glass of cow’s milk)
- KALE -About 3/4 cup of cooked kale offers 143 mg calcium.
- Sesame seeds
- Red Kidney Beans (1/2 cup of beans has 150 mg calcium)
The Dairy Council issued a statement saying that there is no sufficient evidence to support a connection between dairy and cancer.
“Studies have shown no association between milk and cheese intake and breast cancer risk, milk and dairy may be protective against breast cancer and that milk and dairy consumption have no effect on breast cancer survival,” said Dr Anne Mullen, Director of Nutrition at The Dairy Council.
“Prudently, the World Cancer Research Fund says that evidence of any connection is limited.”
The Dairy Council also dismisses the notion that all adults are intolerant to dairy.
“There is a profound misrepresentation of the degree of lactose intolerance in our population (about 5 per cent of adults are affected),” said Dr Mullen.
“In people with lactose intolerance, research shows that 12g lactose (200g yogurt, 250mls milk) can be consumed per day without any effects.”
They also stressed the importance of dairy in a balanced diet and insisted that as long as it is eaten in moderation it should not lead to increased weight gain.
“Milk and dairy foods are not fattening unless, like other energy-providing foods, they are consumed in excess in an unbalanced diet,” added Dr Mullen.