Milk — Does It REALLY Do the Body Good?
Do you drink milk?
You better be careful — according to some drinking milk can cause cancer, cause a build up of mucus, and milk causes asthma!
Crazy, right?
And so is the story a lot of nutrition information – overhyped, yet unjustified and without any science to back it up.
Milk doesn’t do ANY of those things above, but as you can see, it’s surely not short of controversy! Those are all a bunch of unfounded “theories.”
Do you give your kids milk or drink it yourself?
The Dairy Council suggests 2-3 glasses per day for maximum health benefits. Others say drinking raw milk is the only way to go. While some say that humans are the only adult mammals that drink milk from another animal and it shouldn’t be touched.
Wow, talk about confusing! And then we have organic milk, raw, non-homogenized, whole milk, skim milk and every other option in between.
So what’s the deal?
Let’s break it down and make it really straightforward.
Milk is a good source of calcium, vitamin D, and protein to name a few.
But when you look at the data, milk consumption has decreased while soft drinks have increased over the years.
When you go to your local grocery store and pick up a gallon of milk, it’s most likely been pasteurized – which is a process to make sure it is safe from bacteria, e coli, and other potentially harmful bacteria. It has also likely been homogenized, which is a process of distributing the fat evenly throughout the milk (so there is no fat on top).
There has been a recent interest in “raw milk” however, which basically means zero processing at all – from the cow to your kitchen table. Selling raw milk is actually illegal in many states because of the potential contamination. Kentucky is one of them. Proponents say this is better because all the benefits of milk are left intact – it’s not heated or processed at all. On the flip side, many experts say it can be dangerous because of the potential risk since none of these are “killed off” during the normal pasteurization period. Raw milk definitely does have a higher risk of contamination, so be cautious if you drink this.
Then we have the argument that humans are the only adult species that drink milk – other animals don’t even touch the stuff. This argument has more holes than Swiss cheese. Trust me, if our cats had opposable thumbs, they’d be right in that milk gallon!
Now, milk is NOT the BEST source of calcium as many suggest. Interestingly, a study published over 15 years ago by one of the world’s leading calcium experts, Dr. Connie Weaver, showed that milk had the lowest absorption rate of calcium compared to 11 other different foods (all vegetables!).
I’m not saying it’s still not a good source, but is it the best? Not necessarily … but, from a practical point of view, it IS more commonly eaten than Brussels sprouts, one of the foods on that list.
And that alone could make it better because people at least may drink it. Practical tip #1!
What do we do in the Mohr House?
We think milk is OK to drink and definitely has some benefits. Of course it's not the only source of many of the nutrients, but it is an easy source of many of them.
We buy our milk in a glass bottle from a local organic farm where cows are fed grass only (as they should be) – it is pasteurized (NOT raw), but definitely has a different taste than “traditional” milk. And it’s actually less expensive than several of the more mainstream organic brands. We prefer the flavor and love the fact that it’s local to boot.
We think it’s a wise idea for kids in particular, who may have a tough time getting in the calcium and other nutrients they need – it’s a quick, easy, good source of nutrients. So, yes, although you don't need milk to be healthy, it can do the body good!
What do you think?
April 5th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Gosh. What an issue. Actually, yes, milk does cause a buildup of mucus. Everybody in my family has to have a good nose blow after ingesting any dairy product except yogurt or cream. Which we also avoid. Lactose intolerant, allergic, lacking the enzymes we need to digest the stuff (Eastern-European ancestry, etc.), we avoid milk. Some of the kids experience such gastric distress that they practically became psychotic! Uncontrollable. Cancer I wouldn't know about, although it's true that none of us drinks milk and none of us so far has died of cancer or even had it! But milk is a complicated issue. Frankly I find it revolting–don't see how anybody can possibly drink the lactation of an–animal–but again that's probably half physiological and half cultural. But anyway. As to the mucus–oh, yes. Absolutely.
Besides, notice that it's only cow's milk that people think they're supposed to have. Everybody still finds goat's milk eccentric, and sheep's, buffalo's, donkey's, or horse's milk revolting.
And wouldn't you agree that no adult needs milk?
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April 5th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Sounds like a PETA scientific study. I can think of a lot of things worse for the body than milk.
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April 5th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
i agree. i buy organic milk that is similar like grass fed. publx store usually have their brand and it is much more cheaper than the other organic brand type. publix believes that it needs to be dairy grass fed without hormones. so, what do you think of that? I love milk, i use it to dirnk protien shakes. can't live without it.
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April 5th, 2010 at 9:26 pm
HI CHRIS AND KARA! HAPPY EASTER TO YOU TWO AND YOUR LOVED ONES! THANK YOU FOR THIS BLOG ENTRY. SOME GOOD THINGS TO CONSIDER – AS USUAL! QUESTION: WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE SHARE WITH US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE PROs AND CONs OF HOMOGENIZED MILK? I SEE THE BENEFITS OF BASIC PASTEURIZATION (AS OPPOSED TO UHT-PASTEURIZED MILK) BUT I'M A BIT PUZZLED ABOUT HOMOGENIZATION. ISN'T BASIC-PASTEURIZED, NON-HOMOGENIZED A GENERALLY HEALTHIER OPTION TO CHOOSE BECAUSE OF THE MILKFAT BEING NON-FORCABLY DISTRIBUTED AND BOUND. I WOULD THINK THAT PASTEURIZED, NON-HOMOGENIZED MILK WOULD BE A HEALTHIER CHOICE BECAUSE OF THE MILKFAT RISING TO THE TOP AND THUS BEING EASIER TO SKIM OFF. CURIOUS… YOUR INSIGHT IS MOST APPRECIATED. THANKS SO VERY MUCH AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL RICHLY ALWAYS! WITH VERY WARM REGARDS, KEN EBACHER
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April 6th, 2010 at 6:18 am
with all your knowledge of health- you don't know that 85% of calcium is destroyed by pasteuriziation??? that is why the elderly say they drank milk all their life and they end up having a hip replaced —I've been drinking raw for years. this so-called danger promoted by the gov't is a lie, they watch the raw milk farmers like a hawk, and they are trying to elimate them. check with the Amish and see how many times they got sick from raw!!! and check with the old timers. yes any farm that is not clean can have problems. have u heard about the meat,tomatoe.peanut,alfalfa sprout,and on and on and on recalls last couple yrs.
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Chris and Kara Mohr Reply:
April 6th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for the email — I would love to see the references you have to support your statements as I haven’t come across that research. Thanks!
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April 15th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Can you list the 11 foods? My son can't drink milk and I've stopped drinking it too. My other son doesn't drink enough to get the daily calcium alotment. I'd love to know what the 11 foods are so I can incorporate them into our diet if I don't already. Thanks!
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June 12th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
I’ve drank so much milk all my life. I was active in sports – captain of the volleyball team, home run hitter in softball, won 3 medals in tae kwon do as a brown belt, played ice hockey, and never suffered a broken bone my entire life. I’m currently 36 years old. I do however, have a friend in FL in great shape who is in her 60′s and has osteoporosis. She was a vegetarian all her life and took calcium supplements and food alternatives. I have asthma and ice cream makes me feel as though I’m producing more mucous but you know what? So does orange juice and other cold drinks when I hork them down within a certain time frame. Come to think of it, any citrus gets my mucous production going so I guess oranges are evil as well. The only person that died from cancer in my milk drinking family was my grandmother who smoked like a chimney – from lung cancer.
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