Cow's Milk
Last week I talked about Rice milk vs. Soy milk. I mentioned that they were both a better alternative to Cow's milk. So today I am going to talk about Cow's milk and why I don't drink it and I don't give it to my family. You can decide for yourself and for your family.
Last week I talked about Rice milk vs. Soy milk. I mentioned that they were both a better alternative to Cow's milk. So today I am going to talk about Cow's milk and why I don't drink it and I don't give it to my family. You can decide for yourself and for your family.
Cow's milk has several problems with it, but there are some benefits too. The benefits are calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin K, and if they are grass fed cows they have the essential fatty acid conjugated linoleci acid.
Now on to the bad side of cow's milk. Lets start off with the hormones. Cow's milk has natural occurring hormones just like a woman's breast milk does. They are for calves and their growth rate, which is a lot quicker than human growth rate. Calves stop nursing after 8 to 10 months old, when they don't need their mother's milk anymore. Currently cows are given a genetically engineered hormone manufactured by Monsanto, called Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). This hormone acts like the natural hormone the cow already has but it makes the cow produce more milk than the cow normally would. This causes many problems. We've all seen the commercials on T.V. promoting new drugs, they list off all of the side affects really fast hoping no one will remember them or pay attention to them. This is part of what the warning label on the Monsanto's Posilac drug (the hormone) says, "Cows injected with POSILAC are at an increased risk for clinical mastitis (visibly abnormal milk). The number of cows affected with clinical mastitis and the number of cases per cow may increase... In some herds, use of POSILAC has been associated with increases in somatic cell counts [pus & bacteria]." Then is goes on to say, "The use of POSILAC may result in an increase in digestive disorders such as, indigestion, bloat, diarrhea... Studies indicated that cows injected with POSILAC has increased number of enlarged hocks and lesions of the knee and of the foot region." Quoted by Mike Ewall. Amazingly after reading only that small part of the warning label the farmers are still injecting their cows every TWO weeks! When the cows do get mastitis they are given antibiotics which in turn the residue from those antibiotics end up in the milk, yuck! I don't want to drink that, do you? And that was only one side affect of rBGH. Remember that it can increases pus and bacteria and you are drinking that. Now if that doesn't turn your stomach maybe this will. When cows are given rBGH it also makes the cows increase production of another hormone called Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). This hormone is actually in mother's breast milk too. It is the hormone responsible for growth. In humans it is bound to proteins so it is perfect for our bodies to digest it and use it to help us grow. In cow's milk it is not bound to proteins and thus harder for us to digest. But the biggest concern/problem with this is it behaves, in adults, as a cancer accelerator. Normally your cells know when to divide and when to die, but when your cells are promoted to grow and divide from IGF-1 they don't know when to die, they are out of control and that is what cancer is, out of control cell division.
Okay that is enough on that "soap box".
If you are drinking milk for the benefit of calcium I'm sorry but it's not the best source of calcium for your body. In fact the best ratio for calcium and magnesium (you need both together) is a 1:2 ratio. The ratio in cow's milk is a 10:1 ratio. So your body is not able to process the calcium and use it and you can actually have a magnesium deficiency. Also because of this ratio in cow's milk the calcium can cause kidney stones and gallstones to form. You can get the correct ratio from seeds and crunchy vegetables like carrots and broccoli.
There are just three more things I would like to talk to you about cow's milk; homogenization, pasteurization, and mucus growth. Many people think that homogenization makes the milk more healthy. Really all it does is make the milk last longer on the shelf. In the process of homogenization they take the fat from the milk and they break it down into very small fat globules so it can't raise to the top of the milk like the cream does. The big problem with this is that your body can not process it. Usually your liver can help digest the fat but after it has been homogenized it can not and it goes directly into the blood stream and starts to cause damage to your body. Pasteurization isn't good either. Remember all of those good vitamins and minerals that are in milk, well when it is pasteurized (heated to 160*F or higher) it diminishes those vitamins and minerals. It destroys the B vitamins and kills the good bacteria. Pasteurization also denatures (breaks down) the proteins so our body can not use them. Drinking milk also promotes mucus growth in the body. There are two places that mucus starts to grow first, your lungs and your intestines. In your lungs it can cause problems like asthma. In your intestines it coats the walls and inhibits your body from absorbing the nutrients from the food you eat. There are many health problems that can come from drinking milk especially in young children. Here are a few websites that go into more detail on that.
There are some other reason why I don't have my children drink cow's milk. I won't go into them now. I think I've talked your ear off enough for one day. Now you can make the decision for yourself and for your family.
Other Sources: www.ejnet.org/bgh/nogood.html
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