Lactophilia

So.
Milk:  It does a body good?
Or maybe,
Milk:  It does a body more harm than good, but the Dairy Council is such a powerful lobby that most of us American lactophiles will never find this out?
I hope I'm not sounding too conspiracy theory for everyone.  I hate to sound like a crazy.  And yet...

I was shocked to discover a few years ago (while reading Barbra Kingsolver's fantastic book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) that most adult humans don't drink any milk at all.  It's basically just people of European descent who have incorporated it into their diets beyond infancy.  About 90% of people of African descent are lactose intolerant.  The statistic for Caucasians is somewhere between 20% and 40%, but the reality is that most people are accustomed to the complications caused by a milk allergy that has never been diagnosed.

I grew up loving milk, and believing that it was a near perfect food - protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals, all in one tasty beverage, right?  But after eliminating it for a few weeks last year, I was surprised at how quickly it lost its appeal for me.  After not drinking it for a while, it started to smell really off to me - regardless of the expiration date.  So with few exceptions, I've been off it for about a year.

One of the major arguments in favor of milk is that we need the calcium, right?  The irony here is that there is indeed a very clear link between milk and osteoporosis, but it's not what we've been lead to believe.  The incidence of osteoporosis actually increases dramatically in countries that drink milk, and is virtually non-existent in countries where dairy isn't consumed.

Another little-known fact is that today's milk is not the same milk our progenitors drank.  Fifty years ago the average dairy cow gave about 2,000 pounds of milk a year.  Today, dairy cows give up to 50,000 pounds per year.  The increase is due to a combination of factors including forced feedings, specialized breeding, and of course the ubiquitous hormones and antibiotics.

I am not in favor of fear-mongering, and I hope that's not what I'm doing here.  I just truly find this all fascinating - and one of the most intriguing parts of what I'm learning is how few people seem to know about it - and how skeptical people are when you bring it up.  Try telling someone that milk may cause osteoporosis, and see what I mean.

There is a fantastic article written by a surgeon in California.  He specializes in surgical treatment of female cancers, and has a lot to say about the relationship between milk and everything from ear infections to cancer.  It's long, but if you want to read more, check it out:  http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html

There's also a book which I just started called The China Study by T. Colin Campbell.  In this book, Campbell looks at an entire culture's health issues rather than just a sample of a few hundred or thousand people.  I haven't gotten very far yet, but it's fascinating, and I know he has some pretty interesting ideas about what animal products (including milk) do to our bodies in the long run.

I also highly recommend Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbra Kingsolver.  It doesn't have a ton about milk specifically (which you're probably grateful for) but is the story of how she and her family became locavores for a year.  And when she says 'local' she means it - if she didn't grow it or kill it herself, she shook the hand of the person who did.  Otherwise they did without.  Imagine no bananas for a whole year!  No pineapple!  No mangos!  Aaaahhhh!!!!

The good news is that while my kids are tolerating our alternative milks just fine these days, they've also always loved nature's perfect beverage:  water!  I'm always shocked at how many people don't ever think to drink plain ol' water.  Our doctor took one look at my very tall thirty-five pound 2 yr old Yummy, and pointed out that he did not in fact need to be drinking ANY calories at all.  Drink water!  I recently saw a poster that said "Coffee:  The Original Energy Drink."  I'm here to propose that water may be the original health drink.  It's an oldie but a goodie.  Bottoms up!