Dairy Products Continued - The Nature of Milk

Last week I discussed the reasons why dairy products as conventionally used are not a good form of calcium for us to consume because in the end we end up losing more calcium than we take in. But what other reasons should this dairy product recommendation be eliminated from the Food Pyramid?

First, consider the source of the recommendation. The Dairy Industry is a multi-billion dollar industry. What food company wouldn't want their food products listed on the official Food Pyramid? There isn't much scientific evidence that cow's milk is actually good for the body, but there is a whole lot of advertising going on about milk products. Although some won't appreciate the suggestion of conspiracy in the Dairy Industry, there is growing evidence that money had more to do with the Dairy Industry's appearance on the Food Pyramid than actual scientific proof of its nutritional value - especially with information that is finally coming to light about how much harm dairy products actually do to the body. The FDA, USDA, and other organizations don't always have our best interest at heart, sad to say.

Now let's look at what milk really is. When a baby is inside the womb, it is fed by its mother through the umbilical cord. This is basically a blood transfusion from the mother to the baby. Predigested nutrients are going directly into the baby's bloodstream. When the baby is born, this process continues - through the mother's milk. Milk is a predigested food, a nutrient delivery system, designed to go directly into the new baby's bloodstream because the baby does not have any digestive juices of its own yet. A close analysis of milk shows that milk has the same make-up as blood, minus the red corpuscles. This is the perfect food for babies.
What causes a baby to wean from its mother? As soon as the baby's digestive juices come in, around 18 months, mother's milk mixes with those digestive juices and becomes acidic in the body, and the baby knows to wean. This is more apparent with other mammals who are more instinctual about this process, rather than weaning their babies for convenience and then forcing them to continue drinking milk from another mammal from then on.
So as I said, once the child has digestive juices, milk then turns acidic in the body. Acid creates not only calcium loss, but large amounts of mucus to protect the body's organs. Cow's milk is the number one cause of congestion, allergies, asthma, colds, and other mucus conditions.

Frank A. Oski, M.D., chief of pediatrics at John Hopkins School of Medicine stated that "at least 50 percent of all children in the United States are allergic to cow's milk, many undiagnosed. Dairy products are the leading cause of food allergy..., constipation, and fatigue. Many cases of asthma and sinus infections are reported to be relieved and even eliminated by cutting out dairy. The exclusion of dairy, however, must be complete to see any benefit."

Taking a closer look at cow's milk, this nutrient delivery system sends proteins directly into the bloodstream, which would be perfect for a growing cow, but these types of proteins are not right for a human's bloodstream, and the immune system has to go to work to get rid of these foreign proteins. The proteins in cow's milk are the same weight and structure as the beta cells of a human pancreas. When a child drinks cow's milk, those proteins can attach themselves to the pancreas. Then when the immune system discovers these proteins that are actually foreign, it will attack them, and many times it attacks the pancreas along with it, destroying the insulin-producing cells, creating Juvenile Onset Diabetes - Type 1. These proteins can attach themselves to other areas of the body as well, creating allergies or other auto-immune disorders depending on the individual's genetic susceptibilities. Rheumatoid arthritis if the proteins attach to the joints. Asthma if the proteins attach to the lungs & bronchioles. Crohn's Disease if they attach to the colon wall, etc.

An article titled, "More Evidence that Milk Causes Diabetes and Anemia" in Prevention and Nutrition revealed the following: "It has long been suspected that cow's milk proteins are a principal cause of diabetes in children, and a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine adds more support for this explanation. In comparisons of different countries, the prevalence of insulin dependent diabetes parallels the consumption of cow's milk." (The actual report being cited here was published in Volume 327 of the New England Journal of Medicine in July of 1992.)

Has anyone ever used milk as an ant-acid to curb heartburn or soothe an ulcer?? Here's where it gets a little tricky. It is true what I said about milk turning acidic when it mixes with digestive juices, however, milk itself is alkaline because of its high calcium content. Therefore when it first hits the stomach it will neutralize the acids in the stomach. Then after mixing with the stomach acid and bypassing the stomach it turns acidic, and that is the state it is in when it enters the bloodstream. It is the opposite of citrus fruits, like lemons, which are acidic themselves, and when they go into the stomach they increase stomach acid production, but then become alkalizing once they bypass the stomach and enter the bloodstream.
So milk and dairy products neutralize stomach acid, making it difficult to digest any foods eaten with the dairy products, allowing other foods' proteins into the bloodstream undigested. This is how milk contributes to food allergies. The immune system attacks those undigested proteins and creates an allergic reaction whenever that food is eaten.

"If you really want to play it safe, you may decide to join the growing number of Americans who are eliminating dairy products from their diets altogether. Although this sounds radical to those of us weaned on milk and the five basic food groups, it is eminently viable. Indeed, of all mammals, only humans - and then only a minority, principally Caucasians - continue to drink milk beyond babyhood." (March 1991 Medical Reader)

Stop and think about what you're drinking the next time you pick up a glass of milk. If it were human milk, might you be hesitating a little more? Yet, that would be safer for you to drink because at least it would be the milk of your own species. Think about those you know with allergies, asthma, colds, congestion, or juvenile diabetes - or this might be yourself. Try the no-milk or dairy products challenge for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Aside from the juvenile diabetes, the other symptoms and conditions will most likely improve tremendously.