Humans are the only animals on the planet that drink another animal’s milk. Thus, by definition, drinking cows’ milk is extremely unnatural.
Despite thousands of years of cattle domestication, the human digestive system hasn’t even adapted to dairy consumption, which is why you probably can’t do the “Gallon Challenge.”
The Weaning of America...
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In fact, 60 percent of adults worldwide are unable to effectively digest lactose, the main sugar found in milk. So why do Americans insist on consuming massive amounts of dairy products? Dairy industry propaganda and decades of lobbying have made us believe that milk “does a body good,” when in fact it only increases the risk of disease and unhappiness for millions of humans and cows alike.
Milk’s inclusion in the U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid is a direct result of ties to the dairy industry. Most non-Caucasian ethnic groups are almost completely lactose intolerant, yet receive all their required nutrients.
While our favorite, mucus-like mammary secretion does contain large amounts of calcium, that calcium is unlikely to be fully absorbed. Enzymes such as phosphatase, critical to calcium absorption, are completely destroyed by pasteurization.
This means that the calcium content on the label isn’t what your body can utilize. The best sources of calcium are actually leafy green vegetables, like broccoli, collard greens, kale and spinach, which also come without the high proportion of saturated fat that contributes to obesity and heart disease.
Harvard studies have actually shown an increase in osteoporosis and bone-breakage in people who drink milk. The former chairman of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Frank Oski, has identified hormone-ridden commercial milk as the cause of 60 percent of ear infections in kids under the age of 6. Milk consumption is the biggest cause of iron-deficiency anemia in children, according to the American Association of Pediatrics.
September 25, 2009
