MILK IS BAD FOR ME?! HA! well....(MUST READ*)

ash15nicole

My parents and my brother have recently (within the past 2 years) found out that they are all allergic to dairy. They only drink soy or almond milk now. Since I don't live with them I continued to drink regular milk. At times I feel like I have an allergic reaction to it and other times I just try to ignore it because I DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP MILK! Well my mom keeps pushing me, "Ash, drink almond milk instead. Ash, you're allergic to dairy, I can see them symptoms. Ash, regular cow's milk is bad for you."
WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY MOM??? Milk is BAD for me? HA! Hardly. Milk gives my bones calcium to prevent osteoperosis. Milk has protein. Milk is part of the food pyramid! Haven't you seen the Got Milk? commercials? everyone in the commercials look incredible- it must be because they "got milk!"
Now don't get me wrong, I actually like the taste of almond milk. I have no problem drinking it. But that would mean going out and buying my own milk rather than just drinking the regular milk in the house, and why would I do that? Well after so many weeks of my mom telling me to switch to almond milk and being told to stop drinking milk and maybe I'd lose some weight since milk is fattening, I decided to do some research. I set out to prove my mom wrong, that milk IS good for us. And I came across just one article that began to change my mind in the first few small paragraphs. Yep. That's all it took for me. ONE ARTICLE. Of course I read more than just the one article, but this one had me convinced. Now my mind is completely changed and I'm on the opposite team. Milk is bad for us!! We are the only creature that drinks ANOTHER animals milk. That can't be right... Well if this interests you I STRONGLY urge you to read this article. Yes, it's a bit lengthy but it explains EVERYTHING so much better than I could (plus this is already getting long, if you are even still reading haha)
I learned so much from this article. It is VERY interesting and informative. I don't have kids yet, but when I do, they will not be drinking regular cow's milk.
If you decide to read the article, or you've actually read this whole post lol please respond and let me know your thoughts!! i am very curious to see what my fellow MFPers think regarding this topic!

so without further ado...here is the webiste

http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html

JulieTX86

I love milk, so there is no way I can read the article. If I have to give up milk to I might cry. :sad:

ash15nicole

I love milk, so there is no way I can read the article. If I have to give up milk to I might cry. :sad:

I promise I felt the SAME way Julie! I mean I had probably 5 servings a day of just plain milk. in my cereal, with cookies, just by itself! no joke.

also, this post is in NO way to try and persuade anyone to believe what i believe! I am just very passionate about this now and want my MFP friends to be aware!

JulieTX86

I love milk, so there is no way I can read the article. If I have to give up milk to I might cry. :sad:

I promise I felt the SAME way Julie! I mean I had probably 5 servings a day of just plain milk. in my cereal, with cookies, just by itself! no joke.

Exactly, there is no way I am reading it. I have heard stuff about it before, and I knew that we were the only species to drink another species milk, but I love milk, so I am going to keep drinking in my ignorant bliss. :blushing: I use it in cereal and to cook with but, I drink it mostly just by itself.

Oh and I didn't take this post as you trying to make others believe what you believe, I know you posted it just to put information out there. I am just stubborn. haha

catcrazy

Too lengthy and horrible font for me to read.

Its fine that you are happy to give it up but I find this........ " We are the only creature that drinks ANOTHER animals milk. That can't be right" a very strange thing to say, we are also the only creature that kills and COOKS meat to eat, that pick and COOK fruit and vegetables. That use herbs and spices to season our food. The list could go on. I'm not keen on milk, have never drunk just milk (bleugh to me) but I do use it in cooking, eat yoghurts etc.

Each to their own I guess

niknok28

Makes sense thanks for posting Dr. Kradjian seems to check out just fine as well. Although soy certainly isn't a healthy alternative in my own opinion. I pretty much stay away from everything that companies spend millions to tell me I need to eat.

I also use milk in cooking and as a creamer. I buy local and don't gulp it down simply because I don't like it plain.

HealthyishWithMaggieG

I don't have milk allergies. Actually, I think I'm addicted to milk. Ha! Yes, I read all the way through your post because it's a subject I find fascinating. I've always thought people like vegetarians/vegans were unhealthy nut jobs. Well, lately, I've opened my mind and have been learning about vegan diets. Milk consumption and how bad it is is one of the most talked about subjects. It kills me to hear it every time, but it's starting to make sense to me. And, really, we do get enough calcium from other sources. The problem that's causing things like osteoporosis isn't a lack of calcium in our diets, it's a lack of Vitamin D and other nutrients that help our bodies absorb the calcium that we're already consuming. Plus, there are other things that we consume that suck the calcium out of our bones or at least block it from being absorbed, too.

I haven't read the article in your link yet because I don't know if I can take it. I still love milk too much. I have reduced my consumption though.

Sparren

Too lengthy and horrible font for me to read.

Its fine that you are happy to give it up but I find this........ " We are the only creature that drinks ANOTHER animals milk. That can't be right" a very strange thing to say, we are also the only creature that kills and COOKS meat to eat, that pick and COOK fruit and vegetables. That use herbs and spices to season our food. The list could go on. I'm not keen on milk, have never drunk just milk (bleugh to me) but I do use it in cooking, eat yoghurts etc.

Each to their own I guess

MariSama44

Humans in the western world evolved to eat the milk of other animals because it was one of the only available food sources around: goats and cows. To say that its "wrong" or "Unnatural" to eat milk is silly. Did you know ants heard aphids and milk fluid off of them to consume? We aren't the only animal that does this per se, but we are the only animal that has evolved enough to cultivate plants and raise livestock of our own, so its as natural to drink milk as it is for us to raise crops and domesticate animals. We've evolved to be resourceful animals and use whatever we have on hand for sustinence. While our bodies arent originaly designed for milk consumption after infancy, westerners have adapted to become tolerant of lactose and can actually produce an enzyme to break it down. Milk and dairy is very nutritionally rich, and not all fat is bad fat you know. That said, i think people have a problem with moderation of said products, and I do agree that younger children should be drinking it more. The whole got milk thing is a ploy to get you to buy milk. Moderation is key.

SandraMay1982

I find the "when I have children they won't drink cows milk" interesting. ha.

My son is 17 months old and still has formula. Why? because cows milk doesn't have what he needs. Yes it's Whey Protein, I had issues breastfeeding him, But I wouldn't be feeding him now anyway. ha. I drink cows milk, I haven't really tried others. But. I can't be bothered reading lengthy things at the moment either.

joleanrook

I'm in total agreement with Ash both as a former milk lover and a student of nutrition. And just because you can say we are the only species that "cooks meat" that doesn't negate the previous statement about us being the only ones who intentionally drink another animals milk. The one point doesn't cancel out the validity of the other. The fact of the matter is there is way too much crap in milk (especially modern day milk with it's hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics) to go on ignoring the links there may be to other modern diseases and conditions.

I say all that and now I confess, yes I eat cheese, but far less than ever before and I substitute Silk or Almond milk in place of regular milk. This article is a reminder to me of WHY I am slowly but surely cutting dairy out of my diet. There are plenty of other foods rich in vitamin D and calcium without all the fat! Thanks Ash!

joleanrook

I pretty much stay away from everything that companies spend millions to tell me I need to eat.

AMEN!

MisdemeanorM

I could only skim it, too long an article for my Saturday night liking but it seems like a lot of the arguments are more regarding poor conditions of dairy farms, artificial hormone use, (which all affects milk quality) etc than just plain milk being bad for you.

joleanrook

We evolved to drink milk?? OK... now I think this is going into a whole other realm of debate that MFP just simply isn't the place for. The girl was just trying to share some info that she found interesting ... if you don't like it or don't agree then don't read it! Why do we have to debate who is right? Why can't someone just post something they found interesting and let everyone else use their own judgment to see how it should or should not apply to them??

MariSama44

"We evolved to drink milk?? OK... now I think this is going into a whole other realm of debate that MFP just simply isn't the place for. The girl was just trying to share some info that she found interesting ... if you don't like it or don't agree then don't read it! Why do we have to debate who is right? Why can't someone just post something they found interesting and let everyone else use their own judgment to see how it should or should not apply to them?? "

Jeeze, calm down. I was just stating some facts to explain WHY we started drinking milk, and why some people can and cant drink it, and why we still drink it today. I can read it if i dont agree, and I can post if I dont agree, these are public forums. I didnt say drinking alot of it was good for you or that the points in the article were wrong, but its silly to say that milk is bad for you when we've been drinking it for thousands of years. Whats bad is the hormones and chemicals in todays processed foods, and whats bad is drinking gallons of it when you dont need all of the extra nutrients/calories in it. Relax, that's all I was trying to say.

ash15nicole

Humans in the western world evolved to eat the milk of other animals because it was one of the only available food sources around: goats and cows. To say that its "wrong" or "Unnatural" to eat milk is silly. Did you know ants heard aphids and milk fluid off of them to consume? We aren't the only animal that does this per se, but we are the only animal that has evolved enough to cultivate plants and raise livestock of our own, so its as natural to drink milk as it is for us to raise crops and domesticate animals. We've evolved to be resourceful animals and use whatever we have on hand for sustinence. While our bodies arent originaly designed for milk consumption after infancy, westerners have adapted to become tolerant of lactose and can actually produce an enzyme to break it down. Milk and dairy is very nutritionally rich, and not all fat is bad fat you know. That said, i think people have a problem with moderation of said products, and I do agree that younger children should be drinking it more. The whole got milk thing is a ploy to get you to buy milk. Moderation is key.

well if you believe in evolution maybe that makes sense but thats a whole other debate I dont think needs to be discussed in this forum. You say for me to say its "wrong" or "unnatural" to eat milk is silly...well I think evolution is silly. But we wont get into that. I was just posting what ive found in my research. if you want to believe it, great. if you dont, thats great too. No need to criticize (and this isnt just in reply to this post..its to everyone who has and will comment- in general.)
I was posting this as a informative nutrition article not a topic for debate, If you disagree with the article and with my findings, I AM OKAY WITH THAT!

MariSama44

:noway: I'm not criticizing anything, gosh. I mean to say humans have adapted to eat milk as a form of sustinence in western culture. Which is why most milk products came out of england, germany and france. And whites of western descent tend to be able to digest lactose because of this exposure to milk, its an adaptation. I just found it intresting to bring up when talking about milk.

catcrazy

The one point doesn't cancel out the validity of the other.

I never said it did but I was pointing out that its a very strange thing to say when we are very different to most creatures in our eating habits, period....why bother pointing out only one of our foibles? I wasn't having a go at the OP, I was doing exactly the same as she was, voicing my own opinion.

Like I said, I'm not a big milk fan, have never pushed it on my children as they were all breastfed and pulled faces when first offered cows milk and just didn't feel comfortable feeding them hormone laced "calcium" I've also used organic milk products where/when I can. But I still think its a case of each to their own. Just about everything we put in or on our bodies has a horror story linked to it somewhere, I doubt there are many people that haven't heard of the hormones, pesticides and other drugs in milk but I guess this article will educate someone, somewhere so they can made an informed decision on whether they wish to continue to drink milk.

YeaILift

My main problem with the claims against drinking milk in the article is that all the sources provided were from 1992 or earlier. I am going to be presumptuous here and say that the standards for milk regulation have evolved over the past 18 years.

beahawk

I'm in total agreement with Ash both as a former milk lover and a student of nutrition. And just because you can say we are the only species that "cooks meat" that doesn't negate the previous statement about us being the only ones who intentionally drink another animals milk. The one point doesn't cancel out the validity of the other. The fact of the matter is there is way too much crap in milk (especially modern day milk with it's hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics) to go on ignoring the links there may be to other modern diseases and conditions.

I say all that and now I confess, yes I eat cheese, but far less than ever before and I substitute Silk or Almond milk in place of regular milk. This article is a reminder to me of WHY I am slowly but surely cutting dairy out of my diet. There are plenty of other foods rich in vitamin D and calcium without all the fat! Thanks Ash!

I'm like you. I don't buy or drink milk like I used to but I do eat cheese but not as much as I used to either. There's some validity to this topic. There are a lot of lactose intolerent people out there including me. You don't need milk to get calcium - you can get it from other sources like leafy green vegetables.

trinityj1

I drink whole milk from a local dairy and I know there's none of the additives scaremongering vegan propaganda groups like PETA wax horrific and disgusting about. New research comes out all the time which is to the effect of "oh about saying eggs, milk, and real butter were terrible for you... our bad, turns out these staples of our diet for the past thousand years are still good for us."

The real thing as close to how it came out of the ground/animal as possible is always best. Whole milk with its healthful fats, protein and calcium is infinitely better for you than high-processed soy (which has a little known laundry list of side-effects and a cumulative effect on hormones, especially in men) and other processed substitutes.

Saying it is "unnatural" to drink the milk of another animal is an empty appeal to rhetoric. It is a meaningless statement. Define the word "natural". Is it "natural" to use tools, to heat our houses, to make milk-like substances out of soy and almonds, to wear clothes? Appealing to the cooking of food may not "negate" the original statement, but that is because the original statement is not an argument.