Milk or No Milk?

"I also got a big laugh out your putting forth this idea like you came up with it all by yourself. Someone brings this up several times a week on this forum and it's been out there for years and years. So congrats on coming up with a "new" idea all on your own. "

Play nice. Lots of people come up with theories and ideas about things without even realising that other people have had the same idea in the past. That's part of what makes people bond - the commonality of human experience! I don't think this guy was trying to claim someone else's idea as his own.

It's simple survival. Cows can turn grass into milk. Which means if you are hungry and you have a cow you can feed yourself by simply letting the cow graze. Milk has an excellent nutrient balance and the body does eventually adapt to the food you eat. In fact milk is one of the best post workout drinks you can have.

No worries if you don't want a scoop of ice cream or some yogurt that means more for me.

Cows don't "turn grass into milk"... humans take a cow, get her knocked up, then steal her baby away so we can drink the milk that was intended for it.

Yes, cows do turn grass into milk. After humans get her knocked up , then steal her baby away so we can drink the milk that was intended for it. What's even better is when we then eat the baby. And wash it down with a nice cold glass of milk.

Gross. I'll be washing my meat down with soda like nature intended. Milk is for poptarts.

As a former biological anthropology instructor I would answer this way: Lactase persistence (lactose tolerance) beyond youth is a recessive trait. Genetically, population wise for many years, we've been hardwired to become lactose intolerant by our adolescence. So why do we drink milk? Probably biocultural reasons - herding cultures developed and found a readily-available protein supply in other animals' milk. Over generations, those who had the recessive traits that allowed them to continue to drink milk flourished and passed on their genes. Thanks to evolution, many people can digest milk just fine.

Does this mean we SHOULD drink milk if we don't HAVE to? That's another question that seems to be pretty well debated on both sides of the scientific isle for a host of biological and ethical reasons. Me, I'm vegan, and I've felt a lot healthier since becoming so. Almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, etc. substitute just fine for me. For others, they seem fine/healthy with animal milk.

Just my two or three cents

Cows milk is the only milk closest to human milk. Soy milk, turns to estrogen in a males body, most men in general, but especially ones trying to lose weight don't want added estrogen in their body. Rice milk only contains one gram of protein per 8 oz compared to cows milk which contains 8, as well as rice milk is higher in carbs (30) than cows milk (11), as well as lower in calcium, rice milk has 20gms compared to 291gms in cows milk. The same can be said for almond milk, lower in fat and calories, also lower in calcium and protein by comperably the same as rice milk. But if you go with skim or 1% cows milk, you reduce the fat and calories while keeping the protein and calcium.

Almond milk does lack protein, but it is actually higher in calcium.

I find drinking cow milk to be pretty odd. Especially since it is designed to nourish baby cows, who gain hundreds of pounds in the first year of their life!! I think the mere fact that there are so many people who are lactose intolerant/ have trouble with milk is a clear sign that it is not good for us.

People are allergic to peanuts and many other foods. Does that mean they are bad for everyone else?

Cows milk is the only milk closest to human milk. Soy milk, turns to estrogen in a males body, most men in general, but especially ones trying to lose weight don't want added estrogen in their body. Rice milk only contains one gram of protein per 8 oz compared to cows milk which contains 8, as well as rice milk is higher in carbs (30) than cows milk (11), as well as lower in calcium, rice milk has 20gms compared to 291gms in cows milk. The same can be said for almond milk, lower in fat and calories, also lower in calcium and protein by comperably the same as rice milk. But if you go with skim or 1% cows milk, you reduce the fat and calories while keeping the protein and calcium.

Almond milk does lack protein, but it is actually higher in calcium.

Almond milk and skim milk both lack the essential amino acids found only in full-fat dairy.

About 5000 years ago (give or take a few) the gene that "turns off" our ability to make lactase when we are weaned stayed on and we stopped getting sick from other species milk. Maybe our DNA knew that it was highly nutritious stuff.

What's amazing is how many lactose intolerant people can drink fresh raw milk with no issues. They're only intolerant to highly pasteurized, homogenized, stripped-of-nutrients-and-then-fortified "milk".

I don't call that white stuff sitting on grocery store shelves milk. It's entirely too processed and way beyond being considered whole food.

And why add vitamins A and D to skim milk? These are fat soluble vitamins and must be taken with fat for the body to be able to absorb them.
I love it. Drink skim milk (or eat a low-fat diet) and take fat supplements. (ALA, fish oil, etc) in the form of pills. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

And the main component of breast milk is saturated fat. Yet we are told saturated fat is poison to the human body.

I don't drink much milk. When I eat dairy it is in the form of full fat greek yogurt, full fat natural block cheeses (if I can find ones made from raw milk - mmmmm) and heavy whipping cream - usually in my coffee but have been known to take a swig or two.
If I ever get my hands on some fresh raw milk I will become a regular milk drinker.

Edit: Can't forget my pastured butter!!!! (all the dairy I buy except the yogurt and cheeses I get from local creameries and the cows are pastured. Happy milk!!)

And why add vitamins A and D to skim milk? These are fat soluble vitamins and must be taken with fat for the body to be able to absorb them.
I love it. Drink skim milk (or eat a low-fat diet) and take fat supplements. (ALA, fish oil, etc) in the form of pills. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?

I drink skim milk just because I like the taste better, not because I'm scared of the fat. I've worked my way up to 1% and can tolerate 2% sometimes but that's as far as I like. I get plenty of fat from other places - saturated and otherwise.

I wouldn't say it's an unnatural food, but not a food adult humans need by any means. As you say, what other adult anything suckles at the teat of a completely different mammal? As such, I don't buy into the dairy propaganda establishing it as a necessary food group. It is only designed to sell product. That said, I do occassionally enjoy cheeses, plain Greek Yogurt, or cottage cheese, but they are not exactly staples. I just realize they are luxury not necessity.

We are also the only species that has modified every species we do eat through selective breeding over tens of thousands of years. All the grains we eat have been heavily modified from their original, wild form, the tree fruits we eat have been modified, animals have been modified.

We have been so successful as a species because of our willingness to eat pretty much anything. I'm personally lactose intolerant, but happily drink lactose free milk; having tried all the alternative milks and found them nasty. If you like them, go ahead and drink them, but don't call drinking another animals milk unnatural, while you continue to eat anything else we humans have modified (and I'm not talking about the gmo organisms of the last few decades, I'm talking about anything we have changed over thousands of years through domestication.

Actually, we're not the only animal that domesticates other animals. Look at black garden ants. They produce pheromones that they use for controlling and herding aphids so they can harvest honeydew. Ants have a sweet tooth for honeydew. So until ants give up honeydew, I'm going to continue drinking milk daily. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.