Cows milk vs almond milk

I know it's a bit of a gross-factor thing, but if you look at what's in milk (... pus) it can be rather nice to switch to non-dairy alternatives.

There is no pus in milk. All commercially sold milk is heavily tested and if any sample doesn't meet those standards, the whole tank is discarded.

I am inclined to agree. I grew up on a dairy farm. the milk is tested and if anything is found to be contaminated (a cow may have had a mild infection, etc...) the whole tank is drained. period. i remember it well, because when that happened...it would be a very meager week for us.

I grew up on a dairy farm as well. The pus comment is totally ridiculous. The rare times the tank had to be drained, my dad would be completely disheartened as it was the means for our survival. We worked very hard to produce grade A milk and ran a very clean facility.

What happened to the calves that were born from the dairy cows?

On my uncle's farm, the calves stayed with their mother until they were ready to be weaned.

This happens at the majority of milk producers I personally know here in Texas, too. Then once they're weaned, they just keep getting milked. I don't know what benefit is had from taking a calf away from its mother anyway. You'd still have to give it milk; it may as well be direct from mom.

Goodness...cows have calves...they nurse for a few days, then are bottle fed. Those calves - the females are raised as the next generation of dairy cows. The males are usually sold off the farm since they are cost prohibitive to raise.

Because everything natural ia good and perfect and impossible to improve. Nature loves you and cares for you, it wants you to come into its van so it can give you a treat.

I know it's a bit of a gross-factor thing, but if you look at what's in milk (... pus) it can be rather nice to switch to non-dairy alternatives.

There is no pus in milk. All commercially sold milk is heavily tested and if any sample doesn't meet those standards, the whole tank is discarded.

I am inclined to agree. I grew up on a dairy farm. the milk is tested and if anything is found to be contaminated (a cow may have had a mild infection, etc...) the whole tank is drained. period. i remember it well, because when that happened...it would be a very meager week for us.

I grew up on a dairy farm as well. The pus comment is totally ridiculous. The rare times the tank had to be drained, my dad would be completely disheartened as it was the means for our survival. We worked very hard to produce grade A milk and ran a very clean facility.

What happened to the calves that were born from the dairy cows?

On my uncle's farm, the calves stayed with their mother until they were ready to be weaned.

This happens at the majority of milk producers I personally know here in Texas, too. Then once they're weaned, they just keep getting milked. I don't know what benefit is had from taking a calf away from its mother anyway. You'd still have to give it milk; it may as well be direct from mom.

Goodness...cows have calves...they nurse for a few days, then are bottle fed. Those calves - the females are raised as the next generation of dairy cows. The males are usually sold off the farm since they are cost prohibitive to raise.

They are rarely bottle fed. It's more expensive both in materials (formula) and labor (having to bottle feed dozens of calves 2-3 times a day) to purposely pull calves from the cows before they are ready to be weaned.

I'll admit I assumed incorrectly that almond milk had protein in it because, you know...almonds.

So now that I look it up nutritionally and see that it is mostly carbohydrates...which is a bit odd considering almonds, I have to ask....how much of "almond milk" is actually from almonds and/or how much post-processing is involved?

How do you mulch a food that is pretty much mostly protein and fat (nuts), mix it with water and end up with something that is mostly carbs? I guess you do that then you boil it or something to denature the protein and separate the fat? But then you basically just have sugar water.

I'm confused. What exactly is almond milk? Have to go look this up now.

Alright yeah so they grind up almonds in water...then they strain that out removing much of the protein and fat (you know, what is actually making up almonds) and then they add a lot of sweetener...hence the carbohydrates.

Wierd.

So how is this a substitute for milk? Milk is calorically mostly protein and fat with some carbs, this is calorically mostly carbs with some protein and fat...they seem like nutritional polar opposites.

Because someone erroneously labeled it milk and due to that, we now have to compare the two, pretending that one can substitute the other.

I find if ironic that the added nutrients to almond milk are heralded ( calcium, vit d, vit A) while they are poopooed by even the Harvard School of Public Health for vit a in milk and added nutrients are poopooed in wheat and cereal products.

I personally am of the opinion that "fortification" is a valuable tool to ensure an adequately nourished population which may not consume "ideal" foods. I just find some things ironic.

Yeah, I don't get why some folks think it's bad to add vitamins to your food.

Because everything natural ia good and perfect and impossible to improve. Nature loves you and cares for you, it wants you to come into its van so it can give you a treat.

Everything that is "natural" is not good for you.

As far as the pus in milk is concerned I totally believe there is pus in cows milk. In fact, its hard for me to believe that there wouldn't be pus in cows milk. That said it doesn't concern me in the slightest. Why? Well to know you'd have to know what pus actually is.

Pus is dead leukocytes, that is it...that is what it is. If there is dead leukocytes in something then there is pus in there. So what are leukocytes. Well leukocytes are the bodies cell based innate immune system colloquially referred to as "white blood cells". Pus gets a bad rep because when you get an infection its the leukocytes job to rush in there, start phagocytosing the invading organisms and then dying off themselves leaving pus. As a result people associate pus with disease, infection, bad stuff, ickiness etc etc. Fact is though all pus is is dead leukocytes and guess what, there are leukocytes in milk.

Those leukocytes aren't going to survive pasteurization which will kill them and therefore make them pus because by definition pus is just dead leukocytes. This is not gross, this is not unexpected.

So my suspicion is some marketer for anti-dairy at some point realized this, realized the knee-jerk response the public would have to hearing there was icky icky pus in something and so they truthfully but disingenuously put out there that there was pus in milk.

Here is the thing though, if that is how we are using pus then there is also plenty of pus in breast milk which of course also has leukocytes...both alive and dead. Of course when that milk hits your stomach acid at that point they are all dead and therefore all pus.

There is nothing wrong with pus anymore than there is anything wrong with dead red blood cells. Animal products are going to have dead animal cells in them. If that bothers you you are probably vegan and this is a moot point for you anyways. Complaining that there is pus in your milk is like complaining there are dead red blood cells in your steak.

As far as the pus in milk is concerned I totally believe there is pus in cows milk. In fact, its hard for me to believe that there wouldn't be pus in cows milk. That said it doesn't concern me in the slightest. Why? Well to know you'd have to know what pus actually is.

Pus is dead leukocytes, that is it...that is what it is. If there is dead leukocytes in something then there is pus in there. So what are leukocytes. Well leukocytes are the bodies cell based innate immune system colloquially referred to as "white blood cells". Pus gets a bad rep because when you get an infection its the leukocytes job to rush in there, start phagocytosing the invading organisms and then dying off themselves leaving pus. As a result people associate pus with disease, infection, bad stuff, ickiness etc etc. Fact is though all pus is is dead leukocytes and guess what, there are leukocytes in milk.

Those leukocytes aren't going to survive pasteurization which will kill them and therefore make them pus because by definition pus is just dead leukocytes. This is not gross, this is not unexpected.

So my suspicion is some marketer for anti-dairy at some point realized this, realized the knee-jerk response the public would have to hearing there was icky icky pus in something and so they truthfully but disingenuously put out there that there was pus in milk.

Here is the thing though, if that is how we are using pus then there is also plenty of pus in breast milk which of course also has leukocytes...both alive and dead. Of course when that milk hits your stomach acid at that point they are all dead and therefore all pus.

There is nothing wrong with pus anymore than there is anything wrong with dead red blood cells. Animal products are going to have dead animal cells in them. If that bothers you you are probably vegan and this is a moot point for you anyways. Complaining that there is pus in your milk is like complaining there are dead red blood cells in your steak.

Nope, sorry but you are wrong. As I have stated in a earlier post milk IS NOT ACCEPTED into a grade A dairy plant that has a high SCC . This is called somatic cell count. There is 4000 lbs of milk on a tanker. A direct mic is done on the sample of milk from this tanker and if there is more than 20 parts per million on the slide, it is not accepted. I'm sure there are other plants in other parts of the world that have that problem but not in the US.. I did this for 37 years so feel I have first hand experience. This is a food source and when this is of course for the public, it is one of the most scrutinized foods by the government. Unbelievable guidelines have to be followed by farmers and cows tested weekly by these plants to make sure the level is very low. So drink your milk and know there is no pus..

Everything that is "natural" is not good for you.

and not everyone can correctly identify sarcasm

The bird struggles with that, as seen on other threads.

Milk is a mammal's secret weapon. A total super food. Anyone who want's to omit it from their diet or go for inferior low fat versions is just being stupid. I'm sorry but what? Even whole milk doesn't have THAT many calories. And pretty much all the calories are packed full of nutritional goodness. Unless you are intolerant to dairy there is literally no sensible reason to avoid cows milk.

Well this is just silly.
People can omit milk from their diet for all sorts of valid reasons.

Yes milk is a mammals 'secret weapon' - for nourishment of their young.
I have no issues with cows milk for human children/ adults - but that's not to say anyone who doesn't use it is stupid.

But perhaps i am just too stupid to understand, you know, being someone who uses the inferior low fat version.

Milk is a mammal's secret weapon. A total super food. Anyone who want's to omit it from their diet or go for inferior low fat versions is just being stupid. I'm sorry but what? Even whole milk doesn't have THAT many calories. And pretty much all the calories are packed full of nutritional goodness. Unless you are intolerant to dairy there is literally no sensible reason to avoid cows milk.

Well this is just silly.
People can omit milk from their diet for all sorts of valid reasons.

Yes milk is a mammals 'secret weapon' - for nourishment of their young.
I have no issues with cows milk for human children/ adults - but that's not to say anyone who doesn't use it is stupid.

But perhaps i am just too stupid to understand, you know, being someone who uses the inferior low fat version.

Yes you are.

Milk is a mammal's secret weapon. A total super food. Anyone who want's to omit it from their diet or go for inferior low fat versions is just being stupid. I'm sorry but what? Even whole milk doesn't have THAT many calories. And pretty much all the calories are packed full of nutritional goodness. Unless you are intolerant to dairy there is literally no sensible reason to avoid cows milk.

Well this is just silly.
People can omit milk from their diet for all sorts of valid reasons.

Yes milk is a mammals 'secret weapon' - for nourishment of their young.
I have no issues with cows milk for human children/ adults - but that's not to say anyone who doesn't use it is stupid.

But perhaps i am just too stupid to understand, you know, being someone who uses the inferior low fat version.

Yes you are.

Well there you go.

Please Continue on with your intelligent contributions to this debate.

Well what do you expect? You apparently don't even know that one of the reasons milk is so good for you is because of the fat in it. If you take that away you remove those calories yes but you are crippling it's nutritional quality. And it's not just about the fat itself. (Though that is believe it or not good for you) The fat aids in the uptake of the other nutrients in the milk. There is literally nothing more silly than low fat milk. If you want to reduce the calories a bit you can use semi skimmed like I do. But low fat milk just makes me face-palm. The key to a good diet is to eat good nutritionally packed calories. Not to minimize the calories in every piece of food so you can stuff yourself full of empty bumf.