What's the healthiest type of milk??

It all depends. If you can tolerate milk, it's a great source of calcium. Whole milk has 4% butter fat. I went from whole milk to 2%, then 1%, and now I think skim milk is fine. If you don't like the taste of skim milk, maybe try 1% or 2%.

Personally, I don't like soy milk unless it's flavoured. Which probably makes it less healthy for me. :grumble:

don't think cow milk is good for the adult body its not the easiest to digest and can usually complicate hormones this has been my experience as well a most of the people I know. I perfer to use either soy milk with no added sugar or rice milk made from brown rice tastes great and healthy too.

Keep on drinking whole. IMO...the fat isn't something to fear. But keep calories and servings in check, of course.

I love Soy Milk. IMO, cow's milk just causes problems because of all the hormone etc; that the cows are given. So I stick with Organic Soy Milk.

personally I prefer Raw Milk - it is healthier then pasteurized milk. and tastes alot better (no we don't live on a farm). If it is too thick it can be watered down -this is what a friend of mine does with hers since she is used to 2% milk.
. "pasteurization destroys or reduces many nutrients in milk, including vitamins A and C and B complex" Eat Fat Lose Fat page 86

I drink "Calorie Countdown" by Hood. It's not milk- it's a 'dairy beverage'. Check out their website if you're curious. I love it- it has half the calories of skim milk, with almost identical nutrients. :flowerforyou:

I'm a veterinarian and I work a lot with dairy farmers and dairy cows. I would never drink organic milk because I see the lower quality of milk that is put into that system on a daily basis - when you can't treat a cow with antibiotics when she has an infection in her udder, it makes the milk pretty gross. I would just not drink it since I've seen it come out of the cow that way. Conventional dairy farmers are able to treat cows with these infections with antibiotics to help the cow clear the infection and keep her healthy. Because the cow is treated, her milk is not able to be sold and therefore does not reach your table (milk is tested for antibiotic residue before it is processed). Modern science can also find NO difference between milk from cows given growth hormones and cows that are just using their own growth hormones. The growth hormone that can be given as a injection (rBST) is structurally identical to the hormone that the cow's body naturally produces. One more point - if you were to actually ingest the hormone rBST by itself, it would be broken down by your digestive system like any other molecule you eat.

I like the idea of organic in theory, it just VERY infequently happens the way most consumers picture. The milk is also pasturized differently from regular milk. Because there is more bacterial in it, it is pasturized at a higher temperature (which is why it has a longer expiration date - and doesn't always even need to be refridgerated before opening, like the horizon milk boxes). I don't know if it affects the nutritional content, but I did just read an article in a dairy journal about the difference in nutritional value between regular milk and unpasturized milk, and most of the nutrition is affected at temps higher than that for regularly pasturized milk.

I am not intending to start a debate over organic and hormones in milk. I am just providing some comments from someone who works with and for the dairy industry every day. My primary interest is in humane care of cows, and I just don't see that at the organic farms I've been on. Take it as you like it, eat what you like. Just some thoughts.

From: http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/milk.htm


Why is American Milk Banned in Europe?

American dairy milk is genetically-modified unless it’s labeled “NO rBGH”
Genetically-engineered bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in milk increases cancer risks.
American dairy farmers inject rBGH to dairy cows to increase milk production.

European nations and Canada have banned rBGH to protect citizens from IGF-1 hazards.

Monsanto Co., the manufacturer of rBGH, has influenced U. S. product safety laws permitting the sale of unlabeled rBGH milk. (Monsanto would lose billions of dollars if rBGH were banned in America.)

Q. Is there any milk not contaminated with rBGH and IGF-1?
A. Yes. Milk that is clearly labeled “NO rBGH” is free of rBGH and does not contain excess levels of IGF-1.

Q. What about cheeses?
A. American-made cheeses are contaminated with rBGH and excess levels of IGF-1 unless they’re labeled “NO rBGH”. Imported European cheeses are safe since Europe has banned rBGH.


IGF-1 and Milk: Q&A

Q. What is IGF-1?
A. Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1)is a normal growth factor. Excess levels have been increasingly linked by modern research to human cancer development and growth.

Q. How does IGF-1 get into milk?
A. In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of the recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). According to rBGH manufacturers, injections of rBGH causes cows to produce up to 20 percent more milk. The growth hormone also stimulates the liver to increase IGF-1 levels in the milk of those cows. Recently, Eli Lilly & Co., a manufacturer of rBGH, reported a ten-fold increase in IGF-1 levels in milk of cows receiving the hormone. IGF-1 is the same in humans and cows, and is not destroyed by pasteurization. In fact, the pasteurization process actually increases IGF-1 levels in milk.

Q. How does rBGH milk containing IGF-1, affect, humans?
A. After the rBGH milk is consumed, IGF-1 is not destroyed by human digestion. Instead, IGF-1 is readily absorbed across the intestinal wall. Additional research has shown that it can be absorbed into the bloodstream where it can effect other hormones.

Q. Is IGF-1 likely to increase the risk of specific kinds of cancer?
A. It is highly likely that IGF-1 promotes transformation of normal breast cells to breast cancers. In addition, IGF-1 maintains the malignancy of human breast cancer cells, including their invasiveness and ability to spread to distant organs. (Increased levels of IGF-1 have similarly been associated with colon and prostate cancers.) The prenatal and infant breast is particularly susceptible to hormonal influences. Such imprinting by IGF-1 may increase future breast cancer risks, and may also increase the sensitivity of the breast to subsequent unrelated risks such as mammography and the carcinogenic and estrogen-like effects of pesticide residues in food, particularly in pre-menopausal women.

Q. Are cows adversely affected by elevated IGF-1 levels?
A. Cows injected with rBGH show heavy localization of IGF-1 in breast (udder) epithelial cells. This does not occur in untreated cows. Cows are also affected in other ways by rBGH, through increased rates of mastitis, an udder infection. Industry data show up to an 80 percent incidence of mastitis in hormone-treated cattle, resulting in the contamination of milk with significant levels of pus. Mastitis requires the use of antibiotics to treat, which leaves residues to pass on through the milk for human consumption.

Q. What does the FDA say about IGF-1?
A. The FDA has trivialized evidence for increased levels in rBGH milk and insist that any such increases in IGF-1 are not dangerous, and do not pose a health risk. However, a 1990 study by Monsanto, the leading maker of rBGH, explicitly revealed statistically significant evidence of growth promoting effects. Feeding relatively low doses of IGF-1 to mature rats for only two weeks resulted in statistically significant and biologically highly significant systemic effects: increased body weight; increased liver weight; increased bone length; and decreased epiphyseal width. The FDA has failed to investigate the effects of long-term feeding of IGF-1 and treated milk on growth. Furthermore, the FDA has been hostile to the labeling of rBGH milk. The agency has prohibited dairy producers and retailers from labeling their milk as "hormone-free," The FDA states that such labeling could be "false or misleading" under federal law. Monsanto is suing several milk producers for using the label.

Q. What have other scientists said about IGF-1?
A. Concerns about increased levels of IGF-1 in milk from cows treated with rBGH are not new. In 1990, the National Institutes of Health Consensus panel on rBGH expressed concerns about adverse health effects of IGF-1 in rBGH milk, calling for further study on health impacts, particularly infants. In 1991, the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association stated:" Further studies will be required to determine whether the ingestion of higher than normal concentrations of bovine insulin-like growth factor is safe for children, adolescents and adults." Unfortunately, these studies were never done,

HERE ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Do not buy milk from cows treated with rBGH. Unless the milk-label states “NO rBGH”, you can assume the milk is contaminated. rBGH has become so widely used by dairy farmers. Most health food stores sell rBGH-free milk.

2. Contact your local supermarket and find out if they have a policy regarding rBGH and milk. Make clear that you would like rBGH-free milk.

3. Write to the FDA and express your concern that they are restricting the labeling of rBGH-free milk.



References:

Epstein, S. S. Potential public health hazards of biosynthetic milk
hormones. International Journal of Health Services, 20:73-84, 1990.

Epstein, S. S. Unlabeled milk from cows treated with biosynthetic
growth hormones: A case of regulatory abdication. International Journal of Health Services, 26(1):173-185, 1996.



CONTACT:

Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Chairman

Cancer Prevention Coalition
2121 West Taylor Street, M/C 922

Chicago, IL 60612
(312) 996-2297

to be completely honest, I do eat a lot of dairy products (I want to support the industry I work for and love), but I also drink almond milk with cereal as it is lower in calorie and just as yummy as milk, and soymilk on occasion. Cow's milk is not right for every person and certainly everyone has their own opinions.

i personally can't stand the taste of white milk by itself. and i'm not a fan of soy or almond milk or any other kind of milk. i have white milk in the morning with my shake...but i can't taste it so its all good. if i'm going to drink a glass of milk plain its chocolate milk. regular milk by itself literally makes me sick

i personally can't stand the taste of white milk by itself. and i'm not a fan of soy or almond milk or any other kind of milk. i have white milk in the morning with my shake...but i can't taste it so its all good. if i'm going to drink a glass of milk plain its chocolate milk. regular milk by itself literally makes me sick

chocolate milk is one of my favorite things on the planet!!! Yumm