The Dangers of Cow’s Milk - Should children drink Cows Milk?

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Raising a child without cows milk seems risky to most parents. Most of us have been raised drinking it and are conditioned to believe the immense benefits it has to offer. It is believed by many, that cows milk is an absolute must to everyone’s diet, especially a growing child who needs the calcium for healthy bone growth.

Think back to as early as elementary school, do you recall the ever so popular food pyramid hanging in your cafeteria that says you need a whopping 3 servings of dairy per day? What about the “Everybody Needs Milk” ads? And the cute little cartons of milk? What child can pass on the school lunch staple - chocolate milk in a cute little carton with a cute little cow?
Our “nutritional education” starting as early as public school (which by the way is partly funded by the dairy industry), taught us that dairy products are one of the four basic food groups we all need for proper nutrition. Cows milk is promoted to be, without a doubt, the most perfect food for humans, especially for children. Being against milk almost seems wrong, and questioning its benefits is bizarre to most. We are told that milk is good, therefore you must believe it is good. But is this really the truth or part of a dairy industry myth?

The Dairy Industry got this part right - Everyone Needs Milk. That is, during infancy, everyone needs milk. Milk is Mother Nature’s most perfect creation. Not only does it provide a baby with the proper nourishment, it also serves as golden medicine. It swarms with antibodies and white blood cells drawn from the body. By drinking it, a baby shares its mothers immune system and much more. Milk provides just the right balance of fats, proteins, vitamins, hormones, and enzymes for the developing baby. Sounds perfect right? It is.. the only catch is that this wonder food is perfect only for the baby whose mother provides it with. In other words, cows milk is perfect… for the calf.. until it is weaned. Dog milk is perfect too, for the puppy of course, as rat milk is for the rat, etc etc etc. Does it make sense to feed a human baby, or adult, with milk that comes from a different species?

To get a better understanding of why cows milk is not meant for humans, lets analyze the difference between a human baby drinking the milk of its mother versus the milk from a cow. The type of milk an animal produces reflects the nutritional needs of its babies. In other words, the milk of each species appears to have been specifically designed to protect the young of that species. In human babies, the high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) provided in breast milk is responsible for rapidly developing the brain; tripling in size by the age of one. Cow’s milk contains a significantly lower amount of PUFAs and a higher level of body-building saturated fats contributing to the rapid growth in body size, rather then brain development. Human milk is 5 to 7 percent protein and it takes an infant approximately 180 days to double their birth weight, whereas a calf requires only 45 days to double their birth weight since the cows milk is 15 percent protein. See the major difference?

Besides the amount of protein present in the two milks, the composition is completely different. Cows milk contains 20 times more casein, the primary type of protein, then human milk, making it nearly impossible for us to assimilate. Also, a large majority of us are lactose intolerant. What does this mean exactly? Being lactose intolerant means that we cannot digest lactose which is the sugar in milk (cow’s milk and human milk). An enzyme known as lactase is responsible for digesting lactose. It has been learned that we lose the lactase enzyme activity between the ages of one and a half and four years old. This appears to be a normal process of maturation and shows that in nature, we were never intended to consume lactose containing foods after the normal weaning period. Having proteins that are not assimilated by our body leads to a weakened immune system causing a wide array of problems such as allergies, asthma, skin rashes, arthritis, heart disease and more.

You might be wondering, what about calcium? You will be surprised to learn that although cows milk contains a large percentile of calcium, it is very hard for us humans to assimilate it due to a different composition of enzymes. As a matter of fact, those that are daily dairy consumers have less calcium in their blood when compared to those that do not consume any dairy. Green leafy vegetables are a great source of calcium as well as other essential nutrients.

Besides all this, you must know that nearly all cows, unless you have raised it yourself, are full of toxins such as pesticides, antibiotics, hormones and growth favtors. Just like in human milk, toxins pass through the cows milk. You might say, well, pasteurization takes care of that. Yes, Pasteurization kills most, but not all of these toxins. Pasteurizing milk also greatly diminishes its nutrient content. After pasteurizing, cows milk has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent and vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed. Pasteurization also destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fat, which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb fat soluble vitamins A and D. (The dairy industry is aware of the diminished vitamin D content in commercial milk, so they fortify it with a form of this vitamin.) Basically, we are pretty much left with a nutrient-less, chemical full concoction that is high in fat content that gets stored in our cells and contributes to a wide range of health conditions. Does this sound like the perfect food for our developing children?

Who would of thought that something so basic to the American diet be so harmful? Do you know that Westerners suffer from many more alignments then Easterners? Is it a coincidence? I believe not, but don’t take my word for it. Think through all of this thoroughly and come to your own conclusion. What makes the most sense? How can the much “needed” food contain so many minuses to it? How can any perfect food cause such an array of health conditions? If cows milk was so necessary by the human body, would it cause colic, ear infections and eczema in infants? What do you think?

Fortunate for us,we can turn to delicious plant based alternatives to get our nutritional requirements such as calcium. Enjoy some Hemp Milk, Almond Milk or Coconut Milk and be assured that no health alignments will arise from them. Indulge in some almonds, spinach, swiss chard, collards, broccoli, sesame seeds, chia seeds, sprouted sunflower seeds and many more, and you will more then meet your nutritional requirement.

Here is a list of conditions Cows Milk has been associated with:

Acne
Allergies,
Asthma
Arthritis
Colic
Eczema
Bloody Stools
Colitis
Respiratory Conditions
Sinusitis
Pulmonary Infiltrates
Osteoporosis (Might be surprising since Milk is supposed to prevent this condition!)
Iron Deficiency Anemia
Mental Depression
Hives
Diabetes
Cancer
..and many more.

Think wisely, don’t follow the herd, make your own decisions and protect your family