You Don’t Need Milk. Here’s Why.
Really, I was just as surprised to learn you don’t need milk, so here’s why… Anyone else feel duped by the dairy farmers? I grew up believing that drinking milk (from cows) was the most wholesome food, and I was allowed to ingest as much as I wanted. I’m quite sure my mother spent more money on milk than any other food group when I was young. It was a quick, easy, cheap way to get vitamins, calories, and minerals into her growing daughter every day. The best part was how much I liked it and could easily down 1/2 a gallon per day. Some of the slogans I heard growing up: Drink milk to get big and strong– quickly makes children interested. Milk does a body good- sold me! Got milk?-famous people with a milk mustache look cool, right? Milk Life-the newest campaign is to have people believe you need milk to live. Accentuating the protein craze. 3 A Day– burn more fat, lose weight. Referring to dairy products. Apparently, the dairy industry knew how to successfully advertise their product to earn big bang for their buck. Today, 99% of the USA purchases milk, and the average American drinks 25 gallons per year (that’s more than one glass per day). Curiously, the rates of osteoporosis have increased with the rise in milk sales. Does it surprise you that no other mammal has osteoporosis (unless raised on human meals)? Milk from my early childhood came delivered to our doorstep. There was an insulated, metal can on the stoop, and the milkman left a glass bottle full of the delicious, creamy white stuff. That was back in the ’70s. Since refrigeration was in most homes by 1930-40s, and the milkman era started to decline, I’m not sure how we ever had a service still delivering in the 1970s, in NY? Milkization Obviously, with the industrialization of milk came the plastic and cardboard containers along with grocery stores and the extensive refrigeration system. Plus, the need for daily delivery was a moot point as most households had a car and could pick up the milk whenever needed. So out went the milkman and glass bottles and in came mass production. Once dairy farmers told their convincing story of healthy children and factories could keep up, schools inadvertently marketed their product to parents. Who didn’t get “milk money” for chocolate or vanilla cardboard cartons of strong bones? Actually, even today this practice continues, but there are so many kids with allergies that it’s not pushed. There have always been risk factors when eating food from animals, due to disease and processing techniques-including milk. Still, since industrialization, the dangers have quadrupled. It’s one thing to drink what you take from your own healthy, range-fed cows (or your neighbors) but a completely different story when cows are bred for mass consumption for greedy people (moneymakers). The conditions for today’s cows have deteriorated; leaving them in poor quality conditions- visit a factory-farmed dairy mill to get this picture! Injected with growth hormones to make more at a faster pace-rBST, rBGH, BGH- imagine making 8 gallons of milk per day? They are given many medications due to infections- caused by the above. Stripped of their offspring to mass-produce their product- when only a machine does the job. Creating more CO2 emissions. Higher water consumption and contamination. Increased land degradation. The moo juice produced from the modern cow has high levels of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, preservatives, GMO’s and pus in the samples, amongst many other bacteria that you’d probably not like to hear about. These are present even after pasteurization (or sterilization). Milk is NEVER a Necessity First, I’d like to point out that I am not here to judge you or berate you for dining on cow products. And I love my family farmers, dairy and all. I am not perfect and do indulge as well (maybe not anymore). The point of this blog was to bring awareness to parents about something we have been brainwashed into believing was best for our children. Matter of fact, many mothers think they need to drink milk to make milk (breastfeed). So the #1 fact I want to point out is that you and your children will survive without dairy products. Dairy is not a core component of our existence on this planet. You can get all the same vitamins, minerals, protein, etc. from other foods-I’ll get to that. For now, I just want you to know that your baby, toddler, preschooler, school ager, tween, teen, etc. do not need milk, EVER. A Little History Milk is species-specific. Over 5000 mammals produce a liquid, after birth, for their offspring that is specialized for that particular breed. The nutrients vary based on calorie needs, lifestyle, intellect, age, health, etc. For example, a premature litter will receive a different composition of milk to survive the pups from its mother, naturally. And this fantastic substance will change to meet the needs of it’s young throughout the time it is needed. Weaning from such milk usually happens when the first permanent molar erupts, and other milestones have been met, in most creatures. Once a mammal is weaned from the mothers’ milk, it no longer drinks any milk. Unless it’s a human or if a human feeds “other” milk to the animal. So, why do we humans feed milk to our babies when weaned from the breast or formula feeding? As you saw from the above information, the dairy industry ingrained in the past 20 or so generations the imperative that babies and children needed milk to survive. Various generations of physicians have drunk the kool-aid too, and now we have a society supporting the dairy farmers. What’s the Harm Anyway? Aside from the cow conditions and feeling duped, why not drink milk or eat dairy products? Well, I’m not a scientist, doctor, or expert in any way related to dairy. Still, I have personally seen and felt the effects of dairy on families. Lactose intolerance or sensitivity is
