Message #18140

[mccoy]

Laila, you guys are real milk haters!!

First of all, the article makes no mention of quantity. A modest quantity of milk and dairy products, unless you are allergic to lactose or casein, cannot be bad. With the exception of some milk coming from intensive farming of course.
Again, I absolutely agree if you guys tell me that intensive dairy farms practice cruelty, but falling back on fallacies is not something I can agree upon. Last, milk products were a favourite of Lord Krishna. He did not practice intensive farming of course, so dairy products per se cannot be bad like depicted by some vegans.

Point #1: hormones
As I gather, studies are contradictory. It is too easy to cherrypick our sources. The following study, for example rules out significnt problems from estrogens in the tested commercial milks (because of low concentration and activity).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22192179

Also, estrogens are correlated to fat content, the less the milk fat, the less the potential estrogens
Also: growth hormone is not legal in all countries and sure is not used in really organic milk


Point#2: casein

The cited China study is very, very contradictory. Pls just Google "bias in the milk china study" and many links will come up, refuting such study. Besides, the study is contrary to evidence. Again, I believe the bias is simply having studied a Group which was oversensitive to casein.

Point#3: calcium

I agree that overdoses of calcium usually are not only not beneficial but can have adverse effects because of the chemical buffering.
Again, I advocate moderate quantities of milk and dairy products, or tailored to the subject conditions and activities, and this makes all the objections in point 3 moot. Excess is bad. Moderation is good. Yoga philosophy at work.

Point#4: lactose

many people are indeed intolerant to lactose or little tolerant. Why to surpass the tolerance treshold, though? If my tolerance treshold to lactose is half a glass of milk, I'm goign to drink that half glass, no more. Then I'll have unsweetened, pure Whole organic yogurt, which contains no lactose. Also, curdled milk misteriously gives not the intolerance problems of simple milk, I don't know why. And most cheese do not contain significant amount of lactose.

Point#5: baby food
I agree on that. But basically, it is the same thing as saying that grass is rabbit food, bananas are monkey food, sunflowers are parrot food... Human being has just tested all the food available and  picked what was useful for survival. Also, I do not think any country would allow farms of human milk. Even though Piers Anthony, the fiction writer, wrote a story on that. The human milk farm was an illegal practice on oen planet, persecuted by galactic police.

Point#6: anabolic power of milk

Is that so bad? Not everyone is overweight. I eat little, so something which avoids weight loss is a blessing to me. Those who are overweight can dring zero-fat milk or zero fat yogurt (no sugar added). Those who feel are just OK, can have moderate quantities of milk.

Point#7: skin problems

Not everyone suffers from such a drawback. Those who do have a choice, stop having milk products or reduce the quantity, it sounds so simple to me.