Searcher: Is Cow's Milk Really Good for You?

Good evening everyone!

So, as a searcher this week, I’ve decided to focus on chapter 5 and the growing body of evidence that suggests cow’s milk is not as beneficial as we once thought.  This is a topic that I learned about just a few months ago, and honestly, I was blown away.  Cow’s milk might not be good for me?  In fact, cow’s milk might even be bad for me??  

Since we were young children, we have been bombarded on all fronts with milk propaganda.  Parents and doctors alike told us that drinking milk would make us grow taller and help us build strong bones.  Not to mention the “Got Milk?” ads that are plastered on billboards and grade school cafeterias all over the country (I know they were hung in mine!)  But, as stated in chapter 5 of our textbook, no conclusion can be made as to whether cow’s milk has any health benefits.  It might help us grow taller, but being tall is associated with a higher risk of chronic diseases.  It might help prevent certain diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disease, but it might also increase the risk of getting them.  It might be high in calcium, a necessary dietary nutrient, but calcium can be obtained from other sources.  Drinking cow’s milk might help build bone mass during childhood, but weight-bearing activities can also do the trick.  In my opinion, it almost seems safer to avoid cow’s milk and get calcium from another source, considering its possible adverse health effects.

http://saveourbones.com/osteoporosis-milk-myth/

This website that I found is milk-bashing to the max.  It explains that animal protein (aka cow’s milk) has acidifying effects on the body’s pH.  Calcium from the bones is then used to neutralize these acidic effects, causing calcium to be lost from the bones.  On top of that, the antibiotics and hormones that are fed to milking cows pose further potential health risks (I have problems with the way cows on industrial farms are treated anyway, so all of this new information makes me even less inclined to drink cow’s milk - here’s what Peta has to say about their conditions: http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/animals-used-food-factsheets/cows-milk-cruel-unhealthy-product/).  I can't say anything as to the validity of this website's information, but I think it is definitely worth a read.  I’ve come across many other sources that support the claim that animal protein is acidic and should potentially be reduced in our diets.

Here are a few:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/milk-health-benefits_b_3551079.html - more evidence as to why cow’s milk might be detrimental

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11124760 - this is a study that concludes women with a higher ratio of animal to vegetable protein intake have a higher rate of bone loss

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/health/24brod.html?_r=0 - “Exploring a Low-Acid Diet for Bone Health”