Milk is extremely controversial in the nutrition world.
There are plenty that sing the praises of milk and others who think milk is poison. Most people know the hyped advantages of milk products. Here are the lesser known problems of milk and dairy products.
Cow's milk is meant for fattening a calves, not people.
A cow's milk is the perfect diet for a calf as a woman's milk is the perfect diet for an infant. As humans and calves grow they no longer drink milk from their mother. Humans are the only species that drinks milk of another animal. They are also the only animal that drinks milk past infancy.
There are plenty of food that contain as much or more calcium than milk as well as other nutrients that milk provides.
Antibiotics, hormones, and pus oh my!
Sadly, the quality of life of a milking cow is quite low. Some cows never see the sun, and spend their days on over crowded feed lots. Farmers pump their cows with antibiotics to ward off diseases that come with such cramped living conditions and diets that are inappropriate for the cows digestive tracts. Hormones are also given to the cows to boost milk production by up to ten percent.
Most milk, even organic milk, has some amount of pus present. Pus is present when cows are over milked causing infections of the utters. Pus is then excreted along with the milk during milking.
If you think that organic milk is better think again. Recently, it has been uncovered that some so called “organic dairy farms” are not following certified organic guidelines. Horizon brand is just one company that has been under investigation for possible violations.
Fact: Corn fed cows must have antibiotics to ward off intestinal infections.
Milk is highly processed.
After a cow is milked it goes through a long process before it makes it into the consumer's carton. The fat is separated from the whey and then added back so that the milk can have the proper amount of fat for skim, 1%, 2%, and whole milk.
It then goes through a process called homogenization (read your milk carton). This means that the fat molecules have been broken up so that the milk does not separate. This way the fat does not float to the top. This makes it so the consumer does not have to shake the milk before using it.
Last the milk is pasteurized. This means it is heated to kill all the bacteria present in the milk. This also denatures the proteins in the milk.
Definition: denature- changing the molecular structure of something like protein threw heat or acid exposure. Cooking meat denatures its proteins.
Other common problems with milk.
- Milk is one of the most common foods that cause food allergies.
- Casein has been linked by some experts as a possible contributing factor in autism.
- Lactose intolerance is present in most of the population with exception only to Scandinavian countries.
- Rennin, an enzyme found the stomach if calves, is used to make many kinds of cheeses.
