Milk. It does a body…bad?

This article was posted sent to me by my friend Brooke who is a holistic health counselor–and will be doing a healthy cooking demonstration at LAB next week.

I shudder as I read this, because I LOVE all things dairy and an iced glass of milk is one of my favorites.

DOCTOR’S CORNER

Why Milk May Not Be Good For You I decided to give this topic a mild title, but I could have gone the “Enquirer” route and called this article “Milk: The Cause of Breast Cancer?” or, “Prostate Cancer and Milk: the Undeniable Link!!” But, since we are not the National Enquirer, but a high-brow, well-respected Functional Medicine practice (ahem), I thought we’d keep it more low key. In all seriousness, however, milk has been linked by science as a significant factor contributing to these diseases, in addition to diabetes, osteoporosis, and probably other inflammatory diseases. Last time I checked, milk is designed for young calves, and not adult humans, to consume.   The ideal calcium to magnesium ratio is 2:1; milk is 10:1, and cheese 28:1. This imbalance creates magnesium deficiency. It is not wonder that up to 70% of my patients are deficient in this all-important mineral when they first come in.   To make matters worse, modern milk is rich in insulin growth factor (IGF-1), which has been linked to increased prostate cancer risk, and has significant impact on breast cancer as well. Higher levels of estrogen has become a problem as well.   Dr. Hans Michael Dosch, professor of immunology at Mount Sinai Hospital, NY, has identified a compound in milk called BSA, which is the specific factor that increases the risk of insulin-dependent diabetes. This was especially seen as a high risk in the four-month-old-or-younger crowd, due to the immature gut wall not being able to fully digest the milk products. He has shown that among children who have developed diabetes, 100% have developed antibodies against BSA, while among kids that did not, only 2% have developed antibodies against this milk compound.   In my 18 years of practice, I have seen many cases of digestive disorders, ear infections, sinus problems, skin conditions, and fatigue improve with milk avoidance. But what about the calcium? We have been very effectively brain-washed that milk is good for the bones. But what if we cannot digest milk enough to benefit from the calcium it contains, and what if milk sets up an inflammatory process that hurts bone density, and what if milk changes our pH enough that the body is forced to leach calcium from our bones to normalize pH, and what if we are sensitive to milk, which causes inflammation that destroys our cartilage and who knows what else? What about the estrogen, BSA, IGF-1, and the fact that osteoporosis is only found in dairy consuming countries?   This space has not enough room and I may be starting to bore you. Thus I highly recommend that you re-evaluate milk as a staple, consider soy, rice, hemp, or almond milk as an alternative, and use vegetables and weight-bearing exercise as your superior source of strong bone health. Supplement with a high-quality calcium where it is appropriate (such as in cases where there is family history of osteoporosis, breastfeeding, inactivity, or if you are over age 40). I recommend calcium supplements containing MCHC, as it is the only form proven to not only to stop bone loss, but also is able to reverse it!   The scientific evidence is in: milk is for calves, not humans! I hope that this message will eventually be heard over the din of the American Dairy Council’s propaganda. (Adrian J. den Boer, DC, ND)

I must admit that when my children get colds and runny noses I try to switch them to rice milk and their mucous seems to lessen. But it’s so handy and easy to buy the “cheap milk” and other dairy-laden products. And it seems a little daunting to buy dairy alternatives and figure out how to cook with them or use them.

Read Full Post »