White Poison: The Horrors of Milk

By Shanti Rangwani, ColorLines
12/3/'01

Got milk? If not, then thank your lucky stars. Because if you do, medical research shows that you are likely to be plagued by anemia, migraine, bloating, gas, indigestion, asthma, prostate cancer, and a host of potentially fatal allergies – especially if you are a person of color.

Ignoring this, the government declares that milk is essential to good health, subsidizes the milk industry to the tune of billions of dollars, and requires milk in its public school lunch programs. And celebrity shills sporting milk mustaches tell us that milk is rich in proteins, calcium, and vitamins – and very cool to boot.

They forget to tell you about the dangers lurking in that innocuous-looking glass of white mlk. Once criticized only by naturopaths and vegans, now the health effects of milk are being decried by many mainstream doctors. The supposedly hip milk mustache is actually a creamy layer of mucus, live bacteria, and pus.

Former Chairman of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, Frank Oski, M.D. even has a book called Don't Drink Your Milk, which blames every second health problem kids suffer on hormone-ridden commercial milk. 60% of ear infections in kids under six years of age are milk-induced, and milk consumption is the number one cause of iron-deficiency anemia in infants today according to the American Association of Pediatrics.

But milk is also a racial issue. Almost 90% of African-Americans and most Hispanics, Asians, and Southern Europeans lack the genes necessary to digest lactose, the primary sugar in milk. The milk industry's response is classic: they have launched new campaigns arguing that non-whites can digest milk if they take in small sips during the day. There is a burgeoning industry worth $450 million a year churning out products designed to minimize lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance is the most common "food allergy," but to call it an allergy is to take a white-centric view that trivializes the fact that most of the world's people are not biologically designed to digest milk. Milk does no body good, but for the vast majority of the world's people – people of color – it is a public health disaster.

No other animal drinks cow's milk, not even calves once they are weaned. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the U.S.'s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding "cow's glue" to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies and diabetes, and in the long term will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, the number one cause of death in this country.

Most of milk's much-vaunted protein is contained in casein – which is also a raw material for commercial glue. Undigested, it simply sticks to the intestinal walls and blocks nutrient absorption.

The mainstream media and the government ignore the medical studies showing that milk is a serious health threat, in part because people of color are the main victims. The institutionalization of racism is highlighted by U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson Eilene Kennedy's statement on milk, that the government's recommended food pyramid is intended for "the majority of Americans. It doesn't communicate to all Americans."

The USDA continues to require that school lunch programs include milk with every meal, and recommend that we glug milk for calcium, even though Harvard studies show an increase in osteoporosis and bone-breakage in people who consume milk. It says we should drink milk to prevent heart disease (and is echoed by Larry King) even though saturated fat constitutes 55% of milk solids.

The dairy lobby perpetrates lies to ensure its profits. It benefits directly from the exaggerated support prices the government shells out for this "health food." The government pays over a billion dollars a year for surplus butter. A General Accounting Office study concluded that a reduction in the government price-support system would have netted consumers savings of $10.4 billion from 1986 to 2001. And the USDA pays inflated prices to purchase dairy products for both the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and federal school lunch programs – milking the taxpayers and actually getting them to pay for poisoning 26 million school kids.

The milk lobby has whipsawed its way into the highest echelons of power. Staffers under Richard Nixon were indicted for accepting $300,000 from the dairy lobby for making milk part of the school lunch program. Dr. Robert Cohen of the Dairy Education Board, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exposing the milk lobby, contends that the dramatic 52% rise in asthma deaths among minority kids in New York coincided with the surplus milk, cheese, and butter pumped into them under the USDA's free school lunch and breakfast giveaway programs. The incidence of asthma deaths may be even higher since asthma is not a reportable disease, and asthma deaths are sometimes certified as cardiovascular disease.

There is also a direct link between milk consumption and prostate cancer among African-Americans, who have the highest incidence of this disease in the world. A study in Cancer has shown that men who reported drinking three or more glasses of whole milk daily had a higher risk for prostate cancer than men who reported never drinking whole milk.

The controversial Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) – banned in most countries – is pumped into U.S. milk cows to increase annual yield (50,000 pounds of milk per cow today compared to 2,000 pounds in 1959). Milk from cows treated with BGH is likely to contain pus from their udders since the hormone leads to mastitis, or udder infection. BGH use results in a tumor-promoting chemical (IGF-I) that has been implicated in an explosive increase of cancer of the colon, smooth muscle, and breast.

The antibiotics dairy farmers use to treat BGH-caused infections in cows appear in their milk and greatly hasten human tolerance to most antibiotics, a potentially life-threatening state of affairs. The Center for Science in the Public Interest reports that 38% of milk samples in 10 cities were contaminated with sulfa drugs and other antibiotics.

A fightback is beginning. Protesters picketed former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's planned milk promotion campaign with a photo of the mayor wearing a milk mustache over the caption, "Got Prostate Cancer?" Giuliani (who, like his father, has prostate cancer) dropped the campaign. And doctors from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine persuaded Washington, DC Mayor Anthony Williams not to declare May 11 as "Drink Chocolate Milk Day" by presenting evidence that milk is harmful, especially to people of color.

The PCRM – composed of some of the leading doctors in the U.S. – has campaigned extensively in the health and consumer press and led a successful legal effort in 1999 to make dairy products optional in the federal food guidelines. The campaign was supported by a number of prominent civil rights organizations and leaders, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP, Martin Luther King, III, Jesse Jackson, Jr., the National Hispanic Medical Association, and former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.

The dairy lobby remains cozy with most medical practitioners to perpetrate its "drink milk" propaganda. However, not one of the 1,500 papers listed in Medicine that deal with milk points to its goodness – only to the pus, blood, antibiotics, and carcinogens in milk, and the chronic fatigue, anemia, asthma, and autoimmune disorders milk consumption causes.

The time has come for the milk industry to face the kind of scrutiny that the tobacco companies face today. Meanwhile, discard the moo juice.

Shanti Rangwani is an allopathic doctor and a columnist for The Times of India.

Milk can be quite dangerous, and parents should be quite mindful during the younger teenage years of their children. (Milk is the main drink in schools). And be mindful that up to 80% of African-Americans become intolerant to milk after childhood.

Taken directly from the American Academy of Family Physicians:

Persons with lactose intolerance are unable to digest significant amounts of lactose because of a genetically inadequate amount of the enzyme lactase. Common symptoms include abdominal pain and bloating, excessive flatus, and watery stool following the ingestion of foods containing lactose. Lactase deficiency is present in up to 15% of persons of northern European descent, up to 80% of Blacks and Latinos, and up to 100% of American Indians and Asians.


http://aafp.org/afp/20020501/1845.html

whoaaaaaaa!
never knew this at any point truely thank you for this advice
and forwarning of MILK and it's contents

You're quite welcome, Rich...

see Snatch by Guy Ritchie for signs that the world is coming to recognise this.

My mum (white, but HATES milk) pointed out that it is deeply perverted and unnatural!

very informative thread
I haven't always known
that milk could be so unhealthy
until recently and even then
I wasn't aware of everything
discussed in this thread...
thanks for posting

my sister has lupus, she LOVES milk drinks it by the gallon i told her to read this because he immune system is down, her platelet count is always low,,,,,,when i told her my findings in this article...she replied. "oh i always drink milk, i don't believe that"

WHAT AN INSULT, FOLKS JUST DON'T WANT TO GET BETTER!

I just started getting information regarding milk and how our systems are not made to take in milk. No more milk for me. Thanks for the info.

Ok family i know this is gon SOUND gross :lol:
BUT Soy Milk and Rice Milk are actually very good...they taste good AND they dont have all that mess that cows milk has...I gave up on Cows milk not too long after I gave up on cows LOL
and believe me family if I can get my 4 year old neices and nephews to love it...it MUST be good :laugh:

RICE DREAM and
SILK soy milk are a couple good ones :) dont believe me...try it for ya self if ya dont like it thas otay too lol

^5 my sister...:)

I must agree.
I have been drinking soy milk for the past couple of years and I really love it. But to be honest, I didnt enjoy its after-taste when I tasted soy milk for the first time at age 16. But it really grew on me and I nolonger drink cow's milk nor do I eat beef. But I must admit, I am crazy about cheese.
Anyway, I have been really trying to influence my family to drink soy and I mention to them the benefits that it has. I havn't been very successful though. Does anyone have any suggestions? Another question, what and how does rice milk taste like. I have heard of it, but never actually tried it before?

WELCOME SISTA Abyssinia :wave: :wave: :wave:

Sista which brand of soy milk did u try first?
Rice Dream has always been my favorite rice milk.
As far as family is concerned...if you tell them ALL the facts, than sista you can do none else. They need to WANT a healthy alternative. I do know there are documentaries where they show the process of getting the COWS milk :puke: maybe that'll work if they see it for themselves.

Thankyou for welcoming me triniti424,

The first brand that I had first tried was "Silk", which happens to be the same one that I later became hooked on. Do you know of any other good brands as well?Ihave told them some of the facts about cow's milk, but I havn't went in depth with it the subject yet. I will have to print some information about it and give it to them. I dont want them to feel as though I am trying to force them into making the transition, but I just want them be able to reconsider their options and know the facts. As much as I can help it, I want all of us to live a long,happy, and healthy life together...that is my drive.

What made me begin to really reconsider milk was when I had read some information about what those poor cow's have to go through and what actually is in milk. Thankyou for reminding me triniti424 about the documentaries that I can make available to them.

I have seen Rice Dream in the store, but what does it taste like? Is it actually made from rice?

got milk !!!!!
so what's said to be good for the human body is not so good ?
and was it a deep study that found this troublesome for the body
and what it really do .......wow i really didn't drink milk much thought i was missing something now to fine out a choice was made wisely thankz for sharing this knowledge upon us all we
need to know for a healthy life

Do you know of any other good brands as well?

I have seen Rice Dream in the store, but what does it taste like? Is it actually made from rice?
A good brand is EDENSOY, and they make a rice and soy milk blend that comes in a beige and green box. Now for Rice Dream, when I made the transition, It got so bad(or GOOD) I was Drinking a box of Vanilla or Carob drink straight out the carton like you see the white boys on tv drink that Cow Pus! I was skeptical that an alternative could be that good. I don't miss milk at all. :bazooka: FDA & USDA LIES

Mmm.
I will try Rice Dream during my next visit to the grocery. 1 cup can make all the world difference and have so many benefits. And it is true, cow's milk isn't as good for the body as we had assumed (and we have only ourselves to blame for what we do to God's creatures)

Ok family i know this is gon SOUND gross :lol:
BUT Soy Milk and Rice Milk are actually very good...they taste good AND they dont have all that mess that cows milk has...I gave up on Cows milk not too long after I gave up on cows LOL
and believe me family if I can get my 4 year old neices and nephews to love it...it MUST be good :laugh:

RICE DREAM and
SILK soy milk are a couple good ones :) dont believe me...try it for ya self if ya dont like it thas otay too lol

imma try that, rice dream, see if it works, yep

:cuss: i just happened to be drinking milk when i came across this thread. i've loved it since before i could remember but i guess i can flush that down the toilet now, eh?

Thats a good thing though! Gas ain't cute.
:huh:

I can understand where your coming from AfroBoricuaRoni. I use to drink cow's milk by it self and loved it...until I began to read about the horrors of milk. Then when I tried soy milk, I felt that I had to make a decision :idea:

And I have no regets :lips:

Give it a shot

I have been lactose intolerant my whole life. Im fact, i can probably count on one hand how many glasses of cow's milk I have had. When I was a baby, my pediatrician prescribed goat's milk for me. Now, I never drink milk-the taste is disgusting. As Aquil said,Many people, especially people of color, lack the genes that code for the enzymes that break down lactose. However, if wants to drink that filmy stuff- there is medicine ( OTC and Presribed) that can help your body to digest it.

BTW, not all bacteria is bad. Our bodies depend on some types of bacteria to work properly--its called endosymbiosis.
( future microbiologist :-))

My children will only get breast milk and/or soy milk.

^5 Sister Nguvuwoman...

Almost 90% of African-Americans - and most Hispanics - lack the genes necessary to digest lactose, the primary sugar in milk. Lactose intolerance is the most common "food allergy," but to call it an "allergy" is to adopt a Eurocentric view that trivializes the fact that most of the world's people are not biologically designed to digest milk. Milk does the body no good, and for the vast majority of people of color, it is a public health disaster.

No other animal drinks cow's milk, not even calves once they are weaned. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the U.S.'s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding "cow's glue" to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies and diabetes, and in the long term will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, the number one cause of death in this country...

I’m going to have to go against the grain on this one. After doing my own research on “the horrors of milk”, I decided that I would try eliminating it from my diet. Being that my wife is lactose intolerant and has tried every brand of soymilk on the market, I tried the one she is currently using (Silk). I must say that it was the most unnatural feeling that I have ever had. First of all, it doesn’t taste a thing like real milk. Second, I would always get this queasy feeling in my stomach after drinking it. Needless to say, after about two weeks of drinking soymilk, I had to give it up and go back to drinking real milk. Is milk bad for you? Are there certain risks associated with drinking cows milk? Maybe, maybe not. I think it depends on the individual. Personally, I felt a lot healthier when I was drinking milk.

At this stage in my life, I am on a cutting plan (diet) that restricts the amount of dairy I consume. So instead of my usual 8oz of milk with raisin bran for breakfast, I now have 1 serving of oatmeal and raisins and 3oz of tuna. The only dairy I consume now is reduced carbohydrate yogurt. At any rate, I still say that it depends on the individual.

Just my opinion

The mainstream media and the government ignore the medical studies showing that milk is a serious health threat, diakonos, in part because people of color are the main victims. The institutionalization of racism is highlighted by U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson Eilene Kennedy's statement on milk...that the government's recommended food pyramid is intended for "the majority of Americans. It doesn't communicate to all Americans."

No other animal drinks cow's milk, not even calves once they are weaned. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the U.S.'s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding "cow's glue" to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies and diabetes, and in the long term will set kids up for obesity and heart disease, the #1 cause of death in this country.

Most of milk's much-vaunted protein is contained in casein – which is also a raw material for commercial glue. Undigested, it simply sticks to the intestinal walls and blocks nutrient absorption...and furthermore, the human body produces its own protein...

Btw, I enjoy Silk soymilk to the utmost...especially the chocolate variety. Can't drink enough of it...:lips:

I was surfing the web and came across a link all about milk: http://www.notmilk.com/ (http://www.notmilk.com/ )

notmilk.com is a great sight.

ATTENTION SILK SOY MILK consumers.

I heard the BUSH FAMILY OWNS A MAJORITY OF SILK. SO IF THIS IS TRUE, WHEN YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT YOUR POSSIBLY SUPPORTING THE NAZI BUSH FAMILY. ILL BE DAMNED IF I PUT MONEY IN GEORGE BUSH'S POCKET. AFTER I FOUND THIS OUT I STOPPED BUYING SILK . i don't know if this is true, has any one else heard of this? some info about this can be found at; notmilk.com.

ATTENTION SILK SOY MILK consumers:

I heard the BUSH FAMILY OWNS A MAJORITY OF SILK...
What is the source of your information? This is what I found:

White Wave, Inc. was established in Boulder, Colorado in 1977 by Steve Demos, company president. Demos' belief in “business without guilt” has made White Wave one of the largest manufacturers of soyfoods in the country. Today it has over 100 employees with annual sales nearing $200 million. White Wave produces more than 40 soy products including Silk Soymilk, Silk Cultured Soy Yogurt, and White Wave Tofu and Tempeh. For more information, check out www.SilkIsSoy.com.

Wow! I had no idea. I did know that milk can give you that mucusy feeling, but I didn't know about all the other issues it can cause you system besides gas. This was very, very informative. Thank you. And I will try the Soy milk.

What is the source of your information? This is what I found:

White Wave, Inc. was established in Boulder, Colorado in 1977 by Steve Demos, company president. Demos' belief in “business without guilt” has made White Wave one of the largest manufacturers of soyfoods in the country. Today it has over 100 employees with annual sales nearing $200 million. White Wave produces more than 40 soy products including Silk Soymilk, Silk Cultured Soy Yogurt, and White Wave Tofu and Tempeh. For more information, check out www.SilkIsSoy.com.

AQIL I GOT MY INFO FROM WWW.NOTMILK.COM. IM NOT SURE IF THE BUSHS ARE THE OWNERS OR WERE PLANNING ON BUYING A MAJORITY PERCENTAGE OF SILK. ILL RESEARCH MORE

notmilk.com is a great sight.

ATTENTION SILK SOY MILK consumers.

I heard the BUSH FAMILY OWNS A MAJORITY OF SILK. SO IF THIS IS TRUE, WHEN YOU BUY THIS PRODUCT YOUR POSSIBLY SUPPORTING THE NAZI BUSH FAMILY. ILL BE DAMNED IF I PUT MONEY IN GEORGE BUSH'S POCKET. AFTER I FOUND THIS OUT I STOPPED BUYING SILK . i don't know if this is true, has any one else heard of this? some info about this can be found at; notmilk.com.


Whether it's true or not....I'm switching. There is more than one brand of Soy Milk. I have some Silk in the fridge now....I'll finish it first since it's already paid for. :grin:

I mentioned this once before but I got no replies about it. For all those that don't want to continue drinking the Pus and Mucous of Cows, there are even more delicious alternatives than soy milk. I've been drinking Rice Dream (rice milk) for a while and I find it more refreshing and better tasting than soy milk. Is there anyone else that has tried it and what are your thoughts about it? I also drink Almond milk, and I might add that cereal with Vanilla Rice Dream and a little bit of Chocolate Almond milk is off the chain! Also is there any info about it's health benefits? Peace.

I was surfing the web and came across a link all about milk: http://www.notmilk.com/ (http://www.notmilk.com/ )



After reading the information from that link, from this day forth, I consume milk NO MORE. Which means no more cheese pizza or ice cream, aww this is going to be quite a struggle.

But if I could stop consuming meat, then I should get threw this.

Whether it's true or not....I'm switching. There is more than one brand of Soy Milk. I have some Silk in the fridge now....I'll finish it first since it's already paid for. :grin:

8th continent soy milk is on point. also has any tried soy ice cream?-nice rice dram ice cream-the bomb<<<is that still a cool word since white people say it now?

8th continent is the bomb, Therious...especially the chocolate joint. :glasses:

Wow. This is some great information. I'm a vegan, and I didn't even know about this. I never liked milk, but gimme some soy milk and I am good to go..I will down it. Being a vegan has enhanced my health significantly.

Studies show that up to 30% of Type 1 diabetes cases could be prevented by removing cow’s milk from the diet of 90% of the population in the first three months; that bottle-fed infants were at almost twice the risk of developing respiratory illness during the first seven years of life; that cognitive development is significantly better in breast-fed children, and the developmental benefits of breast-feeding increased with duration of feeding; and that breast-feeding decreases rates of death for infants, including SIDS.

Human breast milk is, of course, the ideal food for human infants. The advantages of breast-feeding for the mother and infant are numerous and well supported by more than two decades of research. Breast milk has the perfect mix of nutrients; it is always fresh, clean, and the right temperature; it contains antibodies that help protect a baby from infections; and it’s easy for the baby to digest. In addition to the health benefits just outlined, breast-fed infants have lower rates of hospital admissions, ear infections, diarrhea, rashes, allergies, and an array of other medical problems than bottle-fed babies.

Until around 1950, almost all U.S. newborns were nursed. In the last 50 years, however, large-scale manufacturing and aggressive marketing of infant formula has resulted in decreasing rates of breast-feeding. As Representative Carolyn Maloney has noted, “The United States has one of the lowest breast-feeding rates of all industrialized nations and one of the highest rates of infant mortality.” Indeed, the states with the lowest rates of breast-feeding also have the highest rates of infant mortality.

The "Healthy People 2010" initiatives outlined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Surgeon General aim to substantially increase breast-feeding rates in the U.S., currently dismally low at 64% for postpartum; 29% at 6 months; and 16% at 1 year.

Breast-feeding is advocated as the optimal form of nutrition for infants by the American Academy of Family Physicians; the American Academy of Pediatrics; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses; the American Medical Association; and a host of other professional organizations. All these groups recommend continuation of breast-feeding for at least the first full year of the infant’s life and as long as desired after that.

The primary benefit of breast milk is nutritional. Human milk contains just the right amount of fatty acids, lactose, water, and amino acids for human digestion, brain development, and growth. Cow mother’s milk contains a different type of protein than human mother’'s milk. This is good for calves, but human infants can have difficulty digesting it.

Breast-fed babies have fewer illnesses because human milk transfers to the infant a mother’s antibodies to disease. About 80% of the cells in breast milk are macrophages, cells that kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Breast-fed babies are protected, in varying degrees, from a number of illnesses, including pneumonia, botulism, bronchitis, staphylococcal infections, influenza, ear infections, and German measles.

Mothers also produce antibodies to whatever disease is present in their environment, making their milk custom-designed to fight the diseases that their babies are exposed to as well. A breast-fed baby’s digestive tract contains large amounts of Lactobacillus bifidus, beneficial bacteria that prevent the growth of harmful organisms.

Human milk straight from the breast is always sterile, never contaminated by polluted water or dirty bottles, which can also lead to diarrhea in the infant. Human milk contains at least 100 ingredients not found in formula. No babies are allergic to their mothers’ milk, although they may have a reaction to something that the mother eats. If she eliminates it from her diet, the problem resolves itself.

Despite the demonstrated benefits of breast-feeding, there are some rare situations in which breast-feeding is not in the best interests of the infant. These include infants whose mothers have HIV or hepatitis B, use illegal drugs, drink heavily, or are being treated with chemotherapy drugs.

Dr. Spock Was Dead-Set Against Meat and Milk

"Don't drink your milk!"
"Don't eat your meat!"

Surprising advice from the world's most famous doctor? Not if you knew the late Dr. Benjamin Spock. He was a vegetarian, peace lover, and animal-rights activist.

Since writing the best-known childcare book of all time in 1946, Spock rarely said what people thought he should say. But when he said recently that everyone – including children – should embrace vegetarianism and give up milk, many parents shuddered. "Give up milk? Gosh, I just got my boys to start drinking it again," said a mother of three teen-agers.

Dr. Spock joined colleagues in the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in calling for the demotion of two of the basic food groups to condiment status on American tables. Milk and meats, say the group's new proposed dietary guidelines, no longer should be part of the national daily diet. Instead, the doctors would move meats and all dairy products into a new "optional" category - "not recommended for daily consumption."

Critics from the dairy and meat industries rushed to call the proposals "extreme," "unrealistic" and, as a nutritionist for the dairy industry put it, "just another case of fatty-food phobia."

"Children need milk to grow on, and that’s that," says Carl Miller, of Dairy Management Inc., formerly the National Dairy Council. "This is nothing more than an animal-rights group gone too far," says C.J. Valenzicino of the National Live Stock and Meat Board. "Meat is more than fat. It's an excellent source of B vitamins, iron and zinc. "Doing away with two entire food groups is not realistic. People love their cheeses. They love their beef – 75 million people eat beef every day."

But that, argues Spock and others, is what's killing people. "Death from coronary arteriosclerosis, cancers and strokes keep increasing," says Spock, "and there is no question these diseases are linked to high-fat diets, particularly animal fats from meat, chicken, fish, eggs and dairy products."

Dr. Spock credited a macrobiotic vegetarian diet with saving his life when he was seriously ill four years ago. "There is no question about it. He was dying," says Mary Morgan, Spock's wife of 20 years. "Certainly, it can be difficult to give up something we love. But consider the payoff: Longer life. Better life."

While Spock agrees that babies and toddlers should not be deprived of milk and other dairy products, he said he is convinced that "after the age of three or so, they do not need to drink milk and eat dairy products every day." Forty million copies of Spock's landmark parenting guide, Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care, do not reflect Spock's dietary conversion. The next edition most certainly will. "Food preferences are formed early in childhood, and they tend to persist throughout adult lives," says Spock. "I am very aware of how difficult it is for parents to change their own views on this, and I know there is still controversy about forgoing milk for children. "But I believe the research shows that a non-dairy vegetarian diet provides sufficient fat and other nutrients for children after age 2 or 3, as alarming as that may sound to some."

The current U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines, endorsed by such prestigious groups as the American Dietetic Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics, call for two or three daily servings from the meat group and the milk group. The recommendations, delivered to the USDA by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, will be considered during the agency's five-year review of its "Recommended Daily Allowances."

The doctors group, which includes such high-profile heart researchers as Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. William Castelli of the famed Framingham Heart Study, has been involved in animal-rights projects - as well as dietary reforms - since its founding in 1985. Most recently, the organization paid for parents of children who had died after eating hamburgers tainted with E-coli bacteria to testify in Washington about unsafe meat-processing. "The obvious danger of meat consumption in this nation is yet another reason we should rethink what we eat and what we feed our children," said Dr. Neal Barnard, Physicians Committee president.

Recommending a diet in which meat and milk would be reduced to "something on the order of condiments," Dr. Spock conceded, likely will make him some enemies. "When I first came out against corporal punishment, against any spanking of children, I know many people stopped listening to me. I hope that doesn't happen now."

I can bear personal witness to the ill-effects of milk.

Right up until the time I was 28 I could drink milk with no side-effect when everyone else in my family was lactose intolerant.

I didn't THINK it was affecting me.

But I suffered from chronic bronchitis.

It's one of the reasons I moved from the Midwest to the SouthWest.

Once I stopped drinking milk the coughing stopped.

:coffee: Now I get my latte made with soy-milk.

At about 4 years old, our bodies stop producing the enzymes needed to digest the lactose in milk. Being able to digest milk is a mutation...no other creature on Earth drinks milk once it is out of infancy other than the human being...

Here is another excellent website:

http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

Ok family i know this is gon SOUND gross :lol:
BUT Soy Milk and Rice Milk are actually very good...they taste good AND they dont have all that mess that cows milk has...I gave up on Cows milk not too long after I gave up on cows LOL
and believe me family if I can get my 4 year old neices and nephews to love it...it MUST be good :laugh:

RICE DREAM and
SILK soy milk are a couple good ones :) dont believe me...try it for ya self if ya dont like it thas otay too lol

Soy milk is worse for you than cow milk b/c it has a lot of un-natural silici (sp?) in it that rips your internal organs....the better milk for you is Almond Milk ...if you have to drink milk

http://www.mercola.com/2004/jul/31/soy.htm

What You Don't Know About America's Favorite Health Food


Foods using soy as a major component have become quite popular over the past 10 years. The media has had much to do with the craze, thanks in part to the attention generated by creative ad campaigns launched by a number of entities like Archer Daniels Midland and the American Soybean Association. Even the FDA got into the act in 1999 when they approved the health claim that soy lowers one's cholesterol.

Although it's hard to find too many negatives in major media outlets, the real story behind soy is far more complex and not nearly as safe as one might think. Why?

The soy foods that are good for you must be eaten sparingly just as they have been for a very long time in Asia. The average consumption of soy in China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan doesn't exceed 36 grams daily

Like most other products you find in U.S. grocery stores, soy foods are heavily processed. A cup of soy milk or tofu contains seven times the amount of soy Asians eat daily

In fact, scientists have warned consumers that eating soy comes with some risk. Countless studies have linked the consumption of soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, infertility, cognitive decline and even cancer and heart disease.

Soybeans were first used by the Chinese as a crop to fertilize soil and eventually became human food near the third century B.C. when the Chinese created a fermentation process to make miso, or soybean paste. (Natto and tempeh were other fermented products that came along about 1000 A.D.) Tofu came after miso, but it was rarely eaten as a main course, except in monasteries. Also, the Chinese never cooked, baked or boiled soybeans or related products except in times of famine.

Although soy milk has been touted as a traditional product, the earliest mention of it appeared only 140 years ago. The first infant soy formulas in China were developed in the 1930s but never used widely.

Modern uses


Experts believe the use of soy is merely an offshoot of the industrial revolution to develop cheaper meat substitutes, create soy-based drugs and to generate eventual replacement materials for plastics and fuels based on petroleum.

The proof is in foods we eat: Some 60 percent of the foods sold in grocery and natural food stores has some soy in it. Soy is hidden in a good many foods, including fast-food hamburgers and canned tuna. Others, like Soysage and Not Dogs, make no bones about their origins.

But there is nothing that sounds terribly safe or nutritious about most of these soy-based products. For example:

Textured soy protein is created by forcing defatted soy flour through a machine called an extruder under conditions of such extreme heat and pressure that the very structure of the soy protein is changed

The first step in the process to make soy protein isolate is when defatted soybean meal is mixed with a caustic alkaline solution to remove the fiber, then washed in an acid solution to leech out the protein

The use of soy protein in animal feed over time has caused such health concerns as poor growth and digestive distress

Big promises


Those who defend the use of soy claim food processing and home cooking remove many antinutrients. While that's true, some still remain. Besides, the level of heat needed to remove some antiutrients, for example, would severely damage the soy protein, making it harder to digest. Lately, however, the soy industry has changed its tune in an attempt to convince consumers antinutrients are valuable.

Consequently, soy allergies are on the rise thanks to the increasing numbers of foods with soy in them, the growing use of soy-based formulas for infants and use of genetically modified foods.

The use of soy-based formulas is particularly alarming. Depending on a male infant's biology, if receptor sites intended to connect with testosterone are occupied instead by soy receptors, for example, male characteristics may never develop, according to recent studies of animals. But anecdotal evidence and reports from parents and pediatricians have confirmed this outcome.

Some advocates believe the plant hormones found in soy formula can't be harmful, again because Japanese women eat many soy products and, theoretically, have high levels of phytoestrogens in their breast milk. But, after measuring the soy isoflavones in the breast milk of these women, even some who are vegetarians and ate a lot of soy-based foods, researchers found low levels.

Other side effects of soy: The level of soy estrogens could allow the spread of hormone-related disease that hurt the health of the thyroid gland. In fact, the 25 grams of soy-based protein advocated by the FDA to lower cholesterol could harm the thyroid too, increasing one's risk for heart disease.

Mothering May-June 2004


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Dr. Mercola's Comment:

I've long shared the many issues and dangers associated with including soy in your diets. One of the biggest concerns: Soy contains phytic acid, which has anti-nutritional properties. Because phytic acid binds with specific nutrients you need, like iron, it inhibits their absorption in your digestive system.

In fact, soy formula is one of the worst foods that you could feed your child. Not only does it have profoundly adverse hormonal effects, but it also has over 1,000% more aluminum than conventional milk-based formulas.

Breastfeeding is the healthiest thing you can do for your child, however in some cases it may not be possible.

If you cannot breastfeed here is a recipe for a healthy infant formula that, although is not the same as breastfeeding, will give your infant the proper balance of essential fats.

All these facts should make you think twice about using soy in your diets. But is there any safe and beneficial form of soy? Absolutely!

From a nutritional standpoint, think of soy in separate categories: Non-fermented and fermented. The troubles I've documented on this site are associated with using primarily processed, non-fermented soy foods such as soy milk, flour, nuts, baby formula and the many soy products been flooding the market recently as well as foods on your grocery store shelves you don't know about that may contain soy.

Studies have shown traditionally fermented soy--the form that is wildly popular in many Asian cultures--aids in preventing and reducing a variety of diseases including certain forms of heart disease and cancers. Why? Fermentation blunts the effect phytic acid has on your system.

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