Is Cows Milk Good for Your Health?

April 21, 2006

Most knowledgeable doctors universally advise against milk consumption. Why? Many reason. Cow’s milk first of all was made to wean a baby cow, not a human. Mothers milk has much less protein as humans are much smaller than cows. Then there is the issue of homogenization. Normal fat cannot penetrate the walls of our intestines. Cows fat is homogenized which in essence spins it around super fast and makes the fat molecules tiny, so tiny that can go right through our intestinal walls into our blood where they do a great job of clogging our arteries and causing heart disease, among other things. Another issue, hormones. Our little girls are menstruating at much younger ages these days due to more milk consumption and more hormones being pumped into cows. Childhood leukemia is much higher in the dairy producing states. Here are some facts to consider. I pulled these facts off the Internet:

According to Hoards Dairyman (Volume 147, number 4)... 89% of America's dairy herds have the leukemia virus.

Dairy cattle are infected with bovine immunodeficiency viruses (BIV) and bovine leukemia viruses (BLV), worldwide. (Bovine immunodeficiency viruses can also be properly referred to as bovine AIDS viruses.)

• In the United States, results show an average 40% of beef herds and 64% of dairy herds are infected with BIV.5
• In Canada 6-7, the infection rate is 70% and in Argentina 8 the rate is 84% for BLV.
• Herds infected with the BIV are usually infected with the leukemia virus (BLV) also. 5
• Both viruses can cross species lines thus infecting other animals, like sheep, goats, and chimpanzees – and they develop disease. 5
• Nationwide and worldwide, leukemia is more common in the higher dairy consuming populations.  9,10
• An increased incidence of leukemia has been found among dairy farmers in multiple studies. 11-14
• BIV infection has been reported in a person. 15
• The bovine leukemia virus has been classified in the same group as the Human T-cell Leukemia/Lymphatic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which is known to cause leukemia and lymphomas in humans (Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma). 16
• BIV is structurally and genetically closely related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type-1 (the virus causing human AIDS). 17
• Pasteurization kills many types of microorganisms, but it is not foolproof. There is also concern that pasteurization may break the viruses into fragments that may become even more dangerous. 18

References:

5) Gonda M. Bovine immunodeficiency virus. AIDS. 1992 Aug;6(8):759-76
6) Sargeant JM. Associations between farm management practices, productivity, and bovine leukemia virus infection in Ontario dairy herds. Prev Vet Med. 1997 Aug;31(3-4):211-21.
7) VanLeeuwen JA,. Seroprevalence of infection with Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis, bovine leukemia virus, and bovine viral diarrhea virus in maritime Canada dairy cattle. Can Vet J. 2001 Mar;42(3):193-8.
8) Trono KG. Seroprevalence of bovine leukemia virus in dairy cattle in Argentina: comparison of sensitivity and specificity of different detection methods. Vet Microbiol. 2001 Nov 26;83(3):235-48.
9) Hursting SD. Diet and human leukemia: an analysis of international data. Prev Med. 1993 May;22(3):409-22.
10) Howell MA. Factor analysis of international cancer mortality data and per capita food consumption. Br J Cancer. 1974 Apr;29(4):328-36.
11) Kristensen P. Incidence and risk factors of cancer among men and women in Norwegian agriculture. Scand J Work Environ Health. 1996 Feb;22(1):14-26.
12) Reif J. Cancer risks in New Zealand farmers. Int J Epidemiol. 1989 Dec;18(4):768-74.
13) Blair A. Leukemia cell types and agricultural practices in Nebraska. Arch Environ Health. 1985 Jul-Aug;40(4):211-4.
14) Donham KJ. Epidemiologic relationships of the bovine population and human leukemia in Iowa. Am J Epidemiol. 1980 Jul;112(1):80-92.
15)Jacobs RM. Detection of multiple retroviral infections in cattle and cross-reactivity of bovine immunodeficiency-like virus and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proteins using bovine and human sera in a western blot assay. Can J Vet Res. 1992 Oct;56(4):353-9.
16) Johnson J. Molecular biology and pathogenesis of the human T-cell leukaemia/lymphotropic virus Type-1 (HTLV-1). Int J Exp Pathol. 2001 Jun;82(3):135-47.
17) Whetstone CA. Examination of whether persistently indeterminate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 Western immunoblot reactions are due to serological reactivity with bovine immunodeficiency-like virus. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Apr;30(4):764-70.
18) Ferrer JF. Milk of dairy cows frequently contains a leukemogenic virus. Science. 1981 Aug 28;213(4511):1014-6.

Also from the Internet search of leukemia and children, I found this sad story:

A 7 week old boy, was admitted to the Arkansas Children's Hospital because of vomiting and a dramatic increase in head size. During the mother's pregnancy, she was stated as being extremely cautious about her nutrition and personal habits. She did not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco and had no known exposure to toxins in her work environment as a store clerk. She did, however, begin drinking more than one-half gallon of milk a day during pregnancy and continued drinking milk after delivery. It was later reported that the milk products she was drinking from her local dairy contained unacceptably high levels of the pesticide heptachlor due to feeding of livestock with heptachlor contaminated feed. Heptachlor is a primary ingredient in the pesticide chlordane and has been used in agriculture and as a termite treatment for homes.

After entering the hospital at 7 weeks of age, her child was diagnosed with a gliosarcoma brain tumor. Family members have shown no incidence of brain tumors so hereditary factors were ruled out. Genetic mutations were detected in the cancer cells but not in other cells of the child's body. The researchers stated these chromosome abnormalities are detected in about 50% of all gliosarcomas and that heptachlor has tested positive for mutagenic properties. The researchers also quoted another study appearing in the journal CANCER, 48:774, 1981, which found high levels of chlordane and heptachlor in the blood of 13 childhood cancer cases

Next, lets take a peek at an expert from Milk: The Deadly Poison by Robert Cohen 317 pages containing 336 references with some fascinating facts on milk:

Each sip of milk provides you with:

"Pituitary hormones (PRL, GH, TSH, FSH, LH ACTH Oxytocin)
Steroid hormones (Estradiol, Estriol, Progesterone, Testosterone,
17-Ketosteroids, Corticosterone, Vitamine D)
Hypothalamic hormones (TRH, LHRH, Somatostatin, PRL-inhibiting
factor, PRL-releasing factor, GnRH, GRH)
Thyroid and Parathyroid hormones (T3, T4, rT3, Calcitonin,
Parathormone, PTH peptide)
gastrointestinal peptides (Vasoactive intestinal peptide, Bombesin,
Cholecystokinin, Gastrin, Gastrin inhibitory peptide, Pancreatic
peptide, Y peptide, Substance P and Neurotensin)
Growth Factors (IGF's (I and II), IGF binding proteins, Nerve growth
factor, Epidermal growth factor and TGF alpha, TGF beta, Growth
Inhibitors MDGI and MAF, and Platelet derived growth factor
Others... (PGE, PGF2 alpha, cAMP, cGMP, Delta sleep inducing
peptide, Transferrin, Lactoferrin, Casomorphin and Erythropoietin

In Short...

Growth hormones, fat, cholesterol, allergenic proteins, blood, pus, antibiotics, bacteria, virus and more as it is sponsored, in part, by Monsanto, WestAgro, and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc..

Did you know that. ..

* Milk is the foundation of heart disease and the explanation for America's number one killer.
• Milk is the reason that one out of six American women will develop cancer of the breast.
• Twenty-five million American women over the age of forty have been diagnosed with bone crippling arthritis and osteoporosis. These females have been drinking in excess of two pounds of milk per day for their entire adult lives. Why are their doctors blind to the fact that drinking milk does not prevent osteoporosis?
• Calcium in milk is not adequately absorbed and milk consumption is the probable cause of osteoporosis.
I could go on and on with the documented research on milk. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. For me, I think if you replace milk with green tea, coffee and if you need something white in it....soy milk and by all means a high fiber diet you'll find you feel better, lose weight, have more energy and otherwise will live a happier, longer, healthier life. 
 

More anti-milk links:

Ovarian Cancer Risk and Consumption of Milk Products and Lactose (Science Daily)

Milk: "No Longer Recommended or Required".

NATURE'S PERFECT FOOD? A SECOND OPINION!