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Studies prove that MILK damages your health

The dangers of milk - Read the evidences

 

Click here for the truth about dairy products and strong bones.

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

 

To learn more about dairy foods and osteoporosis, please visit these

sites:

www.DumpDairy.com - www.PCRM.org - www.StrongBones.org -

www.drmcdougall.com

 

 

 

 

Harvard School of Public Health, on the Consumption of Dairy Products

(2005):

 

" The recommendation to drink three glasses of low-fat milk or eat three

servings of other dairy products per day to prevent osteoporosis is another step

in the wrong direction. . Three glasses of low-fat milk add more than 300

calories a day. This is a real issue for the millions of Americans who are

trying to control their weight. What's more, millions of Americans are lactose

intolerant, and even small amounts of milk or dairy products give them

stomachaches, gas, or other problems. This recommendation ignores the lack of

evidence for a link between consumption of dairy products and prevention of

osteoporosis. It also ignores the possible increases in risk of ovarian cancer

and prostate cancer associated with dairy products. "

 

 

 

 

 

MILK SUCKS ...

 

FOR ANIMALS:

Corporate-owned factories where cows are warehoused in huge sheds and treated

like milk machines have replaced most small family farms. With genetic

manipulation and intensive production technologies, it is common for modern

dairy cows to produce 100 pounds of milk a day- 10 times more than they would

produce in nature. To keep milk production as high as possible, farmers

artificially inseminate cows every year. Growth hormones and unnatural milking

schedules cause dairy cows' udders to become painful and so heavy that they

sometimes drag on the ground, resulting in frequent infections and overuse of

antibiotics. Cows- like all mammals- make milk to feed their own babies- not

humans.

 

 

Male calves, the " byproducts " of the dairy industry, endure 14 to 17 weeks of

torment in veal crates so small that they can't even turn around. Female calves

often replace their old, worn-out mothers, or are slaughtered soon after birth

for the rennet in their stomachs (an ingredient of most commercial cheeses).

They are often kept in tiny crates or tethered in stalls for the first few

months of their lives, only to grow up to become " milk machines " like their

mothers.

 

 

FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:

Cow's milk is an inefficient food source. Cows, like humans, expend the majority

of their food intake simply leading their lives. It takes a great deal of grain

and other foodstuffs cycled through cows to produce a small amount of milk. And

not only is milk a waste of energy and water, the production of milk is also a

disastrous source of water pollution. A dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste

every day -- equal to that of two dozen people, but with no toilets, sewers, or

treatment plants.

 

In Lancaster County, Pa., manure from dairy cows is destroying the Chesapeake

Bay, and in California, which produces one-fifth of the country's total supply

of milk, the manure from dairy farms has poisoned vast expanses of underground

water, rivers, and streams. In the Central Valley of California, the cows

produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even a smallish

farm of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community

of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste.

 

 

 

FOR YOUR HEALTH:

Dairy products are a health hazard. They contain no fiber or complex

carbohydrates and are laden with saturated fat and cholesterol. They are

contaminated with cow's blood and pus and are frequently contaminated with

pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics. Dairy products are linked to allergies,

constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

 

The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care, spoke

out against feeding cow's milk to children, saying it can cause anemia,

allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up

for obesity and heart disease, America's number one cause of death.

 

And dairy products may actually cause osteoporosis, not prevent it, since their

high-protein content leaches calcium from the body. Population studies, backed

up by a groundbreaking Harvard study of more than 75,000 nurses, suggest that

drinking milk can actually cause osteoporosis. Find out more by visiting our

links page.

 

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes

more than 550 pounds of dairy products annually, which is 40 percent of the bulk

of the food we eat. Click here to see an illustration of the " Food Pyramid "

which is representative of actual American eating habits.

 

Give the bottle the boot! Instead, try delicious soy or rice milk, soy cheese,

Tofutti ice cream, and tofu sour cream and cream cheese. All are widely

available at health food stores and many supermarkets. Click here for

information on adopting a dairy-free diet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

" The dairy folks, ever since the 1920s, have been enormously successful in

cultivating an environment within virtually all segments of our society-from

research and education to public relations and politics-to have us believing

that cow's milk and its products are manna from heaven. ... Make no mistake

about it; the dairy industry has been virtually in total control of any and all

public health information that ever rises to the level of public scrutiny. "

Dr. T. Colin Campbell

 

Why dairy products won't help

you maintain healthy bones

 

 

Building strong bones and keeping them that

way is easier than you may have thought.

 

This Web page focuses on debunking a myth sold to the American public by a

multibillion-dollar industry-an industry that has repeated its marketing message

so often and for so long that most people now believe that dairy products are

essential to bone health, despite extensive evidence to the contrary. The dairy

industry has an army of dietitians, public relations consultants, and lobbyists

on its payroll but does not have the evidence on its side.

 

The dairy pushers pay dietitians, doctors, and researchers to endorse dairy

products, spending more than $300 million annually, just at the national level,

to retain a market for their products. The dairy industry provides free teaching

materials to schools and pays sports stars, celebrities, and politicians to push

an agenda based on profit, not public health. Dr. Walter Willett, veteran

nutrition researcher at the Harvard School of Public Health, says that calcium

consumption via dairy-product intake " has become like a religious crusade, "

overshadowing true preventive measures such as physical exercise. To hear the

dairy industry tell it, if you consume three glasses of milk daily, your bones

will be stronger and you will be able to rest assured that osteoporosis is not

in your future. Not so.

 

After examining all the available nutritional studies and evidence, Dr. John

McDougall concludes: " The primary cause of osteoporosis is the high-protein diet

most Americans consume today. As one leading researcher in this area said,

'eating a high-protein diet is like pouring acid rain on your bones.' "

Remarkably enough, both clinical and population studies show that milk-drinkers

tend to have more bone breaks than people who consume milk infrequently or not

at all. For the dairy industry to lull unsuspecting women and children into

complacency by telling them to be sure to drink more milk so that their bones

will be strong may make good business sense, but it does the consumer a grave

disservice.

Much of the world's population does not consume cow's milk, and yet most of the

world does not experience the high rates of osteoporosis found in the West. In

some Asian countries, for example, where consumption of dairy foods is low,

fracture rates are far lower than they are in the United States and in

Scandinavian countries, where consumption of dairy products is high.

 

While reading this, please remember that dairy products contain no complex

carbohydrates or fiber but are packed with saturated fats and cholesterol and

have been linked to heart disease, cancer, Crohn's disease, and a host of

childhood illnesses from asthma to diabetes.

 

But Don't Take Our Word for It-Examine the Science for Yourself

 

" Milk, it now seems clear, is not the solution to poor bone density. To

the contrary, it's part of the problem. "

Dr. Charles Attwood

 

In one study, funded by the National Dairy Council, a group of postmenopausal

women were given three 8-ounce glasses of skim milk every day for two years, and

their bones were compared to those of a control group of women not given the

milk. The dairy group consumed 1,400 mg of calcium per day and lost bone at

twice the rate of the control group. According to the researchers, " this may

have been due to the average 30 percent increase in protein intake during milk

supplementation. ... The adverse effect of increases in protein intake on

calcium balance has been reported from several laboratories, including our own "

(they then cite 10 other studies). Says McDougall, " Needless to say, this

finding did not reach the six o'clock news. " This is one study that the dairy

industry won't be repeating any time soon.

After looking at 34 published studies in 16 countries, researchers at Yale

University found that the countries with the highest rates of

osteoporosis-including the United States, Sweden, and Finland-were those in

which people consumed the most meat, milk, and other animal foods. This study

also showed that African-Americans, who consume, on average, more than 1,000 mg

of calcium per day, are nine times more likely to experience hip fractures than

are South African blacks, whose daily calcium intake is only about 196 mg. Says

McDougall, " On a nation-by-nation basis, people who consume the most calcium

have the weakest bones and the highest rates of osteoporosis. ... Only in

thoseplaces where calcium and protein are eaten in relatively high quantities

does a deficiency of bone calcium exist, due to an excess of animal protein. "

 

Harvard University's landmark Nurses Health Study, which followed 78,000 women

over a 12-year period, found that the women who consumed the most calcium from

dairy foods broke more bones than those who rarely drank milk. Summarizing this

study, the Lunar Osteoporosis Update (November 1997) explained: " This increased

risk of hip fracture was associated with dairy calcium. ... If this were any

agent other than milk, which has been so aggressively marketed by dairy

interests, it undoubtedly would be considered a major risk factor. "

 

" The association between the intake of animal protein and fracture rates

appears to be as strong as the association between cigarette smoking and lung

cancer. "

Dr. T. Colin Campbell

 

A National Institutes of Health study at the University of California, published

in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001), found that " women who ate

most of their protein from animal sources had three times the rate of bone loss

and 3.7 times the rate of hip fractures as women who ate most of their protein

from vegetable sources. " Even though the researchers adjusted " for everything we

could think of that might otherwise explain the relationship ... it didn't

change the results. " The study's conclusion: " [A]n increase in vegetable protein

intake and a decrease in animal protein intake may decrease bone loss and the

risk of hip fracture. "

Another study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000)

looked at all aspects of diet and bone health and found that high consumption of

fruits and vegetables positively affected bone health and that dairy consumption

did not. Such findings do not surprise nutritional researchers: The calcium

absorption rate from milk is approximately 30 percent, while figures for

broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard greens, turnip greens, kale, and some other

green leafy vegetables range from 40 percent to 64 percent.

 

After reviewing studies on the link between protein intake and urinary calcium

loss, dairy industry researcher Dr. Robert P. Heaney found that as consumption

of protein increases, so does the amount of calcium lost in the urine (Journal

of the American Dietetic Association, 1993): " This effect has been documented in

several different study designs for more than 70 years, " he writes, adding, " The

net effect is such that, if protein intake is doubled without changing intake of

other nutrients, urinary calcium content increases by about 50 percent. "

 

Researchers from the University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital discovered that

consumption of dairy foods, especially early in life, is associated with

increased risk of hip fractures in old age (American Journal of Epidemiology,

1994).

 

In Pediatrics (2000), published by the American Academy of Pediatrics,

Pennsylvania State University researchers showed that calcium intake, which

ranged from 500 to 1,500 mg per day, had no lasting effect on the bone health of

girls in their teens. " We (had) hypothesized that increased calcium intake would

result in better adolescent bone gain. Needless to say, we were surprised to

find our hypothesis refuted, " one researcher explained.

 

" It is hard to turn on the television without hearing commercials

suggesting that milk promotes strong bones. The commercials do not point out

that only 30 percent of milk's calcium is absorbed by the body or that

osteoporosis is common among milk drinkers. Nor do they help you correct the

real causes of bone loss. "

Dr. Neal Barnard

Finally, a review of all research conducted since 1985, published in the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2000), concluded: " If dairy food intakes

confer bone health, one might expect this to have been apparent from the 57

outcomes, which included randomized, controlled trials and longitudinal cohort

studies involving 645,000 person-years. " The researchers go on to lament that

" there have been few carefully designed studies of the effects of dairy foods on

bone health " and then to conclude that " the body of scientific evidence appears

inadequate to support a recommendation for daily intake of dairy foods to

promote bone health in the general U.S. population. "

What we do know is that osteoporosis rates decline markedly as body weight,

exercise, and caloric intake rise. Corroborating the researchers' concerns about

poorly controlled studies, only three studies have factored caloric intake into

the analysis. Two of these studies found no correlation between dairy intake and

osteoporosis, but the other found a positive link; that is, the more milk, the

higher the fracture risk (Harvard Nurses Study, above). The American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition (2000) study cited above argued that since it's clear that

total caloric intake and body weight are positively associated with bone mass,

such factors are " particularly important " in any study of osteoporosis and bone

mass.

 

Is the dairy industry ignoring these factors by design in its clinical studies,

perhaps because dairy-product consumers tend to be heavier and have a higher

caloric intake than those consuming fewer (or no) dairy products? Despite the

fact that so many dairy researchers ignore this information, most studies still

show no correlation between cow " s milk consumption and a lower risk for

osteoporosis, and some actually indicate that milk is associated with an

increased risk. Perhaps if these factors were taken into account, the studies

indicating no link would instead show, in fact, that dairy-product intake is

linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis, as does the Harvard School of

Public Health study. That would bring clinical analysis in line with the

population analysis, which clearly states that increased dairy-product

consumption is linked to increased risk for osteoporosis.

 

Conclusion

 

Drinking milk builds dairy producers' profits, but it is not likely to build

your bones and may even harm them. Dairy foods are linked to all sorts of other

problems, too, including obesity, heart disease, and cancer, and are likely to

be contaminated with antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals, including

dioxin, one of the most toxic substances in the world. (On April 12, 2001, The

Washington Post reported that " the latest EPA study concludes that people who

consume even small amounts of dioxin in fatty foods and dairy products face a

cancer risk of one in 100. " These consumers may develop other problems, too,

including learning disabilities and susceptibility to infections.)

 

Of course, calcium is an essential mineral. According to Dr. Neal Barnard,

president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, " Milk, in

particular, is poor insurance against bone breaks ... the healthiest calcium

sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes. ... You don't need to eat huge

servings of vegetables or beans to get enough calcium, but do include both in

your regular menu planning. " To learn more or for a free vegetarian starter

kit-which includes information on nondairy sources of calcium-visit

DumpDairy.com.

 

 

So what can I do to maintain strong bones?

 

 

Although the evidence is strong that dairy-product consumption doesn't

prevent osteoporosis, simply eliminating dairy products does not ensure strong

bones.

 

It pays to put some thought into keeping your bones healthy. Studies have

shown that the following factors are helpful in building and maintaining strong

bones:

 

. Getting plenty of exercise. Studies have concluded that physical

exercise is the key to building strong bones (it's more important than any other

factor). For example, a study published in the British Medical Journal that

followed 1,400 men and women over a 15-year period found that exercise may be

the best protection against hip fractures and that " reduced intake of dietary

calcium does not seem to be a risk factor. " And Penn State University

researchers found that bone density is significantly affected by how much

exercise girls get during their teen years, when 40 to 50 percent of their

skeletal mass is formed.

 

. Getting enough vitamin D. If you don't spend any time in the sun

(about 15 minutes on the face and arms each day is enough), be sure to take a

supplement or eat fortified foods.

 

. Eliminating animal protein. For a variety of reasons, animal protein

causes severe bone deterioration.

 

. Limiting salt intake. Sodium leaches calcium out of the bones.

 

. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. They contain vitamin C, which

is essential for building collagen, the underlying bonematrix.

 

. Not smoking. Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of

cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than

nonsmokers.

 

 

 

To learn more about dairy foods and osteoporosis, please visit these

sites:

 

www.DumpDairy.com

www.PCRM.org

www.StrongBones.org

www.drmcdougall.com

 

 

 

 

 

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