Is Milk Good for You?

Haven't we been drinking milk ever since childhood. Didn't our parents and grandparents drink milk all their lives and didn't they tell us how milk is loaded with essential vitamins and minerals. Wasn't it considered to be the ultimate way to boost one's overall well-being? Then, how can some say milk is not good?

Cow's milk available in the stores contain hormones and antibiotics. Cows have been injected with hormones to increase their milk production and to make things worse, the US FDA, gave Monsanto Corporation the green flag to market recombinant bovine growth hormone.

This hormone is injected in cows to enhance their milk production. Antibiotics are injected to reduce infections. However, these two components contaminate milk.

Thousands of American dairy cows are injected with these hormones, which seep into the human body. Research conducted on rats revealed that recombinant bovine growth hormone, when injected in rats, conduced prostate cancer and thyroid cysts in 90 days. So imagine what effect this hormone can have on us who have been consuming milk for decades together.

Moreover, the milk we purchase from stores is pasteurized, which means it has been heated at extremely high temperatures to destroy bacteria. This pasteurization process results in destruction of natural protein structures in the milk.

The altered form of milk protein is harder to digest in some folks. It's alteration results in formation of a readily absorbable form of lactose. This raises the blood sugar levels faster.

The pancreas are also forced to produce more digestive enzymes, which explains how milk consuming societies are linked to diabetic cases. Pasteurization also kills 'good bacteria' producing lactic acid that otherwise protects the body from 'bad bacteria' outbreaks.

Pasteurization also results in destruction of enzymes present in milk, which would otherwise help absorb and assimilate calcium. This is why people who have been consuming milk regularly also end up with osteoporosis.

Further research conducted revealed that women consuming more than 90 g of fat on a daily basis from full cream milk are vulnerable to breast cancer. This is because pregnant cows produce estrogen hormone, which seeps into the milk.

Excess levels of the hormone can be attributed to onset of breast cancer. Besides these detrimental issues, milk can also be linked to joint pain, headaches, eczema, aggravation of sinus problems, digestive problems like gas, bloating, etc.

Lactose from milk enters the digestive tract on intake of milk. However, in some people the enzyme required to digest lactose is absent, thereby resulting in bowel cramping, diarrhea, bloating, nausea and vomiting. Thus, milk consumption can conduce to several severe problems in people with lactose intolerance.

Some people show allergic reactions after consumption of milk. The immune systems of people with milk allergy fail to recognize the proteins in the milk. They misinterpret them to be foreign bodies and release immunoglobulin E antibodies to fight the harmless milk protein.

The toxins released in the bloodstream to fight milk proteins in turn cause allergic reactions like skin rashes, wheezing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Thus, for people with milk allergies, milk consumption is not good.

Since lactose is a low order sugar, the body requires more effort to break it down. In some cases, when you are ill, your body may not be able to digest the lactose and conduce to vomiting.

However, during pregnancy, it is important to avoid unpasteurized milk or any other dairy products. This is because, unpasteurized food products can conduce to toxoplasmosis, which is an infection triggered by a microscopic parasite.

Having a glass of warm milk before bed, is regarded as a tip to get a good night's sleep. Though drinking warm milk does feel soothing, there is no evidence that milk assists your sleep in any way.

So drinking milk before bed depends on one's personal choice. Moreover, drinking a glass of warm milk before going to bed, is believed to give a good night's sleep to pregnant women who suffer from sleepless nights.

The solution to this problem would be consumption of organic milk. Though expensive, this milk is devoid of hormones and antibiotics. Organic milk producing cows have not been injected with hormones for large-scale production of milk.

However, if you've lost your faith in milk itself and do not want to spend your money on organic milk, then replace cow's milk with soy milk or almond milk. For calcium, consume salmon, sardines, parsley, almonds, green vegetables like spinach, chard, broccoli, kale, etc.

The crux of the whole matter is you do not need to stop milk or dairy product consumption totally. Just try to stick to the organic milk and cows that are grass-fed.