Dairy Products and 10 False Promises
Milk is as pure white as fresh fallen snow and as familiar as a
mother's warm touch. Common sense once led me to believe that if a
single food, milk, could sustain a baby as the sole source of
nutrients, then it must be nature's most perfect food. Milk
builds strong bones I have learned over and over again and
since the hardest parts of my body are made mostly of calcium, this
liquid food must be essential for my strength and stability. Milk
is for life, because they tell me I never outgrow my need for milk.
All these facts were the truth until I took the trouble to
think a little about the subject on my own and to look into the
scientific research. May I share with you some of my surprising
discoveries?
Mother's Milk Can Be a Perfect Food
Within the same species like cow for calf, cat for kitten, mare
for foal mother's milk can be the perfect food for the very young
not, after weaning, for older offspring, and certainly, not for
the fully-grown. All mammals nourish their developing young with
this ready-to-eat liquid synthesized by specialized sweat glands,
called the mammary glands. This life-giving fluid contains the
nutrients, antibodies and hormones that optimize the chances for
growth and survival of the infant.
How essential is mother's milk? Human infants deprived of the
advantages of human breast milk have:1
Two to four times the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (crib
death),
More than 60 times the risk of pneumonia in the first three months
of life,2
Ten times the risk of hospitalization during their first year
Reduced intelligence as measured by IQ score
Behavioral and speech difficulties
An increased chance of suffering from infections, asthma, eczema,
type I diabetes, and cancer (lymphoma and leukemia) in early
life
A greater risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, multiple
sclerosis, food allergies, ulcerative colitis, and Crohns disease
later in life
No one argues against the fact that human breast milk is natures
most perfect food for human babies. There is also no satisfactory
substitute; therefore, every effort should be made to have every
infant breast-fed exclusively for six months; and then, with the
addition of healthy solid food choices, partially breast-fed until
the age of two. (More information on this is found in The McDougall
Program for Women book).
Mother's Milk is Species Specific
The nutritional needs of very young animals are met by the unique
qualities of the milk of that particular species. The composition
of this infant food has evolved over millions of years to be
ideally suited for that animal. Let me explain in terms of one
essential nutrient: protein.
The amount of protein in the milk of an animal varies to meet the
growth demands of the very young the faster an animal grows the
greater the protein needs.
Comparisons of Milk of Different Species3
Animal Protein* Growth Rate(days)**
Human 1.2 180
Horse 2.4 60
Cow 3.3 47
Goat 4.1 19
Dog 7.1 8
Cat 9.5 7
Rat 11.8 4.5
* Grams per 100 milliliters (in terms of % of calories, cow's milk
has four times more protein than human milk; 21% vs. 5%4)
** Time required to double birth weight
In addition to the much higher protein content, consider the other
nutrient differences between cow's milk and human:
Nutrient Human
mg/100 Cal Cow
mg/100 Cal
Calcium 45 194
Phosphorus 18 152
Sodium 23 80
Potassium 72 246
Not surprisingly, since a calf doubles its birth weight nearly four
times faster than a human infant does, the concentrations of
protein and calcium are nearly four times greater. Rapid growth
requires a much higher density of all kinds of nutrients.
Problems of Excess Nutrients
Most people think of health problems in terms of deficiencies of
nutrients; this is the reason vitamin and mineral supplements are
so popular. However, I do not see diseases of deficiency in my
patients. For example, I see no vitamin C deficiency (scurvy), B1
deficiency (Beriberi), or protein deficiency in my patients.
Rather, I see diseases of excess such as excess dietary fat
(obesity), cholesterol (heart disease), and salt (hypertension).
Therefore, feeding an overly-concentrated food such as cow's milk
to people (infants, children, and adults) promotes diseases of
excess. (Some of you are still thinking cow's milk corrects calcium
deficiency in people, preventing osteoporosis. Be patient, in a
moment I will show you this is not true.)
Replacing human breast milk with cow's milk was once tried in the
mid-1800s in the United States for emergency situations (such as
when a mother died in childbirth). The result was a quick death for
most of the infants, because the high protein content of the cow's
milk forced fluid losses from the infant's kidneys, resulting in
dehydration.5 Once this problem was recognized, then infant
formulas were developed which added sugar to the cow's milk in
order to reduce the protein concentration of the cow's milk and
make it more resemble human milk. Some of you may be old enough to
remember making or drinking infant formula made from Carnation
evaporated cow's milk and Karo syrup (sugar).6 (This is a very
unhealthy formula for infants do not use this).
Consider the purpose of cow's milk. This is an ideal food to grow a
calf from its 60-pound birthweight to a 600-pound young cow, ready
to wean. This is a high octane fuel. One obvious consequence of
people eating calf food is rapid fat gain and dairy products
are one of the leading contributors to the epidemic of excess body
fat affecting 25% of children and 65% of adults in Western
populations. Matters are made even worse when cow's milk is
converted into even more concentrated products, like cheeses.
Cow's milk products have some important nutritional deficiencies.4
They are completely devoid of fiber; and contain insufficient
amounts of vitamins, like C and niacin, and minerals, like iron, to
meet the human body's needs.
