It is actually disgusting the amount of people that consume milk on a daily basis having been misled about its supposed ‘health benefits’. The majority of this milk is also taken cows that have been reared by totally unsustainable conventional farming that promote cruelty in farming rather than preventing it.
The majority of people I am sure reading this probably believe that cows milk is healthy and that it comes from happy smiley cows like you see on the ads. Today I am going to break these myths and hopefully offer you some simple reasons why if you currently drink milk, why it might be better that you don’t.
A Glass of The Good Stuff
Cows milk just contains cows milk right? No it is not that simple. Cows from conventional farms are fed antibiotics, chemical pesticides, vaccines, corn and other fortified unnatural foods that are not compatible with a cows body. And when milked, all of these toxins and the cows energetic print of its life, hormones, blood and pus are also found in the fresh milk you pour over your cereal. In fact, according to www.MilkMyths.org.uk, up to 400,000 million somatic (pus) cells are legally allowed in each litre. Truly gross if you ask me!
Keep It In The Species
I believe drinking milk is totally naturally, but only when this milk has come from your own species. I mean the best thing a new born baby can receive to get nourishment is the milk from its mothers breast. Humans however, are the only mammals that continue to drink milk after infancy, and also only from another species. Can you imagine drinking milk from your pet dog or cat? What’s the difference?
My biggest argument against drinking milk from cows or any other species is it is simply unnatural. Cows (just like humans), only produce milk for the needs of their baby. Their baby I might add, when born, weighs a little over 7stone (which is around 100 pounds). This is a huge difference to the weight of a human baby which when a healthy human baby is born weighs between 5 and 8 pounds. Therefore, the milk a cow produces is specifically designed to feed its baby calf of such large size.
So right from the word go before we look at anything else, we can see logically that milk from a cow, when drunk by a human is not going to suit us. So what is our obsession with having milk daily? And why do so many people choose this as even more vital than consuming their daily fruit and veg?
When a female cow has to be forced to be pregnant year after year so we can get milk from her, constantly has to have milking devices attached to her udders that, due to over-milking, artificial hormones, bacteria and medications, become chronically inflamed and overtime infected, not to mention she is kept in mostly cruel dirty conditions, to give us this milk that along with other dairy containing products, has been linked to breast, bowel, ovarian and prostate cancer, diabetes, asthma, digestive issues and numerous other conditions – what the hell are we still doing drinking so much frickin’ milk?!
Trust Us We Are Marketers
I believe the number one, main reason that so many people are hooked on cow’s milk is because of good marketing. Many years ago and still in some form today, cow’s milk has been advertised as a great source of calcium and you better drink up to keep your bones strong! This was nothing more than just a good marketing campaign which is strictly true as cow’s milk does contain calcium, but it is not the only place to get calcium from. Also, new research has revealed that consuming cows milk daily could increase your chances of developing arthritis. This seems to be due to an allergy or sensitivity to cow’s milk causing the joint inflammation, swelling, stiffness and pain. If you suffer with arthritis and suspect it may be due to cows milk, then I would suggest eliminating cow’s milk or milk-based foods for up to one week to see if the milk is causing your arthritis symptoms. If you notice an improvement in your condition, eliminate cow’s milk and milk-based foods from your daily diet completely.
So, lets look for a second and think that the exact same effect would have been had if the marketing companies had over focused and over hyped up sweet potatoes, dark leafy greens and broccoli for being calcium rich which they are. I in no way support the notion that you need cows milk to live a healthy life, nor to feed your baby to give it healthy bones – plant based foods contain enough calcium to give you what you need. But remember lets not make calcium the superstar of nutrients – there are so many other nutrients, and lifestyle factors that determine whether we will have healthy bones, joints and an overall body and mind.
So why did marketing agencies choose to market milk on a large scale? Simply because there was more profit to be made. Large corporations came in and worked with farmers and introduced the idea around the 1940’s that was the the more cows kept pregnant the more milk they could produce and they could sell. Better still the closer you keep the cows in the space the farmer has, the more cows you can keep = the more milk that can be produced, and (yes you got it) the more profits that can be made!
Times Change (And So Does Health Research)
Animal welfare back then was not such a worry like it is now. Slowly, things are changing for the welfare of these cow’s with more farmers supporting organic farming due to more customer demand and more compassionate farmers coming out of the wood work – but still the more awareness the public gain of the abuse in conventional dairy cow farms, the quicker it could change over all if we all stopped supporting them.
So I mentioned above that you have to keep a cow pregnant (at least once a year) to keep her producing milk. This new baby calf does not then stay with its mother, oh no. The poor baby calf is taken away from its mother after a day or two only. And if it was a female calf, it will be kept to turn into another milked for profit dairy cow like its mother, or if it is a male killed for either beef or veal (rarely) or more often than not its life will be ended so young as it has no other use as it is not profitable. Either way the mother has its new born calf taken away from it at 2 days old (maximum) and the stress on both animals because of this is unimaginable, and I believe reflected in the milk it produces due to more stress hormones being produced in the milk and its overall health will go down hill due to separation anxiety over losing its child. This then causes the cows immune system to become weaker and more vulnerable to getting sick, which again all of its potential ill’s all the time get passed through into the milk she produces – that you then drink.
Not only do cows undergo stress from the loss of a child, the poor milk producing dairy cows get very tired from constantly producing this milk for us humans, and naturally as a result they become sick very easily. To then in a lot of cases, get killed when they are only about four years old!
What a total tragedy, all so you can get a daily glass of the white stuff, cause you thought you were being healthy because someone said so (this someone you do not even know however) – which with your hard earned money that you buy it with, continues to put more money into the big corporations running the conventional farms that are in favour of animal abuse.
So yes, choosing organic milk if you feel you still need to drink milk is a far better option when looking at which way to put your money – animal abusers or those that try and be good to their livestock. But do make sure you buy organic milk that is certified, or better still go and meet the dairy farmer yourself and check out how he or she looks after their dairy cows. Because animal abuse can go on anywhere.
Remember, even if you buy certified organic milk – the cows still have to be kept pregnant to keep producing milk, and their baby calves are still taken away when young, and this does not take away the whole point here – is it even natural to drink milk in the first place or simply something we were ‘told’ to do?
Explore All Your Options
There are lots of other options for you if you wish to skip drinking cow’s milk, or any animals milk for that matter because the theory I have discussed today about goes applies to all animals and not just milk from cow’s.
I cannot help but wonder if because drinking milk from a different species is not natural to us humans, that this is one of the reasons for the ever increasing numbers of people who are intolerant to cow’s milk?
“There is no reason to drink cow’s milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, not humans, and we should all stop drinking it today.”
– Dr. Frank A. Oski former director of Pediatrics, John Hopkins University.Ideas for Delicious Dairy Free Replacements
- Organic Coconut Milk – perfect replacement for when you might otherwise use cows cream and even milk, pop it into quiches or on top of your fruit salad. Coconuts are hypo-allergenic and no one as of yet has ever had an allergy or intolerance to a coconut!
- Organic Home-Made Almond Milk – so long as you do not have a nut allergy, almond milk is easy to make and can be used wherever you would normally use cow’s milk, for example in baking, smoothies and on your cereal. Click here to purchase a nut milk bag to make your own.
We are all logical people here reading this, and I hope this gets you all thinking about why are you drinking that glass of milk every single day? Is it fear of bad health thanks to clever marketing? Or simply because so many people are doing it and you want to fit in? One thing I know true, whatever your reason, is that just because a million people do something does not mean it is correct. And every time you spend any amount of your money on your chosen milk – you are voting it to be kept on the market, and although not every farmer is acting cruel to his livestock, you may just be paying to keep the farmer in business that abuses his animals, for many many years to come.
Photo credit: All photos are from www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net
