Rethinking cow’s milk

Less than a generation ago, cow’s milk was a staple food in North American homes. Other dairy products were as well. But in the last 50 years, cow’s milk has been revealed to be a source of real concern for an increasing number of people. Several years ago someone wrote that humans are the only beings who drink the milk of other species. This gave me pause. And then I thought, well yes, that’s true, but humans do a lot of things that other animals do not. Things that go against nature. I dismissed the idea as academic.

With time, however, I have come to the conclusion that cow’s milk is causing far more harm than good. Although I have no issues with milk or dairy personally, I see more and more people suffering from its effects.

There are lactose-intolerant individuals who have to eliminate dairy from their diets to be healthy. Lactose-reduced products are becoming increasingly more popular. But they are not completely lactose free. There is no process to remove 100% of the lactose. Lactase is the enzyme we require to digest the lactose in milk. Some people do not produce lactase and so they cannot digest lactose and as a result they feel quite ill when they drink milk or consume products that contain dairy. Examples of distress include flatulence and abdominal discomfort, cramps and diarrhea.

It is not uncommon for some people to develop an intolerance later in life because although we may have been born with the enzymes necessary to digest milk, we may lose them as we get older. This is nature’s way and it makes sense because the enzymes are no longer required to break down the sugar in mother’s milk.

Most of the world’s population does not have the ability to produce lactase in the intestines. This lactase deficiency may affect from 70 to 95 per cent of Oriental, Black, Native American and Mediterranean adults and from 15 to 25 per cent of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon descent.

Continued consumption of milk products by those with a lactose intolerance may also produce fatigue and a predisposition to catch colds, bronchitis and ear infections. The degree of severity of symptoms is highly individual.

Anyone who has a lactose intolerance is well advised to avoid all dairy products and all foods with lactose, whey or milk solids as a hidden ingredient. Yogurt and some cheeses are not as high in lactose so some individuals are able to tolerate small amounts. Best to avoid them altogether.

Some lactose intolerant individuals can safely consume butter which contains only small amounts of lactose. This small amount can be completely removed by clarifying the butter to make ghee.

There is a smaller segment of the population that is allergic to milk. Allergy and intolerance are not the same thing. Allergy refers to faulty immunity in the body; intolerance refers to faulty digestion. It might be the casein, one of the most allergenic proteins in milk. Or it might be the way that milk is produced and processed that is causing the problem. If we consider how cows are raised today by big-agricultural farmers, it is no wonder that people are getting sick. As well, pasteurization and homogenization reduce the nutritional content of milk. Pasteurization, although not a health-promoting process, is required by law but you can find unhomogenized milk in health food stores.

In general, people tend to develop allergies to foods that their ancestors have not traditionally eaten. Knowing this can be helpful in identifying offending foods. Allergy to milk is a frequent cause of chronic duodenal ulcers and colitis. Whenever these conditions exist dairy products should be suspected. (Allergy to grain is another common cause of intestinal distress.) Milk allergies may also cause arthritic symptoms. Other diseases that have been associated with milk include celiac disease, chronic diarrhea, various gastrointestinal, pulmonary manifestations and fibrosis.

"Drink milk" advertising campaigns notwithstanding, maybe it is time to rethink our habit of drinking cow's milk and products made from milk.