Need Motivation to Eat Less Meat and More Plants? Part 3 of 12
More today on whether dairy products contribute to health:
Calcium absorption rates according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
Brussels sprouts 64%
Mustard greens 58%
Broccoli 53%
Turnip greens 52%
Kale 50%
Cow’s milk 32%
Suzanne Havala is a fellow of the American Dietetic Association (ADA) and says this:
“Milk is species specific. Each species’ milk is tailor-made for its own kind. So how on Earth did people start drinking milk from cows? Even adult cows don’t drink cow’s milk. And if we drink cow’s milk, why stop there? Why not drink dog’s milk? Or bear’s milk?”
Neal Barnard, M.D., is president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. He said this: “The dairy industry continues to whitewash the dangers of cow’s milk. The ubiquitous ‘milk mustache’ campaign makes misleading claims about milk preventing osteoporosis, lowering blood pressure, and enhancing sports performance. Recent studies, including the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, have show that milk offers no protection against broken bones. And, unlike prescription drug ads, the mustache ads don’t reveal the many unwanted side-effects of milk, among them increased risk of prostate and ovarian cancer, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.”
Tell me: Is the “Got Milk?” ad campaign seeming stupider and more dishonest to you, every time you see a new paid celebrity with a milk mustache on the side of a bus? Eat less dairy and get your calcium from plant foods instead!
Posted in: Recipes, Whole Food
Very interesting stats. I’d also recommend “The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell to learn how bad animal protein is.
I can see that pasteurized milk is horrible, but I’m not convinced that raw milk is.
Hmmm…
People think it’s very strange that my kids have never drunk a glass of milk in their lives. They sometimes have it on their cereal in the morning when I haven’t had time to make rice milk, but they get about 3 oz then and I can see the difference in them all day, they sound immediately and thoroughly congested. At least it’s organic, but sigh.
You know, I never thought of having them eat cereal with yogurt instead, duh. I’m sure they’d love it, they really enjoy yogurt. I do need to buy some kefir grains and get started on that!
I’m completely with you here! My problem is that even when I try kefir or yogurt I still get lots of gas! Maybe I’ll have to try it with coconut liquid instead.
I am so glad to read this! I took my baby for his 18 month check up today. The first one since I have taken milk out of our house. He asked if he was still on whole milk and I told him no, that we no linger drink milk at our house. He asked why and I just told him that I had done some research and decided that we didn’t need to drink it any more. That is all that was really said, he just said to make sure that he was getting calcium from other sources. I mentioned that I give him spinach and kale and he said, “Is there calcium in spinach and kale, I don’t think there is.” I assured him that there was and told him I wasn’t worried about it. He went on to tell me other things that he is worried about like iron and vitamin c. I just thought, there are so many ways to get these things without milk. Why is it that some doctors are so duped by the things they tell us about milk? It was an interesting experience to say the least.
“Is there calcium in spinach and kale, I don’t think there is.”
Sigh. I wouldn’t get so frustrated by this if (a) it weren’t so pervasive among pediatricians, and (b) these weren’t the people that the vast majority of us look to for nutrition advice for children.
The only good news in this all-too-common experience (very like my own) is that these kind of experiences help us realize how limited what we get from most mainstream professionals is, which then helps us make the break from them and educate/empower ourselves.
The milk mustache adds make me so angry! Even more every time I see a non-caucasian celebrity since most ethnicities aside from northern European caucasians have high rate of lactose intolerance. As such, I think the milk mustache ads are unethical.
I think it is helpful to remember that most medical school’s nutrition education is negligible. It would be laughable if the ramifications of having such woefully misinformed doctors wasn’t so devastating on our public health. If your doctor is giving you grief about not consuming significant amounts of dairy (or, heaven forbid, being vegan) it might be helpful to have a veg-friendly nutritionist review your family’s diet and then let your doctor know that you’ve got a green light from him or her (after you do, of course).
I agree with all of the above, esp. Robyns comments. Met up with a friend today, who had recently gone to see her GP for annual checkup. When she told him that she was raw, he was horrified and told her not to do anything drastic because it would be bad for her heart!!!!!
How ignorant can a person in authority be? She challenged him to check her bp. Of course, it was more than perfect. And she also asked for a bone density test … just to prove him wrong. I told her to keep copies of all her tests for her own files.
I have my own annual coming up in a couple of weeks. My whole health depends on a few minutes with a professional who has NO idea other than pushing drugs. Yes, we need to be responsible for ourselves in a big, big way.
I was thinking of asking my doctor for a colon test. This is after having read Dr. Jensens bowel management book. What do you think?
Can you give the reference for this study on calcuim absorption? I want to send it to an aspiring doctor friend.
What do you all think of raw goat’s milk….drinking it straight and making it into yogurt? thanks
Hello Robin,
I love your site. I am a mom of 8 children, 54 years old. I need calcium! They say you loose 5 pounds of bone with every baby. I’m in trouble… ha. I have heard that Kale is so good for you. I have been using them in my smoothies and have started a garden for smoothies with kale and collard greens but now I hear that cruciferous (spelling? even my spell check doesn’t know how to spell this word so why should I? ha.) veggies (Cabbage, kale, collard greens) are not good for your thyroid if “not cooked”…. or fermented. I was wondering why I am cold all the time….
I am going to start learning how to ferment my vegetables soon. But here is the questions:
1. Would freezing the kale do the same molecular changing as cooking? I freeze my kale for smoothies.
2. Would dehydrating the kale at 110 – 115 degrees also do the same thing to kale as cooking? I could always use it for healthy chips.
3. How much cooking does crusiferious vegetables need before it is good for your thyroid?
Thank you if you can answer my questions. I always make things harder then they have to be. It is my personality. ha. Althea.
I have learned a lot from your Myths about milk. I was shocked, to learn that milk is not the golden answer. I have never drank milk a glass at a time, but do have it on cereal etc. I’ve never been a milk drinker.