Okay, if you’re like me you grew up drinking milk…cow’s milk that is.  My mom and dad ingrained in me that milk was essential for strong, healthy bones and I even thought that’s what I needed to give my own kids too.  We’ve seen tons of commercials and magazine ads with famous faces with their milk moustache saying how milk is great for you. My parents still argue with me that we should be drinking milk.  I took my kids off of milk 10 years ago and they’ve continued to tell me I’m wrong. If you’ve read any of my previous blogs you know I have 4 kids and they are all doing fine, no health issues whatsoever.  In fact, one of my kids, Aidan, used to suffer from chronic sinus issues. He always had a runny nose and allergies, but as soon as I took him off milk the problems subsided. 

Well, I’m sure you already figured this out but I’m here to tell you that it’s a myth, a lie, milk does not do a body good.  In fact, it does more harm than good. 

Your body doesn’t actually get the 300 mg of calcium per cup from cow’s milk and we actually end up losing calcium when we drink it.  Milk is acidic and calcium is a neutralizer.  When we drink milk the calcium, richest in our bones, begins to neutralize the acidic milk and then leaves the body through our urine.  So, that calcium we just consumed ends up leaving our body and maybe even some we had stored in our bones that tried to neutralize the milk or animal protein.  Are you kidding me?

Amy Lanou Ph.D., nutrition director for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, D.C., states that:

“The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are the ones where people drink the most milk and have the most calcium in their diets. The connection between calcium consumption and bone health is actually very weak, and the connection between dairy consumption and bone health is almost nonexistent.”

So, not only is there a biological reaction in our bodies that negates the ‘health’ benefits of milk, but let’s take a look at the cows.  ‘Fifty years ago an average cow produced 2,000 pounds of milk per year. Today the top producers give 50,000 pounds! How was this accomplished? Drugs, antibiotics, hormones, forced feeding plans and specialized breeding;

that’s how.’  And there has been little if any research on the effects of these chemicals on the humans consuming them.  I don’t know about you, but that’s a little scary.

I am just touching the surface here, but if this has gotten you at all curious or made you mad, do your homework.  Back just 25 years ago, this information was not widely available to us and I believe that’s part of the problem and why so many people have been blindsided by this myth that milk is good for you.  Today we have the internet and the information is available to you at the click of a button.  

So, what’s the alternative–Almond Milk, Coconut milk, Macadamia milk, Rice milk and the list goes on…but really we don’t need any of those milk’s as much as we think we do.  There are tons of other rich, whole food sources to get all we need for our bodies. At a minimum, if you are going to drink milk, at least buy organic. I do buy cheese on occasion for my kiddos but at home it’s organic.  If we’re out and about, once in a while it’s not a big deal.

For more information, do your own research…but here’s an article I found on it recently as well.  Check it out and decide for yourself.