Well, it might be a bit surprising to some of you, but processed cow dairy products (specifically those processed by larger companies that make up the vast majority of America’s national dairy industry) fit this definition perfectly.

I think it might be worth it (especially for all of you out there who regularly but cow dairy products in your local supermarket) to take a quick look at some not-so-well-known information on this important subject …

Asked what single change in the American diet would produce the greatest health benefit, pediatrician Russell Bunai, says “Eliminating dairy products from the diet” — and he is not alone … Thousands of doctors are waking up to the dangers of regularly consuming cow-dairy products.

So, you might wonder, what’s so bad about cow’s milk?

COW’S MILK HARMS YOUR HEALTH

*For starters, human beings are not designed to consume and digest cow’s milk. The ultimate problem with cow’s milk, according to nutritional biochemist T. Colin Campbell, is that nature concocts different formulas of mother’s milk for different species. What’s good for baby calves simply isn’t good for human babies or adults. In fact, roughly 75% of the world’s human population is completely lactose intolerant. And yet, despite the fact that 70% of blacks, 80% of Asians & 50% of Hispanics have a genetic intolerance to cow lactose (the sugar in cow’s milk), milk is the only beverage that is required to be offered to America’s school children.

*Cow’s milk contains three main nutrients: sugar (lactose), fat and cholesterol. These three are very good at getting a calf to gain some 400 pounds in its first year of life, but they are deadly for humans if consumed on a regular basis.

*The biggest problem with cow’s milk is that the protein in the cow’s milk damages the human immune system. When amino acids in our food are properly broken down by the digestive system into protein, it does no harm to the immune system. Protein from milk, however, is absorbed into the blood fully undigested, provoking an immune response in the human body. Repeated exposure to these proteins disrupts normal immune functions and may eventually lead to diseases.

*Currently, there are at least sixteen studies that link regular drinking of cow’s milk with prostate cancer. Milk also encourages iron deficiency and may trigger Type 1 Diabetes. In addition, the regular consumption of processed cow’s milk has been linked to Crohn’s Disease, Asthma, Breast Cancer, Colon Cancer, Leukemia, ADD/ADHD, Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Autoimmune Diseases, Diarrhea & Constipation.

*Also, a recent study in the Wall Street Journal reported that 38% of milk samples in 10 different U.S. cities were contaminated with sulfa drugs or other antibiotics. In addition, the USDA allows milk to contain from one to one and a half million white blood cells (that’s pus, to you & me) per milliliter. Bovine Growth Hormone is also present in most cow’s milk that produced in the U.S., and there have been no long-term studies on this hormone’s damaging effect on human health.

* Finally, EPA is aware of unsafe levels of dioxin in dairy products, but is sitting on the report (dioxin is the deadliest substance man has ever created).

*The cover-up: So if this danger is common knowledge among thousands of health care professional, how can our politicians, who are hypothetically elected to protect our best interests, continue to support the consumption of such a dangerous substance? It all seems to come down to the money … Our politicians are in bed with the American dairy industry. 74% of all governmental food subsidies in the ten years from 1995-2005 went to the dairy and meat industries – 74%! In contrast, during that same period of time, vegetable and fruit growers received less than 1% of those monies. Makes you wonder a bit, doesn’t it?

COW’S MILK HARMS MILLIONS OF ANIMALS

*After years of living in filthy conditions, being kept constantly pregnant, and being forced to produce ten times more milk than they naturally would, dairy cows are then slaughtered once their milk production tapers off.

*The milk industry is also the veal industry, where male calves, considered byproducts of the “machine”, are take away from their mother’s after birth to live out very short lives in veal crates.

COW’S MILK HARMS THE PLANET

*The cow’s milk industry is a major source of water pollution (each dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste a day – without sewers or treatment plants), and is a significant producer of greenhouse gases.

BUT WHAT ABOUT MY CALCIUM NEEDS?

The National Dairy Council advertises that “milk is natural” and that if you don’t drink milk, your bones will become brittle and your strength will fade due to a lack of calcium. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Milk does indeed contain a fairly high dose of calcium: 300 milligrams in an eight-ounce glass. Of course, a much less well-known fact is that dairy products cause calcium to be LOST through the kidneys into the urine, making it essentially useless to the body. Fortunately, calcium is found in many other foods, including tofu, broccoli, turnip greens, black-eyed peas, Brussels-sprouts, many beans and bok-choy, and a diet rich in vegetables and fruits help the body to RETAIN calcium, which is what really counts.

“It would be hard to imagine a worse vehicle for delivering calcium to the human body,” says Neal Barnard, head of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

In conclusion, even though your government “health officials” and politicians have been handsomely paid to convince you that cow’s milk is necessary, it is actually killing you and yours one sip at a time. I mean, think about for a few seconds: not even adult cows drink cow’s milk!

So what is a solution? This is a delicate question, as “milk withdrawal” is a very real, well-documented phenomenon. It seems that human beings who regularly ingest cow’s milk become literally addicted to casein, the main protein in milk. It has been shown that casein actually acts like an opiate on the human brain, and that those who quite drinking cow’s milk “cold turkey” often experience uncomfortable side-effects (which in and of itself could be enough to convince you to “make the switch” to an alternative) …

As such, it is wise for those wanting to quit consuming dairy products entirely to gradually “ween” themselves from conventionally processed cow’s milk. The best way to do this is to switch to goat dairy products, as the chemical composition of goat milk is much more similar to human breast milk and does not engender most of the health detriments of cow’s milk. Of course, goat milk products are not as popular (yet),a nd are this somewhat expensive. As a back-up plan, find a local farmer who feeds his cows organically and buy raw milk from him/her. It’s not an ideal alternative either, of course, and yet is a big step in a Right Direction.

Essentially, you simply have to DRINK LIKE YOU CARE …

Drink Like You Care about animals,
Drink Like You Care about the Earth,
Drink Like You Care about your children, &
Drink Like You Care about yourself.

P.S. The caption of this picture could easily read: “Milk is Good for the Soul” … Of course, this is absolutely true:  Milk is good for your Soul because it frees the Soul from the body — by killing it.