Consumers Digest

What is the problem with drinking cows milk?

Okay, I would love to hear the answer from a nutritionist or doctor. Personally, I enjoy drinking milk (skim, please) and find it very confusing when I hear things like "Humans aren't meant to drink milk." I've been consuming milk my whole life. My family has, as well as my friends. I know milk is a very common beverage, but all of a sudden I'm getting this information that I shouldn't be drinking it. Apparently we lack the enzymes to digest is or whatever, and since milk is acidic our body regulates that by removing calcium from our bones causing osteoperosis... blah, blah, blah. I know that it's better to get calcium from leafy greens like spinach, but is it really so bad to drink milk? I like the taste. I like it in my cereal and tea. Should I be drinking something else? And what about soy milk (I also like to drink Silk Light). Apparently soy is bad for you now too! So I can't drink cow's milk or soy milk. Almond milk and rice milk is so darned expensive... should I just put water in my cereal then? Does anybody have some real scientific evidence that something is wrong here? Or is this just the dairy industry and soy industry throwing things in our faces to confuse us consumers? I think what I'm asking is more of a... why do people get so upset when talking about drinking cows milk. As in, I've been on food blogs where people say that it's wrong because only baby cows should drink cows milk. And that we are only fed human milk for about a year. Has anybody been told this? And does anyone have any evidence that these "medical" situations I've described above are true.

Public Comments

1. I know this isnt helping. But the problem with drinking cows milkk. is that its nasty as hell. your drinking milk from an animals dirty tit. and it tastes worse than shit and poison combined. maybe just cause im lactose-intolerant... thank god.
2. It is understandable for there to be confusion because there is so much information out there - and often the information is provided by a source trying to promote a product and that information is not to be trusted! When reading an article, check to see who provided the article, who published it and most importantly, check who the scientists performing the study work for. You can make study results say whatever you would like them to - and almost everyone has an agenda. You can drink milk unless you are lactose intolerant and some people do develop lactose intolerance from drinking milk as children. If milk does not upset your stomach or otherwise make you sick, you are not lactose intolerant. The important thing is choosing the right kind of milk. This is where it can get tricky. After lots of research and college study, I have found that the only 'safe' milk is organic from real organic-minded producers and this can be quite difficult to find. There is regulation on the word 'organic' by the FDA but the situation is far from perfect. Reasons for choosing organic - no harmful chemicals go into the cows so none are in your milk; when animals are in stressful situations (like horrible living conditions) they release all sorts of hormones which end up in our milk; Scientifically speaking, it is 'debate-able' whether any of this has an impact on our health - but going through the reasons for that would be a whole paper! Basically, it goes back to what I said in the first paragraph. Beyond that, it is important to choose a milk that is healthy for you. Whole milk has far more fat than nutrients, etc. Just look at the nutrition facts on the labels and compare them. You always want more useful nutrition than fat or sugar. Soy milk, rice milk, etc are good for you too. However, the protein you get from these is different than the protein from meat or dairy products. I hope this helped clear things up a bit. Best wishes.