Of course it would not be good business if too many people realised that milk is not essential to optimum health. Coupled with some disadvantages of relying on this product of over-worked, sex-hormoned, antibiotic-filled, semi-invalid cow, with her proness to udder complaints, umbilical sepsis, mastitis, and chronic catarrh, etc., it might well bring about a new and refreshing outlook on food habits.
-- Eva V Batt





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CATTLE AND MILK

THE ECOLOGY OF MILK

MILK AND HUMAN HEALTH

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?

REFERENCES

CONCLUSION

History of milk usage in the world

Besides the Indian subcontinent, Asian countries have been traditionally dairy- free. Most indigenous tribes worldwide do not consume milk.

Today many believe that cows naturally produce milk for human consumption. However, like all mammals, cows produce milk to feed their own young. Repeated pregnancies are required for continuous milk production.

Traditional cow-herding in India

Traditionally cows were raised as members of the family and revered as a mother because they gave milk. Calves were first given their share of milk. Female calves were raised as milk producers and male, to work in the fields. In the absence of refrigeration milk did not have commercial value. Today every part of the cow is of commercial value from the cow dung and urine to leather and bone.

The life of cattle today.

Dead baby calves piled in a truck. The top one’s mouth is tied because he is still alive. Courtesy, Karuna, Mumbai

1. Calves are deprived of their share of milk. Newly born male calves are largely unwanted. They are sent to slaughter, or sent out to fend for themselves. Or they are tied to a pole allowed to die slowly of starvation. Their carcasses are collected to make ‘ahimsic’ leather products. In the West, they are sold to veal farms at birth, endure the 14 – 17 weeks before slaughter in isolation in veal crates that prevent movement and are fed an anaemia inducing diet so as to produce the tender white veal meat. Some male calves have their stomachs slit soon after birth, while they are still alive, to make rennet for the cheese industry. In India this is supposed to be banned in favour of microbial rennet. Heart-rending scenes bear testimony to the anguish suffered by cows at the repeated loss of their young. Female calves are brought up to join their mothers as milk producers. Even ‘goshalas’, built for the welfare of cows, separate the calf from its mother in order to milk her.

2. Cows are subjected to daily oxytocin injections causing excruciating labour-like pains, in the hope of increasing the milk flow.

3. Cows may produce milk for two, even three years when nursing their calves. In the absence of the calf they dry earlier. To keep the milk flowing cows (and buffaloes) are artificially inseminated within 2 months of giving birth. The animal has to produce milk while pregnant. The result, she is spent after about 4 pregnancies and must be retired (slaughtered). The average natural life span of a cow is 26 years yet today most live no more than 6 – 8 years.

4. Hybrid cows bred to produce ten times more milk than normal suffer from mastitis, an inflammation of their heavy udders, resulting in pus in the milk. Although these breeds do not survive well in India there are repeated attempts to introduce them.

Autopsy of a dead young buffalo shows plastic bags blocking the stomach. The buffalo pregnant (foetus visible). Courtesy Karuna, Puttaparthi

5. Cattle are left to roam and find food themselves. They feed on roadside garbage supplemented with some feed by their owners. Many die prematurely from stomachs obstructed by plastic bags.

6. Cows tied to posts with short ropes spend hours in the heat of the sun, on the roadsides without water. Others spend their lives in over crowded city shelters standing on concrete floors in their own excreta, instead of in fields. They get very little fresh air and exercise resulting in widespread disease. Many of Mumbai’s cows suffer from tuberculosis and mastitis. Pasteurization does not kill the TB bacilli, which may be passed to the consumer.

7. Bullocks often collapse while transporting large loads in the hot sun without rest, food and water.

8. Milking machines, if used, cause injuries and bleeding of the udder. They occasionally give electric shocks causing considerable discomfort, fear and impaired immunity, sometimes leading to death.

Transport to slaughter. Courtesy Karuna, Puttaparthi

9. In many states cow slaughter is forbidden but keeping an animal that is non productive is unaffordable. These animals are clandestinely slaughtered without stunning, or are transported under abysmal conditions to distant slaughter-houses and often slaughtered in front of one another.

As long as we continue to exploit the cow for her milk and hide and other body products this slaughter will not stop.

THE ECOLOGY OF MILK

Overpopulation of cattle

Like other species, cattle are ecologically beneficial only when their numbers are in balance with the rest of the ecosystem.

With 2.4 percent of the world’s land area and 16 percent of the world’s human population, India has 20 percent of the world’s livestock population! (Animal Citizen Jan – March 2004, page 23) In search of fodder humans and cattle have encroached into forests and destroyed most of them. Today our national parks face a human-wildlife conflict. Barely 4.6 per cent of our land remains protected forest. If the system is to regenerate and support wildlife before desertification takes place, livestock numbers must come down drastically. The increase in cattle population is totally unnatural and is due to artificial insemination.

Land overload

Our 450 million livestock depend on a meager 12 million hectares of green fodder, amounting to 40 animals to a hectare. The burden should not be more than 5 per hectare. It takes approximately 16 kilos of grain to produce 1 kilo of meat or milk. Experts say that the growth in demand for meat and dairy products is unsustainable.

Water ecology

100.000 litres of water are required to produce one kilogram of beef compared to about 500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of potatoes, 600 litres for 1 kilogram of wheat, and 2000 liters for one kilogram of rice. Livestock consume 80% of the world’s water supply.

The export of meat from India represents in a destruction of our ecology for commercial purposes. It is far more ecological to grow grains, fruits and vegetables than raise animals. A non vegetarian needs 16 acres of land for sustenance as against the 0.5 acres required for a vegan.

The argument that cow dung is an invaluable fertilizer and urine a bio pesticide loses its value when we consider that the biomass consumed by the cattle is not only an excellent fertilizer but also a ground cover, which prevents water evaporation. We resort to cow dung because with our population of livestock hardly any biomass is left to spare.

MILK AND HUMAN HEALTH

Is milk the food nature intended for us?

Adult humans require cow’s milk for optimum health just as much as adult cows need dog’s milk or adult dogs need pig’s milk. No animal in nature drinks the milk of another species. Human milk is ideal for human infants because it contains the ratio of elements required during an infant’s crucial growth phase. After infancy not only is milk not required but it results in a multitude of ailments.

Milk has been promoted as a health food for commercial reasons. Just as mad cow disease (BSE) is the result of feeding cattle unnatural foods, (slaughter-house byproducts), human disease too is the result of unnatural eating habits. Drinking animal milk is one major contributor. This is why so many vegetarians suffer heart disease, hypertension and cancer, as do non vegetarians. Milk and meat are similar in composition in that they both high in protein, high cholesterol and contain no fibre, When we understand and follow the diet nature intended for us, we will not only be helping ourselves, but also animals and the environment at the same time. With Mother Nature’s perfect planning, it could not be any other way. The problem is most people find it difficult to give up the foods they have grown to love.

Jainism, Ayurveda, Naturopathy, and Modern medicine on milk.

Doctors advise milk because of what they have heard from their mothers and grandmothers. Most modern medical curriculums do not teach how to promote health but rather how to deal with disease. Ayurveda lists milk as one of the five white poisons, yet many Ayurveds today promote milk and milk products. The Jain Shastras consider milk, curds, ghee, and butter “vigais” (foods that do not promote spiritual well being). Naturopathy and Natural Hygiene also consider milk as harmful and Modern science has proved this. “Not one of the 1,500 papers listed in the journal “Medicine” that deal with milk points to its goodness — only to the pus, blood, antibiotics, and carcinogens in milk, and the chronic fatigue, anemia, asthma, and auto immune disorders milk consumption causes.”

In 1983, after my graduation as a doctor, I studied diets and understood that milk was not a health drink. In 1985 I reduced my intake of all milk products by 90%. In 2003 I stopped them entirely. 20 years later I feel this is the best thing I have ever done for my health.

Carcinogenic properties of milk

The incidence of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer have been proven to be linked to dairy consumption.

The difference between cow’s milk and human milk

Cow’s milk is suited to the nutritional needs of calves, which double their weight in 47 days and weigh 1,100-1,200 pounds within two years. It contains about three times as much protein as human milk and almost two times more fat.

At no stage in our life cycle do we require more protein as a percentage of our total dietary intake than during infancy, the period of maximum growth.

The percentage of protein in human milk is similar to that available in fruit juice! Since every cell contains protein, protein deficiency is seen in humans only in malnutrition and in certain diseases. On the contrary, a protein intake that is too high is the cause of various diseases. (see below)

After four years of age, most people begin to develop lactose intolerance, (the inability to digest the sugar of milk), because they lack the digestive enzyme lactase. Lactose-intolerant people who drink milk may experience stomach cramps, gas, and diarrhea. 75 percent of the world’s population is lactose intolerant. In the US 70 percent of African and Native Americans, 95 percent of Asians, 50 percent of Mexicans, and 15 to 20 percent of Caucasian Americans have difficulty in digesting lactose.

Cow’s milk: a cocktail of pus, hormones and antibiotics, pesticides, urea!

Various means to increase milk production cause induration and infection of the udder (mastitis) resulting in pus and bacteria in the milk. Paratuberculosis bacteria causes Johne’s disease in cattle and is believed to cause Crohn’s disease, (an illness that causes uncontrollable diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting) in humans. Due to intensive modern farming practices the US has the highest rate of Crohn’s ever recorded and the worst epidemic of Johne’s disease. In India overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions contribute to widespread tuberculosis amongst cows in city dairies.

Dairy farmers try to control the mastitis with huge doses of antibiotics, which also end up in the milk. Children are particularly vulnerable; these antibiotics inhibit the development of the immune system, and cause antibiotic resistance. Despite the antibiotics every glass of milk contains an estimated 1 – 7 drops of pus!

Pesticides used on the feeds for the animals are concentrated in their milk and meat. The ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) researched milk for 7 years taking 50,000 samples from across India. They found large amounts of DDT, and HCH. Under the food adulteration act only 0.01 mg/kg of HCH is allowed. They found 5.7 mg/kg on an average in milk! They also found arsenic, cadmium and lead. These cause kidney damage, heart disease, brain damage and cancer.

In India, milkmen dissolve urea (from fertilizer shops) or earthworms in the milk to prevent it from curdling since the trucks for transporting the milk are not refrigerated. The result: every glass of milk is a cocktail composed of 1 or more of the following – pus, antibiotics, pesticides, urea, and hormones! If you are yet not convinced about the fact that it is not a health drink, read on.

Calcium, Osteoporosis and Milk

“If I don’t drink milk, where will I get my calcium?” is a commonly asked question. The milk industry advertises milk as a good source of calcium. However this calcium cannot be utilized due to the high protein content of milk, and osteoporosis is common among milk drinkers. High protein, absorbed as amino acids, results in an acidic reaction in the body. Calcium is mobilized out of the bones to neutralize the acid, the result: reduced bone density (osteoporosis).

Osteoporosis causes a variety of symptoms like recurring back pain, loss of height, and spinal deformities, brittle bones resulting in easy fractures.

Researchers at Harvard University concluded from a study of the diets of 78,000 women over a 12-year period, that participants who consumed more than 450 milligrams of calcium from dairy foods per day actually doubled their risk of hip fractures. The best way to prevent osteoporosis is to reduce protein intake. Calcium, an integral part of every cell is found in all fruits, vegetables and grains and especially in seeds and nuts. (Cows produce calcium rich milk from grass don’t they?) Societies with little or no consumption of dairy products and animal protein show a low incidence of osteoporosis.

Dr. John McDougall, states that "The myth that osteoporosis is caused by lack of calcium in diet was created to sell dairy products and calcium supplements. Researchers at Yale University found that countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are those in which people consume the most meat, milk, and other animal foods. Their study showed that African Americans, who consume, on average, more than 1,000 mg of calcium per day, are nine times more likely to experience hip fractures than are South African blacks, whose daily calcium intake is only 196 mg.

American women, among the biggest consumers of calcium in the world, have one of the highest levels of osteoporosis in the world." A decrease in animal protein intake may decrease the risk of osteoporosis.

So what can you do for strong bones?

• Get enough vitamin D, easily done by spending some time in the sun.

• Eliminate animal protein from your diet.

• Limit alcohol consumption (alcohol is toxic to the cells that form bones and inhibits the absorption of calcium).

• Limit sugar intake (sugar leaches calcium out of the bones)

• Don’t smoke (studies show that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes a day have 5 to 10 percent less bone density at menopause than nonsmokers).

• Get plenty of exercise. Physical exercise is more important than any other factor to building strong bones.

Iron and milk

Milk is very poor in iron content. 50 gallons of milk are equivalent in iron content to one bowl of spinach! Green leafy vegetables are the best source of iron. Milk contains casein, a thick substance used to make glue, which lines the intestines and obstructs efficient absorption of minerals, especially iron. (Patients on iron supplements will be specifically advised by their doctor not to take them with milk). Anemia is often alleviated by stopping the dairy in the diet.

Vitamin B12 and a vegan diet

Vitamin B12 is the only nutrient whose intake one may lack when on a varied whole food vegan diet.

Vitamin B12 is produced only by bacteria, yeasts and other micro organisms. Meat and milk are rich in B12 by virtue of the large numbers of bacteria that multiply in these substances.

Today our vegetables and fruits may have been sprayed with pesticides, irradiated for longer shelf life and are well washed before consuming which diminishes our chances of finding bacteria on them. The bacteria in our own intestines are also capable of producing B12 but they too may be less than optimal due to the usage of antibiotics, and perhaps chlorine and other chemicals present in drinking water. If we would live a very natural lifestyle the chances of a lack of B12 may diminish.

We can make up for this lack by eating plenty of fermented foods like idli, dhosa, tempeh, miso, sauerkraut, nutritional yeast, curds made from soy or peanut milk and a variety of other fermented foods or even by making and drinking rejeuvelac. www.living-foods.com/recipes/rejuvelac.html

It’s important to be aware that both vegans and non vegans can suffer from an inability to absorb B12 due to a lack of intrinsic factor.

Milk is rich in cholesterol and deficient in fibre.

Rich in fat and cholesterol, and poor in fibre, dairy products, including cheese, milk, butter, cream, yogurt, and whey (found in many margarines and baked goods), contribute to the development several diseases. The late Dr. Benjamin Spock, America’s leading authority on child care, spoke out against feeding cow’s milk to children, saying it can cause anemia, allergies, and insulin-dependent diabetes and in the long term, will set kids up for obesity and heart disease.

Allergies, mucus, dysentery

Cow’s milk, the largest cause of food allergies in children, can lead to persistent problems like chronic coughs and sinus infections, asthma, ear infections and dysentery.

In their book Allergies to Milk, Drs. Sami L. Bahna and Douglas C. Heiner report that children who are allergic to milk "may have breathing difficulty, particularly during sleep, or an irritating cough associated with a postnasal drip, and excessive mucous formation… Such affected children are frequently diagnosed as having upper respiratory infection, viral illness, bronchitis, … or pneumonia, and may be given unnecessary medications, including cough syrups, decongestants, or antibiotics. Relief, however, is not satisfactory until cow’s milk is eliminated from the diet."

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Dr. William Ellis, who has studied the effects of dairy foods for more than four decades, believes that the excess mucus (casein) caused by milk can harden to form a coating on the inner wall of the intestines, hindering the absorption of nutrients and possibly leading to chronic fatigue.

Heart disease

Since the early 1970s, study after study after study has implicated milk and dairy products as a cause of heart disease and clogged arteries. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic (the top-rated heart clinic in the U.S.) makes people "heart attack-proof" by putting them on a vegan diet (American Journal of Cardiology, August 99). Dr. Dean Ornish of the University of California at San Francisco, has demonstrated that artery blockages can be reversed with a low-fat vegan diet instead of expensive and invasive surgeries. He is the author of the best-seller ‘Reversing Heart Disease’.

Obesity

Milk contributes to Obesity in two ways –

  • It is rich in fat and protein which promote growth
  • It contains growth factor, again promoting growth.

Milk is ubiquitous in Indian diets today and we often do not realize how much we consume in the form of tea, coffee, curds and buttermilk, ghee and butter, cheese and paneer and deserts. Cheese, paneer, mava, sweets made from milk, and dairy ice cream are highly concentrated forms of milk. For example one ounce of cheese is made from 12 – 16 ounces of milk!

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer-related death among women in most of the Western world and the leading cause of death of women under 50. Dairy products are high in fat, animal protein, and hormones, each of which increases the risk of this cancer.

An Italian study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, revealed that breast cancer risks increased with the consumption of animal fat and protein, most significantly with dairy products.

The American Dietetic Association reports that breast cancer is most prevalent in countries where women consume high-fat, animal-based diets. In Southeast Asia, where milk consumption is rare, breast cancer is almost unheard of. Internationally renowned nutrition expert Dr. T. Colin Campbell points to China, a previously non milk-drinking country, where cancer deaths among women aged 35 to 64 averaged less than 9 per 100,000, as opposed to 44 per 100,000 in the U.S. Japanese women who follow a more meat and dairy-based diet are eight times more likely to develop breast cancer than their counterparts who eat a plant-based diet.

Researchers at Stanford University and the National Institutes of Health found that the high concentrations of the IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) in milk stimulate cancer cell growth. IGF-1 levels further increase in milk from cows treated with synthetic bovine growth hormone (rBGH).

More recently ovarian cancer has also been linked with dairy consumption.

Prostate cancer

Prostate cancer in men is equally linked to dairy. According to the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research, 11 separate human population studies have tied dairy consumption to prostate cancer.

Results of the Physicians’ Health Study of 20,885 doctors showed that men who consumed at least 2-1/2 servings of dairy foods daily were about 30 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who averaged less than half a serving per day. A study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that levels of IGF-1 that play a key role in causing prostate cancer – were 9 percent lower in vegans than in non-vegans.

Intestinal Cancer

Low fibre foods like milk and meat contribute significantly to intestinal cancer.

Acne

Dr. Jerome K. Fisher conducted a clinical study of 1,088 teen-age patients over 10 years and reported to the American Dermatological Association that milk was a principal contributor to acne. He suspected that the normal hormones in the milk of pregnant cows break down into androgen, which stimulates sebum production, clogging pores, resulting in infection and acne.

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?

In Southeast Asia soya milk and tofu have been used since ages as these cultures traditionally use no dairy. Coconut milk, sesame milk, rice milk, oat milk, almond milk, groundnut milk are yet other alternatives. In the place of butter and ghee, oils may be used in cooking and various nut butters like peanut butter, sesame butter, almond butter, cashew and sunflower seed butter are easy to make at home for use on bread.

In the West a host of soy-based products are available from soy desserts and mock meat to soy ice cream and lattes. Soy is healthier, non-cholesterol forming, and soybeans contain many anti-cancer compounds. Protease inhibitors suppress the genes that cause cancer and protect against the damaging effects of radiation and free radicals. Phytate binds iron in the intestines, and enhances the immune system, increasing the activity of natural cancer killing cells. Phytosterols protect the colon from bile acids thus inhibiting the development of colon and skin cancer. Saponins stop cellular mutation that can lead to cancer.

Isoflavins, inhibit many kinds of cancer cells without hindering healthy cell growth. They are excellent anti-oxidants and have anti-estrogen characteristics, significant in preventing hormone related cancer. Genistine, the star isoflavin inhibits the growth of most cancers by obstructing the activity of tyrosine protein kinase, (an enzyme that stimulates cancer cell growth). It also inhibits the blood supply to the tumour, reversing the cancer.

Phyto-estrogens in soy reduce menopausal symptoms and post-menopausal osteoporosis. Isoflavins are nature’s hormone replacement therapy. Many researchers believe that that the lower incidence of degenerative diseases in Southeast Asia is correlated with their significantly higher consumption of soy.

What are the advantages of soya milk over animal milk?

• Soybeans are the world’s cheapest and most useful source of protein. They contain 44% protein. Soy protein is far more ecological than animal protein.

• Soybeans are a good source of fiber unlike meat and milk.

• They contain no cholesterol. They contain more fat than other legumes, but less than meats and are an excellent source of zero cholesterol cooking oil; soybean oil has the lowest levels of saturated fat among vegetable oils.

• Soybeans are an excellent source of calcium.

• Soybeans contain more isoflavins than any other edible source.

• Soybeans contain three times more antioxidants than other sources. Antioxidants reduce the risk of cancer, premature aging and coronary heart disease.

• Soymilk can be used by lactose intolerant individuals and in baby formula.

Some disadvantages

The taste is a matter of personal preference and custom. Some infants that are allergic to cow’s milk may also develop allergy to soya. Although organic soya is available, much soya is genetically modified and the long-term effects of consuming genetically modified foods are yet unknown. Anti soya advocates highlight this aspect and yet they advocate eating meat and dairy, which is produced from animals fed large quantities of this very soya.

REFERENCES

For more information and references on milk, the reader is referred to www.notmilk.com

Some books – Food Revolution and Diet for a New America by John Robbins

Reversing Heart Disease – Dean Ornish

Natural Hygiene, the Pristine Way of Life – Rupert Sheldon

The China Study – T. Colin Campbell

The main difficulty lies in making the changes. Most of us are slaves to our palates. However a web search will yield a host of vegan recipes with alternatives for almost all daily items.

CONCLUSION

As milk consumers we are accomplices to the pain and torture of cows. There is growing evidence that it is bad for health, unethical and non ecological. We can all be a part of the change we wish to see in the world.

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