The Dangers of Pasteurized, Homogenized Milk

I grew up in the country with a cow farm just down the street so we always had farm fresh milk, straight from the cow. I was a healthy child and have never had a broken bone in my life. Yet, a 12-year Harvard study of 80,000 nurses showed that a high intake of commercial milk appeared to actually increase the risk of bone fractures.

Other studies have shown mounting evidence that milk may play a role in a variety of health problems, including prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, anemia, MS, leukemia and ovarian cancer.

This stuff the dairy industry is passing off as milk, claiming it gives you strong bones, is not good for you. According to Dr. Spreen of the Health Science Institute, in his opinion, pasteurized, homogenized milk does not even qualify as food.

Dr. Spreen claims the homogenization process breaks up and destroys enzymes through its heating process. He says the enzyme xanthine oxidase, in it's altered state, can enter the bloodstream and react against arterial walls, causing the body to protect the area with a layer of cholesterol. This is serious! What is the milk industry trying to do to us?

According to Dr. Spreen the skimming process makes the remaining nutrients more difficult to absorb. He adds, "The calcium is better absorbed in the presence of milk fat (though the high amount of fat in whole milk is for very-fast-growing baby cows, not baby people)."

This is not the first time I have heard that. Some professionals have gone so far as to say only babies need milk and once adulthood is achieved you no longer need milk, but in any case, it is raw milk that offers the nutritional qualities needed.

Cultured products (kefir, yogurt) and enzymatically-altered products (cheese, etc.) are acceptable in moderation. Several reasons why highly processed milk is unhealthy include:

* Calcium in milk is not well absorbed (even less so once
homogenized).
* There isn't enough magnesium in milk.
* There's evidence that the antibodies the body makes to
digest milk are closely related to the antibodies that destroy
islet cells (insulin producers) in the pancreas in cases of
juvenile diabetes.
* Milk contains pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, and Bovine
Growth Hormone.

Look at the last item there, bad enough it's bad for your cholesterol and all kinds of other health problems, but would you eat a pesticide? How about a cow pie? I don't know about you, but I'm big enough, I sure don't need to eat cow growth hormones!

It seems the dairy industry does not want to bother with the extra trouble it would be to supply us with good, honest, healthy milk. Getting fresh milk from a farm is not an option for many people who do not live near farms, especially with laws in place to prevent the sale of raw milk from stores in most states.

Dr. Spreen addresses this concern by stating, "The politics of running the certified raw milk dairies out of business is as sickening as the 'modern' milk we're now forced to drink. It was consistently shown that there were fewer bacteria in raw milk than the pasteurized variety! The problem is, it takes far more care and procedural hassle to pull it off, and the 'big boys' weren't into that. That's why the wonderful, certified raw milk from Alta Dena, Mathis, and other dairies is a thing of the past."

So, here we are, what do we do now? Soy milk? Rice milk? Almond milk? There is a very helpful article featured at Sixwise.com to explain the differences to you and it includes an easy to read chart so you can make up your own mind. Raw milk would be preferred, of course, but it is not readily available to everyone so you may wish to choose a milk alternative.

We, as Americans, need to stick together and force the milk industry to be more accountable for the health benefits of what they are calling, "Milk". As awareness gets out, more and more people are opting for milk alternatives.

If you would like more detailed information about the good and bad of milk, Dr. Spreen recommends Dr. William Campbell Douglass' book "Eat Your Cholesterol!" (previously titled "The Milk Book"), in which Dr. Douglass (in what I understand to be his typical lively writing style) explains the many nutritional differences between pasteurized milk and raw milk.

Amazon.com has the book for $9.34 but if you click the used link you will find a new copy of it for only $6.68 where the used ones start at $7.24. If you prefer Barnes and Noble, they carry the book for $10.99. It's a matter of preference and where you already have an account set up.