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What's all the fuss about dairy? Is dairy really good for you?
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As Americans,dairy products are a staple in our diets. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) was founded in 1985, it is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research. They are not associated with the FDA and are are not supported by any major food companies. Their research may affect your decisions about how much dairy to consume. The following information is directly from the research done by the PCRM.
Osteoporosis
Milk is touted for preventing osteoporosis, yet clinical research shows otherwise. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which followed more than 75,000 women for 12 years, showed no protective effect of increased milk consumption on fracture risk. In fact, increased intake of calcium from dairy products was associated with a higher fracture risk. An Australian study showed the same results. Additionally, other studies have also found no protective effect of dairy calcium on bone. You may decrease your risk of osteoporosis by reducing sodium and animal protein, increasing intake of fruits and vegetables, exercising, and adequate calcium intake from plant foods such as leafy green vegetables and beans, as well as calcium-fortified products such as breakfast cereals, juices and supplements.
Cardiovascular Disease
Dairy products, including cheese, ice cream, milk, butter, and yogurt contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and fat to the diet. Diets high in fat and saturated fat can increase the risk of several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease. A low-fat vegetarian diet that eliminates dairy products, in combination with weight-bearing exercise, smoking cessation, and stress management, can not only prevent heart disease, but may also reverse it. Non-fat dairy products are available; however, they pose other health risks as noted below.
Cancer
Several cancers, such as ovarian cancer, have been linked to the consumption of dairy products. The milk sugar lactose is broken down in the body into another sugar, galactose. In turn, galactose is broken down further by enzymes. According to a study by Daniel Cramer, MD, and his colleagues at Harvard, when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes’ capacity to break down galactose, it can build up in the blood and may affect a woman’s ovaries. Some women have particularly low levels of these enzymes, and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer can be triple that of other women.
Diabetes
Insulin-dependent diabetes (Type I or childhood-onset) is linked to consumption of dairy products. Epidemiological studies of various countries show a strong correlation between the use of dairy products and the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes. Researchers in 1992 found that a specific dairy protein sparks an auto-immune reaction, which is believed to be what destroyed the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.
Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is common among many populations, affecting approximately 95% of Asian Americans, 74% of Native Americans, 70% of African Americans, 53% of Mexican Americans, and 15% of Caucasians. Symptoms, which include gastrointestinal distress, diarrhea, and flatulence, occur because these individuals do not have the enzymes that digest the milk sugar lactose. Additionally, along with unwanted symptoms, milk-drinkers put themselves at risk for development of other chronic diseases and ailments.
Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common cancer-related death among women in most of the Western world and the leading cause of death for women under 50. It strikes about 182,000 women in the U.S. each year and kills 46,000. Consuming dairy products is linked to an increased risk for breast cancer because dairy products are high in fat, animal protein, and hormones, each of which increases cancer risk. Since the 1980’s, study after study has linked dairy consumption to a high incidence of breast and other cancers. Women seeking to minimize their chances of breast cancer should avoid milk, other dairy products, and meat. The American Dietetic Association reports that breast cancer is most prevalent in countries where women consume high-fat, animal-based diets. In Asia, where milk consumption is extremely rare, breast cancer is almost unheard of. International renowned nutrition expert Dr. T. Colin Campbell points to China, a basically 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 Western-style, meat- and dairy-based diet are eight times more likely to develop breast cancer than their counterparts who eat a plant-based diet not containing dairy products.
There are numerous other studies to cite. For example, Dr. J.L. Outwater of Princeton University and Drs. A. Nicholson and N. Barnard of The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine cite more than 12 epidemiological studies that show a positive correlation between dairy products and breast cancer. Researchers at Stanford University and the National Institutes of Health found that high concentrations of the IGF-1 hormone stimulate cancer cell growth. IGF-1, a hormone that occurs naturally in humans and cows and in all milk, is increasingly abundant in milk from cows treated with synthetic bovine growth hormone (rBGH). In the International Journal of Health Sciences, University of Illinois scientist Dr. Samuel Epstein warns that elevated levels of IGF-1 in milk from cows injected with rBGH is a potential risk factor for breast cancer in humans who consume cow’s milk. Studies published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association and the British Medical Journal found that consuming three additional servings of nonfat or 1 percent milk for 12 weeks was associated with a 10 percent increase in IGF-1 levels. The Food and Drug Administration reports that IGF-1 is not destroyed by pasteurization. In fact, pasteurization actually increases its concentration in rBGH milk.
Results of the landmark 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. The Health Professionals Follow-Up Study found that men who consumed high amounts of dairy products had a 70 percent increased risk of prostate cancer. A study of 41 countries published in Alternative Medicine Review found that as milk consumption rose, so did prostate cancer mortality rates. British researchers have found that men who eat a diet without dairy products and meat have lower levels of a certain protein associated with prostate cancer. The study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that levels of IGF-1 – an insulin-like growth factor believed to play a key role in causing prostate cancer – were 9 percent lower in vegans than in non-vegans.
Contaminants
Synthetic hormones, such as recombinant bovine growth hormone, are commonly used in dairy cows to increase the production of milk. Because the cows are producing quantities of milk that nature never intended, the end result is mastitis, or inflammation of the mammary glands. The treatment requires the use of antibiotics, and traces of these and hormones have been found in samples of milk and other dairy products. Pesticides and other drugs are also frequent contaminants of dairy products.
Health Concerns of Infants and Children
Milk proteins, milk sugar, fat, and saturated fat in dairy products may pose health risks for children and lead to the development of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and formation of atherosclerotic plaques that can lead to heart disease. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants below one year of age not be given whole cow’s milk, as iron-deficiency is more likely on a dairy-rich diet. Cow’s milk products are very low in iron. If they become a major part of one’s diet, iron deficiency is more likely. Colic is an additional concern with milk consumption. One out of five babies suffers from colic. Pediatricians learned long ago that cows’ milk was often the reason. We now know that breastfeeding mothers can have colicky babies if the mothers are consuming cow’s milk. The cow’s antibodies can pass through the mother’s bloodstream into her breast milk and to the baby. Additionally, food allergies appear to be a common result of milk consumption, particularly in children. A recent study also linked cow’s milk consumption to chronic constipation in children. Researchers suggest that milk consumption resulted in peri-anal sores and severe pain on defecation, leading to constipation. Further research has been linked to chronic ear infections in children and the use of cow’s milk as well as the incidence of SIDS being significantly higher in milk fed babies as opposed those who are breast fed. --
For more information please visit http://www.pcrm.org/
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