3 Scary Facts About How Milk Is Destoying Your Body
Milk is both acidifying and toxic. Yet we are bought up in society to think this substance is something that is healthy to consume and normal. But today you’ll learn how milk damages bones and overall health in multiple seldom-mentioned ways, some of which I’m sure will shock you.
So let’s look at three reasons why this advice is so misguided
1. “You Will Bring Your Hormones Back Into Balance”
Many people assume that if a milk carton claims “no artificial hormones added”, then the milk is hormone-free. The reality is that milk naturally contains many hormones, whether it’s raw, pasteurized, grass-fed, organic, or “hormone-free.” In fact, milk contains some 60 hormones, even if it comes from a cow that’s never been given hormones artificially.
Here are just a few of the hormones present in your glass of milk:
Progesterone (from pregnenolone)
5α-pregnan-3β-ol-20-one, 20α- and 20β-dihydroprogesterone (from progesterone)
Androstenedione
Insulin
Testosterone
Insulin like growth factors 1 and 2 (IGF-1 and IGF-2)
Bovine Growth Hormone
To keep milk production going, dairy cows are routinely injected with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), an FDA-approved, synthetic hormone that boosts cows’ milk supply. It’s just not possible for a cow to give the amount of milk required to meet the demand without artificial hormonal stimulation.
rBGH causes an increase in the cow’s levels of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), which then ends up in her milk. IGF-1 is impervious to pasteurization and even digestion, meaning it is absorbed into the bloodstream virtually unchanged.
In addition, rBGH itself can be present in milk and absorbed, increasing IGF-1 in the human body just as it does in the cow’s body.
As their names imply, rBGH and IGF-1 are intended to grow things (specifically, calves). The problem is, they grow the wrong things in humans – like cancer cells.
Yet another problem with this synthetic hormone is that is makes cattle more susceptible to infections of the udder, which necessitates the use of antibiotics. (More on antibiotics in milk later.) In fact, many dairy farmers who administer rBGH routinely give antibiotics even if no infection is present, paving the way for the development of “superbugs,” or antibiotic-resistant bacteria which then enter the food supply.
Remember, even cows who were never administered rBGH do not produce hormone-free milk. Raw milk, organic milk, it doesn’t matter; all milk is naturally rich in growth hormones because it’s intended to grow calves.
2. “You Will Not Ingest Pus Cells And Antibiotics”
I know – yuck! That was my reaction upon discovering this. But the fact is, your glass of milk contains an alarming amount of pus, and here’s why.
As I mentioned above, when cows are given rBGH, it makes them susceptible to chronic mastitis (an infection of the udder). The prevalence of this disease has given rise to the American dairy industry declaring an allowable number of “somatic cells” (body cells) to be present in milk.
Somatic cells are present in all mammalian milk; it’s inevitable since milk is manufactured in the body. If the milk cow is healthy, somatic cells are no big deal. In sick and infected cows, however, somatic cells are greatly increased in number and take the form of neutrophils, or the cells that form pus.
Bear that in mind when you consider this fact: the average number of somatic cells present in American milk is 1,120,000. And most of those are pus.
Here’s another issue with chronic infections and the administration of antibiotics: the antibiotics end up in the milk, and antibiotics actually accelerate bone loss.
3. “You Will Reduce Your Pesticide Exposure”
The nutrition-based Save Our Bones Program is full of delicious, bone-rejuvenating Foundation Foods. It emphasizes whole, fresh foods – particularly fruits and vegetables – and I recommend organic, because pesticides are toxic and detrimental to your bones and your health.
And pesticide residue is also present in milk. Yet another way that milk destroys your bones…
According to a 2004 study by the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP), pesticide residues in milk are alarmingly prevalent and pervasive. Over 95% of the milk samples in the study contained DDE1, a chemical that results from the breakdown of the infamous pesticide DDT, which was banned in the 1970s. Despite the ban, DDT is fiercely persistent in the environment, particularly in soil. The cattle ingest this when they eat hay, corn, grass, etc. grown on land that was once soaked with DDT.
The PDP also found diphenylamine (DPA) in 99% of the samples, an industrial chemical used in the manufacture of certain drugs, plastic, and rubber.1
Dieldrin is another banned pesticide, found in 41% of the PDP’s samples.1
The list goes on to include endosulfan sulfate, which disrupts the endocrine system, and 3-hydroxycarbofuran which is a very toxic byproduct of carbamate insecticide breakdown.1
There are still other poisonous pesticides found in milk… the list is really extensive.
The bottom line is that by avoiding milk, you are steering clear of a major source of pesticide exposure and ingestion.
