On most days, millions of Americans jump out of bed, take a quick shower and grab a bowl of cereal before they start their commute. They never think about the significance of this ordinary routine, which is why I bring it up as we observe National Dairy Month, which kicked off with World Milk Day on June 1. Our quality of life comes from the little things we take for granted -- from a bed to sleep in, running water for a shower or the milk to pour on cereal.
National Dairy Month reminds us that milk doesn't always get its just due. We consume very few things as nutritionally dense and wholesome as milk, the first food we experience as babies. So it's worth focusing attention on the lifelong benefits derived from milk, and hoping it will soon be available to billions more children, adults and seniors worldwide in nothing short of a nutrition revolution.
So why do we take milk for granted?
Perhaps out of habit. It's the staple our great-grandmother had in her old-fashioned icebox and the staple we have in our modern one, in part thanks to its ready availability in America.
It is the first food we all consume -- whether it is from the breast or the bottle -- for a reason. The latest dietary research by the USDA finds it ageless, and indicates it deserves a place at our tables throughout our lifetimes.
It is the only beverage that we consider a food, and is so nutritionally important and multi-purpose that it has its own classification on the USDA'S food pyramid.
It also represents powerful yet contradictory views, for we perceive it to be old-fashioned and modern, local and global, a treat and a necessity and natural and innovative.
Milk was the original health food.
Long before health foods and drinks were a trend, milk was an important and significant source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Humans' unique capacity to digest the milk of cows and other animals was developed some 7,500 years ago as a way to access a rich supply of Vitamin D in sunlight-deprived regions of Central Europe, according to research in the Public Library of Science's Journal of Computational Biology.
While Vitamin D is the most well-known vitamin found in milk thanks to the way it's emblazoned on every label, it's far from the only one. Milk also supplies bodies, bones, and brains with protein, vitamins A and B12, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, zinc and magnesium, report University of Wisconsin nutritionists. They also note that the ratio of calcium to phosphorus is roughly the same one required by the body for bone creation and maintenance.
So, milk's cache of calcium is another remarkable asset for humans. Scientific studies have stressed this wonder food's value in bone creation from cradle to grave -- particularly in adolescents as they go through their awkward and gangly growth spurts, according to a study published in the Journal of International Medical Research and available for review online at the National Institute of Health's PubMed. Research published in the Journal of Nutrition also encourages dieting adults to consume dairy products, as does a study on osteoporosis for seniors trying to head off bone loss in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
Expanding global access to milk benefits
According to projections in our 2011 Dairy Index, we will see surging demand for milk as emerging middle-class families in China, India, Vietnam, Kenya and elsewhere have the ability to improve their family diets. Our forecasts anticipate world demand for liquid dairy products will grow by 30 percent between 2010 and 2020. Spurred by these developing markets, companies and industries all over the planet are going into hyper-drive to meet global need as dairy sales worldwide are forecast to approach $500 billion by 2015, according to a January 2012 report on the dairy products industry from Global Industry Analysts.
The way these emerging middle-class families will consume milk is different. Unlike the United States, where we're used to seeing refrigerated bottles and cartons, children who may have never seen a refrigerator in developing countries will drink milk in a shelf-safe carton that was placed on store shelves right off the bed of a pick-up truck. And as rural dwellers move to the cities in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, they will no longer be supplied by "milkmen" carrying loose unpasteurized milk from nearby farms in large metal cans on their bicycles and mopeds, but rather have access to safe, hygienic and nutritious milk in aseptic packaging.
Our vision at Tetra Pak is: "we commit to making food safe and available everywhere." We pioneered the use of aseptic shelf-safe cartons, a remarkable technology that enables even sensitive products, such as milk, to be delivered over long distances without refrigeration or preservatives. This development helped, and will continue to help, expand the access and consumption of nutrition-dense milk both in developing and developed countries by enabling parents to give milk to their kids in a safe way anytime, anywhere.
A future of safe, mobile and easily stored milk worldwide is unquestionably a good thing from a global health perspective. Milk has always been a major component in American children's diets. But when millions more children around the world also have the benefit of this nutrient boost, we will know that observances such as World Milk Day and National Dairy Month have been effective.
It seems our busy lifestyles cause us to take much for granted. On World Milk Day, which was June 1 and kicked off National Dairy Month, we should pause to remember that the glass of milk in your hand or your baby's fist is really something special.
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We thought my son had celiac disease but tried removing milk first as the symptoms are similar. In three days, he was a new child. We kept it out for 10 days then put it back. He immediately got sick again. .
In the meantime my then, 6 year old was referred by her pediatrician for pyschiatric evaluation for ASD (autism spectrum disorder), or ADHD or severe anxiety...Those doctors just wanted to medicate. She had one bad digestive episode that reminded me of her brothers symptoms so I thought, maybe we should take her off milk and see what happens.
We took her off the milk and all the digestive & physical symptoms went away...But that's not the exciting part...Her anxiety issues went away, her social miscues went away, her oppositional behavior diminished, melt down episodes went away...her attention to school work improved massively...the list goes on...she was a new child...
I've since learned that digestive symptoms or classic lactose intolerance are the least common presentation of milk intolerance...Autism, ADHD, Asmtha, Allergies, Anxiety, Depression and much more can all be related to the body's inability to digest milk.
There is no correlation between dairy consumption and preventing bone density loss. Quite to the contrary, the countries with the highest dairy consumption (USA and Sweden) have the highest rates of female hip fractures, a clear indicator of bone density loss. Dairy consumption has also been linked to poor skin, breathing problem and diabetes. Dairy products are also where Americans get the majority of their saturated fat. Saturated fat consumption is one of the leading causes of heart disease.
Finally, we are the only species who drinks milk past infancy. Furthermore we are the only species who drinks the milk of another species! You're not a baby cow, folks. You're adult humans.
Since we seem to be citing our sources this morning, here are mine:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20040416/dairy-foods-fat-weight-loss
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18492840
Milk of other species is just one of the sources of nutrition for which we have adapted (at least, those of us with the genetic variation which allows us to digest it as adults).
Although, even as a milk drinker - I found the hype of this blog rather difficult to swallow....
This guy deserves a slap.
1. HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE six times more heart attacks in milk drinkers
Briggs, R. "Myocardial Infarction in Patients Treated with Sippy and other high Milk Diets,", Circulation, 21:538, 1960
Hartroft, W. "The Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in Patients Treated with the Sippy Diet" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 15:205, 1964
2. DIABETES, AUTISM, SCHIZOPHRENIA milk antibodies in blood of diabetic children
Dosch, Hans-Michael, "The Possible Link Between Insulin Dependent (Juvenile) Diabetes Mellitus and Dietary Cow Milk" Clin Biochem, Vol 26 pp 307-308 August 1993
3. CANCER breast, ovarian, prostate, lung cancer all dairy linked
4. ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES 30 to 80 different antibiotics cause chronic resistant infections
5. PESTICIDE RESIDUES linked to cancer, chronic fatigue, infertility
6. HORMONE RESIDUES menstrual problems, osteoporosis
Mepham, TB Public health implication of bovine somatotrophin use in dairying: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol 85 Dec1992 pp. 736-739
7. OSTEOPOROSIS National Dairy Council study shows bone loss caused by milk drinking
8. LEUKEMIA VIRUSES 20% of all cows carry leukemia viruses that can infect humans
Ferrer, J. Milk of dairy cows frequently contains a leukemogenic virus Science 213:1014 1981
9. ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, CHRONIC SINUSITIS
Gerard J.W. Mackenzie J.W.A. Goluboff N. et.al. Cows Milk Allergy: Prevalence and Manifestation in an Unselected Series of Newborns Acta Paediatr Scand. Supplement 234 1973
10. DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS, CANDIDA OVERGROWTH caused by allergy and antibiotic residues
Infocourtesyof M. M. Van Benschoten, OMD, CA
3. The Cancer causing agent in this case is estrogen. The interesting thing about digesting estrogen is that it can, in fact, cause certain cancers. However, it is mainly a problem because of modern techniques. Organic, raw, and skim milk have far less estrogen than other types of milk. We must also recognize that estrogen has benefits, for women it means a longer fertile period. Soy for example is also high in estrogen and is considered the reason why east asian women get menapause later (correlation-wise). On the other hand, for men it also lowers fertility, though that may not be a bad thing if you are trying not to have children (temporarily). On top of that, many of your foods causes some kind or have a cancer causing agent. That's why eating more natural foods, milk included, tends to be healthier.
4. This is found in the meat too, it is not simply a milk issue.
5. This is found on all your fruits vegetbles and meats, not a milk issue either.
6. the SAME thing as number 3, or you didnt realize that the hormonal residue is what causes that cancer?
8. Cow Leukemia virus is related but is not human leukemia. In fact, there is a far more common Feline Leukemia Virus that is also not transmitable to humans. All research indicates that animal leukemia has not made the jump and so far cannot make the jump to humans. 74% of humans, those from milk-drinking cultures, naturally have antibodies to take care of it even if it could make that jump. To help your case a bit, 80% of milk in the US contains bovine leukemia. However, that still means nothing as it does not affect humans.
On the other hand, everything should be done in moderation anyhow. You shouldn't drink or eat TONNES of anything to be completely honest.
I love my chocolate milk, but its not an everyday type of drink.