Is dairy a culprit...

Ive never really read the back of a gallon of 2% milk and today i decided to and i saw that there was so much fat cals and cholesteral. ive decided to switch to skim.

But my question is is there a better way to get the same nutrients in a healthy manor??

I also indulge in the occasional ice cream. Im thinking it better to cut it out completely based on what ive read and researched.

Any advice would be great!

I don't really understand your question.  If you want to cut down on the fat and cholesterol, then fat free dairy products are fine.  You'll get the same protein and calcium from skim milk.

What better way did you have in mind?  Are you asking about other foods that are lower in calories but have the same amount of nutrition?

I never eat ice cream, but then I don't crave it either.

I agree that giving up dairy is a good idea. If you switch to skim milk, you end up with a product that is unnaturally high in protein compared to anything that would be found in nature. It is suspected that casein (milk protein) may be a strong promoter of hormone sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate cancer. In the Harvard Nurses Health Study, women who drank more milk had higher rates of breast cancer, and those who drank skim milk actually had higher rates of breast cancer than those who drank the full fat. This came as a surprise because everyone had expected the higher fat diets to be more associated with breast cancer, but it wasn't the fat that was the culprit with the milk.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell who is Professor Emeritus in Nutritional BioChemistry at Cornell University has studied Carcinogenesis extensively. He did animal experiments where rats were exposed to a powerful carcinogen (aflatoxin) which causes liver cancer. The rats were then fed various diets and their survival time was measured. The cancer was promoted the quickest, and the rats died the fastest when the rats were fed casein. It was the most powerful promoter of cancer that Dr. Campbell was ever able to find in all his years of research. In fact, the group of rats fed high levels of casein died off completely long before when the experiment was supposed to end. He also discovered that the cancer never developed at all when the rats were fed diets that were low enough in protein.

For more detail on this, and other info on dairy products, I recommend reading 'The China Study' by T. Colin Campbell. It is a fascinating book about Dr. Campbell's work including his involvement in The China Study itself, which the NY Times has referred to as 'The Grand Pre of Epidemiology'.

BTW, Dr. Campbell no longer does experimentation on animals. He grew up on a dairy farm, but today is a vegan.

Claudia

have you had any success with soy? is it more beneficial/ a healthier lifestyle?

Well, I'm a vegan, and I do eat a little soy, but my diet is really primarily fruit and vegetable based. I eat many other kinds of beans besides soy as well.

Some forms of soy are much healthier than others. For example if you eat the more traditional soy products such as edamame, tofu, soymilk, or tempeh, you will be much better off than if you eat soy in a more processed form. I would be particularly wary of products such as energy bars or fake meats that may contain 'Isolated Soy Protein', or 'Soy Protein Isolate', as this substance is an unnaturally concentrated form of soy protein which has been found to significantly increase levels of IGF1 (Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1) which is a powerful cancer promoting growth hormone.

In terms of our health, it really makes a lot of sense to stay away from processed foods, and to stick to more natural whole foods.

Here is some more info on the health benefits of soy, as well as the negative health effects of eating the highly processed soy products. If you study these two links you will be a total expert on soy! :

John Robbins on Soy: http://www.foodrevolution.org/what_about_soy. htm


Dr. McDougall's Newsletter on Soy: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2005nl/april/ 050400pusoy.htm

I had no idea milk was so bad for you.... i thought it was good for you this whole time. what should one do for healthy calcium?

Some studies say milk is bad, some say milk is good. 

A lot of it is from animal rights "cows suffer from being milked!"... but that doesnt have much to do with if milk is bad for you.

There have been a lot of food alergies... but thats more of a modern thing, not a milk thing (people have been drinking milk a longgg time. I would blame the pesticides and other things on our food...not milk).

If you are worried about growth hormones and other things in the cows (though there have been no links to this affecting humans)...then get your milk from a small farm (goat milk / cheese is great).

The studies against milk arent clear (and many anti-milk people have different motives beyond just the health issues).

I dont even understand the "milk has an unnatural percentage of protein!" argument. So its high in protein? oh no? So are egg whites! omgawsh!

awesome. you guys have been so helpful. im going to the supermarket later and re-assesing my dairy and switching to soy milk and other things. im also going to slowly ween myslef off of other certain things like red meats, and slowly poultry. ive read how much better it is for you and how well you feel. my sister is vegan and has always promted us (my mother and sisters) to convert, but now that im learning of the health benefits of becoming so im thinking it may be a much better way of life and healthier. it will take time im sure as of all the habits i need to break. once again thanks for your advice and support

I've given up dairy because all that peta propaganda was very well done.

LorikLorik, what I was saying is that when milk is processed to remove the naturally occurring fat, the remaining product known as skim milk is unnaturally high in protein. Milk is made up of mostly protein and fat (very little carb), so if you remove all the fat, protein is basically all you've got left. Skim milk is a modern invention that has been marketed to people who are worried about their weight, and about eating food that is high in fat. This is not the kind of milk that people have been drinking for a long time, rather it is a processed food that human beings have tinkered with because we think we are so smart and know better than mother nature.

As far as a link to growth hormones affecting humans, it is widely known that heightened levels of IGF-1 are associated with breast cancer. It has also been discovered that the IGF-1 in cows milk is identical to the IGF-1 found in humans. This is a link that many people are very concerned about, and we are not even talking about cows that have been medicated with extra hormones. I'm just talking about the IGF-1 that occurs naturally in the cows milk anyway.

Personally, I happen to believe that cows milk is the perfect food which nature intended for baby cows, so that they would grow quickly into big fat cows over a relatively short period of time, but I don't want to grow quickly into a big fat cow, and I just don't think this is an appropriate food for adult humans. Milk is basically a hormone delivery system specific to a particular species, intended to be baby food during a time where growth is so rapid and important. Cows milk has a much higher percentage of protein than human milk because the protein needs of our species are much lower than the protein needs of cows. We humans are the only ones who actually drink the milk of another species, so if you look at it that way its kind of a bizarre practice.

Historically there have been cultures that traditionally included cow's milk in their diet, but the quantity has not been even close to what the dairy industry tells us we need to drink every day to get our calcium! Furthermore, there are many traditional cultures who have never included dairy products as a part of their diet (such as Japan, and China), and among people who are non-white, there is a very significant percentage of people who are lactose intolerant.

Theashter, I am really happy for you, and believe this is a healthy move! I also know that your sister will be really pleased too!

Robochels, dark green leafy vegetables are a great source of calcium! In fact, there is some concern that calcium obtained from sources that are very high in protein is not absorbed as well because the protein actually binds to the calcium and inhibits its absorption. The amount of calcium absorbed is just as big an issue as the intake. Believe it or not the countries with the highest calcium intakes (such as the U.S.) actually have the highest rates of osteoporosis. Its a complicated subject though. There are many factors that cause calcium loss, plus Vitamin D and weight bearing exercise are very important for bone health.

That milk is for baby growth doesnt make it bad! Many of the nutrient rich foods are for young growth ... eggs, seeds, roots.

That man took out some of the fat doesnt really do much to milk. Do you think soy-milk just drips from the plant like that? hehe

The milk in the supermarkets might be a bit questionable (not because milk is bad, but because our modern way of mass producing it is...less then careful).

But milk, in itself, isnt bad! (just as fruit isnt bad! the poison they spray on the outside is!) Find a local farmer and buy raw-milk from them. Or find some other source...with the internet its not as hard as it once was (takes some effort though...but there are lots of farms around america that can provide that type of thing).

"We humans are the only ones who actually drink the milk of another species"

Thats not really true, there are other animals that feed off eachother. (Such as a certain kind of ant that herds and cares for some type of bug, which they squeeze out food from... or the wide range of animals that feed on blood. In fact, many cultures have "milked" blood from their cattle as well as milk... why dont we drink blood?)

I cant say much for japan and china (you know their smaller size is do to malnutrition?)...but i know that pretty much every other stationary culture has used milk from one animal or another. Just because they are lactose intolerant doesnt mean milk is horrible stuff... its like saying air is bad because more kids are being born with asthma (and even as lactose intolerant, they can still drink some milks...such as goat milk).

Regular soymilk contains all of the fat and all of the protein found in the soybean. As I stated earlier, when the soy protein is isolated from the soybean as in 'soy protein isolate', an unhealthy substance is created which has been associated with elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans, just as cow's milk consumption has been associated with elevated levels of IGF-1 in humans.

I do not believe that people who are smaller than americans are malnourished. In fact, the people of Okinawa have been famous for their longevity, i.e. the unusually large number of centenarians (those living to be over 100 years old). Furthermore, I am concerned that we are told to drink our milk so that we will grow bigger and stronger faster. I do not think it is good that our children are growing up faster and maturing more quickly than they did in the past, and I do not consider this state of things to be normal. If we grow up faster, this also means that we are aging more quickly.

From the American Cancer Society...

"Some researchers have noted that men with high levels of another hormone, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), are more likely to get prostate cancer. IGF-1 hormone is similar to insulin, but it works on cell growth, not sugar metabolism. However, other studies have not found a link between IGF-1 and prostate cancer. Further research is needed to make sense of these findings."


From another article from the American Cancer Society website....

"Drinking milk may help lower your risk of colon cancer. An analysis of 10 large studies found that people who drank more than 1 glass (8 ounces) of milk each day were 15% less likely to develop the disease than people who drank less than 2 glasses each week. "

Seems the cancer society doesnt really agree with milk being evil yet...

They dont really do much scary stuff to skim milk...they dont take alien techniques and rayguns or plutonium to get the fat out. Simply, the fat in milk naturally floats to the top if left alone... early on they used to just "skim" this fat off and make it a little healthier (ala-skim milk). They havent really changed it much...only they use something on a bigger scale. Soy milk is MUCH more manufactured and un-natural then skim milk....

"I do not believe that people who are smaller than americans are malnourished"

Japanese have been growing in recent generations...with an increase in nutrition and stronger economy. The sudden increase in size is (as far as i have heard) always credited to diet. I know some live very long, but that is another issue. Fact is, they had been malnourished and that was stunting their growth for a long while...

I think dairy products are nutritious and since we have an abundant supply, quite inexpensive.  I see no reason, the anti-milk studies aside, to forego milk or dairy products.

I use 2% currently, mostly because it freezes well and thus not so many trips to the grocery store. 

I think the key to dairy is to buy the free-range fed and organic.  The two are not the same -- cows can be fed organically, and still be grain fed.  The free range cows have cla in their meat and milk, which is known to promote fat-burning and muscle building.  Grain fed cows do not have cla. 

Studies have shown that calcium from low-fat dairy helps promote weight loss, in ways not found from supplements alone.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/23/1728_ 56703

The discussion here is very interesting and relevent...and disconcerting to say the least.  LIke most people I take what I hear with a healthy dose of curoisity and skepticism- then do my research. It is no wonder we are all 'turned around' regarding the what to drink. I was in the waiting room of the Dr's office and ran accross AARP, I about 25 years to young for the mag, but the article was relevent as I have been researching soy.  The balanced yet compelling article references a study which states that soy can lead to dementia- and they aren't talking truckloads of soy. My appointment came and I immediately asked my physician and he conformed as much- but stated everything can lead to something in someone.  Soy is great, for some not so much.  So thats it? guess so.
I have a particular concern regarding the issue brought up here and milk and IGF-1 and i'll be calling my neuro-endo 8am Monday
(actually I think I have his e-mail LOL)- I am recovering from 2 rare brain tumors one of which is exacerbated by IGF-1 and uhhh no one has told me about this.  Never even touched on it. I am concerned. I love my milk, but I will be the first to bail it if ,
you know what forget it- something deep in me says this should not be a food staple for me at least..ok thinking and venting at the same time.

ps maybe this explains the rate girls are growing- WOW! they are not building them like they did when I was a teenager      

Heh, how are they building them different now? >.<

lorik, they are 'developing' much earlier apparently. I look at my nieces and other girls their age and all of my sisters and girlfriends are astounded. To be 13 and look like "that", whatever, as long as everyone is healthy- it does make you wonder though- what ARE the factors?  Some say it is the added hormones in meat and dairy, some say not- would make sense if so.  

very interesting discussion and information!  thanks!

i still don't know.  i'm not sure the final word is out on milk or soy and soy milk... there has been a lot of movement towards soy products, but the last i heard seemed to indicate there is a problem b/c of the sterols...  I just don't know... and it all bears further research

and another food up in the air is egg whites, versus the yolks, versus the yolks (eggs) from chickens that were fed omega-3 grains (omega-3 enriched)...

i'm glad we finally have the net; so we can get our hands on information more easily... we just need to sort through the chaff to get to the kernel of truth...

cheers,

United, The chaff is eternal and the kernal keeps morphing. In short  the truth is hard to decipher. Like Lorik said- the very same body of health professionals put out reports that blatantly contradict each other.  You so right - the internet is just an amazing source of information- right or wrong- at least it's a starting point. For instance- I know enough to know I should know more- which is more than I knew before, LOL
I just spent time since my last post researching it- nothings clearer, but it's all interesting. 

I wonder how we explain the thousands of years that Hindus have consumed dairy products every single day.  They skim off the cream to make butter, which they turn into ghee for cooking, so I don't think you can say that skim milk is a "modern invention".  I also remember when my grandparents kept a cow, they did the same - the cream went into butter, the whole milk was made into cheese, and we drank the buttermilk, which is just another name for skim milk.  Those Indians seem to be in good health and have strong teeth and bones too.  How do we explain that if dairy is so bad for us?