I found this quite intriguing..

Hey, I got this off a website review of the diet book "Skinney Bitch", I thought it made a good point:

"dairy does not aid with weightloss. Do you really think that a pro-growth substance like dairy, created to make a calf double in size, is going to help you lose weight? Dairy consumption is, like other animal protein sources, associated with osteoporosis and a higher fracture rate. Dairy was never meant for human consumption, which is why 90% of the world is lactose intolerant."

I myself do not drink milk (mmm soy milk) so I found this really interesting. It really contradicts those "Got Milk" adds...

Your thoughts?

I have NEVER EVER believed ANY of the HOOPLA involved with DAIRY! Yea right! It is DEFINATELY NOT A HEALTH FOOD! Most cows eat horrible things which in turn makes their meat un healthy along with all the other by-products they make.I stick with grass-fed beef, but even then I do not consume their dairy products.If you want calcium, take supplements, eat canned sardines (with their bones) and a lot of veggies have calcium in them too!!! 

I like milk but I can't drink it. I could use it as a weapon against my household of men/boys if they are farting me out. I am glad because it has so much sugar in it. I think it is good for little kids to drink it. Not so sure why all the ads for adults to drink it. Sounds like baloney. Interesting to think about. Maybe I should try soy. I never have had it.

Well, for weight loss they recommend that you eat the non-fat variety, which is something that calves don't eat.  Although I'm not sure that I buy the enzyme theory, it is important to maintain a level of calcium throughout your adulthood, not just when you're a kid.  Personally, I find that dairy helps me maintain weight because yogurt is so delicious that I can use it as a dessert.

It's all about perception...... this is a really interesting article...against soy....http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_chi ld/food/soy_story.html I think with all things it can be taken both way's.......and it all seems to depend on which articles you read.... With almost anything you can find a for and against...

Yeah.. I just read skinny bitch and it definitely makes alot of good points about dairy. I mean, if we were really meant for it, then wouldn't women lactate for much longer periods of time than they do? Plus, babies drink milk to GROW. Alot.

hmm, i'm all for eating more healthfully, but c'mon........................we can't ALLLLL go vegan!  did you guys realize that veganism is what this book is basically endorsing?  it's a testimonial for veganism without mentioning the word (at least not in the first few pages...i'm sure i would have put it down much sooner).

if you can handle dairy, and it works for you, why not?  i mean, no one who drinks skim milk (and other low-non-fat dairy) and eats well and exercises in general is HUMONGOUS.  i guess it's a case of never say never, but it's the overeating that makes you fat.

love skim, love low fat cottage cheese w/ pineapple, love yogurt, love cheese  (but have banished it from my diet because i tend to get out of control with it), love ICE CREAM!

it's where i get most of my calcium! 

Hmm I have to disagree... I think milk is very good for you. It is loaded with vitamins and is an excellent source of calcium. As for weight loss I imagine it could do some damage if you were drinking the milk that is high in fat like whole milk or if you were drinking it in excess. Everything in moderation. This link shows studies done about milk and it's effect on weight loss- http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/nationald airycouncil/healthyweight/science I drink milk daily and it hasn't had a negative effect on my weight, that i've noticed.

I also have milk daily with breakfast.  I have never heard milk recommended as a diet drink and a do not beleive the statistic that 90% of the population is lactose intolerant.  I do believe that milk, like everything else, has it's place in a healthy diet in moderation.  However, if you don't like milk don't drink it.

I understand that the post is fairly unclear, they did not refer to low fat milks, and I realize it is the very high calorie/fat milk that calfs and babies drink to grow.

Milk in general, is good for you, it has a nice balance of carbs, fats, protein and vitamins... however the fats are mainly 'bad' fats, the carbs are mainly sugars, and the vitamins can be obtained from other sources..

What I am more interested in is the "milk was never meant for human consumption" bit. Humans are the only animals on the planet who drink another creature's milk.. kinda disturbing actually. If milk was essential for us, then women would lactate a lot longer... (ewh female milking farms?)

This is just silly (not you, carmen, just being TOTALLY against any type of natural food). As alyssandra points out above, there's a post floating around today AGAINST soy. (Though soy IS a processed food, and I am not a big fan of anything that's been through the ringer too much). Do like my miso soup, though.

All things in moderation. I have lost nearly 60lbs, and I eat yogurt EVERY DAY. I eat cheese in moderation (several times a week). I don't drink milk...because I don't LIKE milk. :-) But I DO put a splash of whole or half and half in my daily morning coffee.

I mean ANYTHING can be "bad for you" if you eat too much of it, or read the wrong article. I knew a woman that was TERRIFIED of carrots because they "had too much sugar in them". Um. Cupcakes have too much sugar in them. Carrots? Pretty harmless unless you eat bags and bags of them. Same thing with milk. Or soy. Or whatever. :-)

Oh, and carmen, I totally agree with you - how WEIRD is it, that humans are the ONLY mammal to drink another mammal's milk? I mean, milk isn't as necessary as the dairy industry wants you to believe, of course. :-)

I tend to agree with your thoughts on this topic.

I also learned in many of my college classes how most of the world is lactose intolerant because we were not meant to drink another mammal's milk.  However, we do, and if you can, it can be a part of a healthy diet.

I don't like the ads though.  I would love to see the studies they've done.  There are SOOO many ways that an experiment can be manipulated.  For example, maybe studies show that people who drink milk are skinnier because well, typically health-conscious people drink milk a lot more than people who eat McD's and sodas everyday.

In reference to the study, in a way my professors love to put it: Correlation does not imply causation. 

I'm at a healthy weight, and I love to eat Indian food.  Hm, maybe Indian food makes us skinny! (haha, just kidding of course...but you get the point).

My dogs love cheese and milk and ice cream and eggs if I put a bowl of milk on the foor they would fight over it. Leads me to believe that yes given the opportunity animals wll drink other animals milk. If you dont believe put a bowl of ice cream or milk in front of the next dog you see.

If you could teach a cat or dog to milk a cow, they'd be drinking milk!

Lets see...Breastmilk is specifically MADE for humans...and it contains lactose.  So I am betting 90% of the world is lactose intolerant..is one of the statistics that 85% of the worlds statistics are made on the spot?  Haha.  Seriously.

Many milk manufacturers no longer use the RBST hormone that is used for growth in their milk...even generic brands are rBST free now. 

Besides...the hormone is not used to make a cow bigger..its used to increase their milk supply.

I honestly think that book was two women looking to make a profit based on a book for shock value. 

Original Post by athena_tavener:

If you could teach a cat or dog to milk a cow, they'd be drinking milk!

Exactly! How in the world would other animals have the opportunity to drink another animals milk? Humans have access to it and that is why we drink it.

It's not as strange as you might think.  A couple weeks ago there was a news article about a dog suckling a kitten.

A certain species of ant keeps "herds" of aphids around and they "milk" the sweet secretions of the aphids.  I see humans as a species that simply knows how to get food efficiently, especially in the last century and a half.

I have to agree with gfrisbie that it seems like this book was purely made for shock value. I have a hard time believing a lot of the "facts" listed between the pages.

Personally, books like this rub me the wrong way. I don't like "diets" that promote the removal of a complete food group. If people wanted to do that, they would go vegetarian or vegan (which is completely their choice!)

Any diet labeling one food or another as evil just doesn't sit well for me.

To each their own, though. They can sit back and shun dairy for all I care. Leaves more for me :)

 

ah internet articles they mean very little to someone who really isnt paying attention and isnt looking for something to substantiate a claim.

Milk in moderation just like with anything isnt going to hinder weightloss or really help it in my book. If a glass of milk per day or even 2 helps you from eating a whole bag of chips or something else then I think its a good thing. If you are consuming a gallon per day its not going to help in your weightloss efforts unless you workout like crazy to make up the cal differences then you can indeed have your gallon per day.

What next with articles on here is the next one going to say

'Eat goat crap it helps with weightloss'

giasbash, yes there are other ways to get calcium that is not from milk.  but calcium supplements as a rule are not the way.  the vast majority of supplements, especially those in coated tablet form, pass through the digestive tract something like 80-85% undigested, which means unabsorbed.

So if you think your Cal-trate is giving you the 100mg or whatever amount it says of calcium, you'd better take about 5 or 6 of them because you are probably only getting about 15-20mg per each.