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Page 1 of 2 Multiple Health Problems from Milk People are beginning to question the long-standing belief that cow’s milk is the perfect food for children. Studies now link the consumption of cow’s milk to multiple health problems. The long list includes iron-deficiency anemia, gastrointestinal bleeding, cramps, chronic diarrhea, chronic nasal congestion, allergies, asthma, colic, rheumatoid arthritis, musculoskeletal pains, kidney disease, diabetes and heart disease.
Milk and other dairy products may actually be harmful to a child’s health. This may sound a bit shocking to some people. How can America’s most trusted food be unhealthy and why are most parents unaware of this information? This is understandable when you look at the advertising practices and political pressure of the American Dairy Association. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars to convince us that if we don’t drink milk, we would be calcium deficient and sickly. The dairy industry is a very powerful force, controlling the USDA’s nutritional guidelines and influencing our thoughts about milk. Subtle messages like Milk Does a Body Good are imprinted in our minds from an early age. Lactose Intolerance Many people are intolerant to lactose, the sugar in milk. It needs the enzyme lactase to break it down into simple sugars so it can be absorbed into the bloodstream. It is common for children begin to gradually lose their lactase activity soon after they are weaned. Without enough lactase, the lactose is incompletely digested and can cause bloating, belching, gas, cramps, and possibly diarrhea. Frank Oski, M.D., head of Pediatric Medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, suggests in his book, Don’t Drink Your Milk!, that after one to two years of age, the time of normal weaning from breastmilk, milk should be removed from the diet completely. The American Academy of Pediatrics (1996) recommends that infants under a year of age not receive whole cow’s milk. Milk Can Cause Anemia
Milk can cause anemia in children for several reasons. Sensitivity to milk can cause blood to slowly and steadily seep into the intestines. This lowers the blood protein level, which can lead to anemia, even though the amount of blood lost each day is too small to see. Dr. Oski points out that it is estimated that half the iron deficiency in the United States is primarily a result of this form of cow’s milk induced gastrointestinal bleeding. In addition, milk provides very little iron (about one-tenth of a milligram per eight-ounce serving) and it blocks the absorption of iron. Children that are filling up on a lot of milk and dairy products may not be getting enough iron-rich foods to begin with, but when they do get iron, the excess milk may be hindering the absorption of the iron. Allergies to Milk Allergies to milk proteins are very common in children. The symptoms can be very subtle. Chronic diarrhea is a common sign of allergy to milk. Diarrhea is a big problem since it impairs a child’s ability to absorb nutrients. Other symptoms include eczema or other skin rashes, asthma, chronic nasal congestion, fatigue, learning disabilities, recurrent bronchitis, chronic ear infections, and vomiting. If your child experiences any of these symptoms, try eliminating all milk and dairy products from the diet. Watch for signs of improvement. There has been much success in eliminating asthma, ear infections and eczema after discontinuing all dairy products. Cow’s milk can also cause colic in babies. Mothers can pass the milk proteins to their nursing babies if they drink cow’s milk themselves. Diabetes from Milk Insulin-dependent diabetes (Type 1 or childhood-onset) has been linked to the consumption of dairy products. According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, researchers found that a specific dairy protein sparks an autoimmune reaction, which is believed to be what destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. The Wrong Type of Fat Another serious problem is the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in milk. It contains about 35 grams of fat per quart. 60 percent of this is saturated. It is very low in the essential fatty acids that your child needs. We now know that consuming saturated fats can cause heart disease and many other illnesses such as cancer and obesity. These problems can begin in childhood. Drinking milk from an early age could have life-long consequences. There is a common misconception that children under age two need the fat from whole milk for proper brain growth. There is no nutritional requirement for cow’s milk fat. Only calves need the fat from cow’s milk. What babies and toddlers really need are essential fatty acids, not found in cow’s milk, but found in human breastmilk and foods such as fish and flaxseeds. Older children are usually given low-fat milk because of the consequences of saturated fat. This can also be a mistake since low-fat dairy products are higher in protein than the high-fat products. It is the protein in milk that is responsible for inducing allergic reactions and other health problems such as anemia and diabetes. In addition, the high protein levels in milk can lead to a negative calcium balance in the body.
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