.....It does a body good.....maybe??
A lot of questions I get revolve around the consumption and effects of milk. I love milk and I love most milk based products. I believe that a heavy consumption of chocolate milk, almost a gallon on Saturdays, when I was a young lad led me to have never broken a bone....EVER..my entire life. Although I did get bouts of acne and was sick a bunch I still never wore a cast and was strong as an ox...or really tough puppy. I had good teeth, damn good teeth and for the most part still do.
But, still the debate still rages as to whether or not the consumption of milk as an adult is either good or bad. As our Governor once responded at a Body Building show being asked his opinion on milk, "milk is fo babiez."
I subscribe to the Paleo Newsletter and just wanted to share with you a question and answer I recently read. Enjoy!
Question:
Hello Dr. Cordain,
I am working on an article for Men's Journal about the negative impact of dairy products on some people. Basically, can you explain why milk is problematic? My understanding is that, similar to gluten, milk is potentially inflammatory, which is why it's such a common allergen. Can you expand on this?If someone is drinking milk now, and not feeling any negative effects, does that mean he doesn't have an issue with milk?What sort of changes have you observed in people who've given up dairy?Also, are all dairy products problematic, or is milk a particularly bad one?What do you recommend in place of milk to fill that nutritional gap?
Thanks so much for your help.
Thanks,
Ben
Detailed Answer!:
Hi Ben,
I really am not a world expert when it comes to health problems associated with milk, but I will copy Pedro Bastos, a colleague who is, and who has written a few pieces on this that may help to answer your questions:
Milk has numerous properties that may adversely affect health.
- Paradoxically, milk has a low glycemic response, but has an insulin response similar to eating a chocolate chip cookie or candy. In a recent study of young boys, they became insulin resistance after 7 days on a high milk diet compared to 7 days of a high meat diet.
- In humans, milk drinking elevates a hormone called IGF-1 which increases growth in children, resulting in an increased adult stature, but it also increases the risk for breast, colon and most particularly prostate cancer. How milk drinking increases IGF-1 is not completely known, but two mechanisms have been proposed: 1) bovine milk contains IGF-1 which crosses the human gut barrier, and 2) IGF-1 concentrations in human blood vary with insulin -- because milk increases the insulin response so dramatically, then this response in turn may increase IGF-1.
- In numerous epidemiological studies, milk drinking has been associated with an increased risk for numerous autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. Young children are particularly at risk for type 1 diabetes if bovine milk exposure occurs before the age of 1 year. In animal models of multiple sclerosis, a particular protein found in milk (butyrophilin) when injected into rats causes the animal equivalent of MS.
- In a series of epidemiological studies from the Harvard School of Public Health, milk drinking has shown to dramatically increase the risk for acne. Once again the mechanism has not been completely worked out but may once again involve milks highly insulinotropic effect and/or various hormones found in milk that bypass the gut barrier and enter circulation.
- In many epidemiological studies, milk drinking increases the risk for atherosclerosis and fatal myocardial infarctions independent of its saturated fat content. Again the mechanisms are unclear, but it likely involves chronic low level inflammation, or perhaps endocrine substances found in bovine milk that adversely interact with mechanisms known to underlie cardiovascular disease.
- Milk contains a hormone called betacellulin which binds a human gut receptor called the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R). In many human cancers, there is massive over expression of this receptor which may be linked to chronic consumption of betacellulin in bovine milk.
- There are many more health problems associated with milk drinking, but these are the ones that come immediately to mind. I'm sure Pedro can add many more.
Are all dairy products problematic, or is milk a particularly bad one?
I believe that all dairy products are problematic. Cheeses do not cause the high insulin response as does milk, yogurt and other fermented dairy products, but is one of the most acidic of all foods. Paradoxically, despite its high calcium content, its net acidic load promotes calcium loss from the bones. Betacellulin is also found in cheese, but many of the other hormones found in milk do not survive the cheese making process.
If someone is drinking milk now, and not feeling any negative effects, does that mean he doesn't have an issue with milk?
We cannot feel whether or not we are insulin resistant or if bovine hormones are entering our bloodstream, or if our arteries are becoming clogged with the atherosclerotic process, but we can notice improvements in acne and symptoms of allergy (wheezing, sneezing, rashes etc.), or autoimmune disease.
What sort of changes have you observed in people who've given up dairy?
I am not a clinician, and generally the anecdotal responses I am privy to involve people not just giving up dairy only, but rather adopting a Paleo diet in which all dairy is eliminated, along with all grains, processed foods, salt, legumes and potatoes. If you go to my website and look at the success stories section, you can read about these people.
What do you recommend in place of milk to fill that nutritional gap?
I don't view it as a nutritional gap, but rather a liability which causes our health to suffer in the long run. We have run nutritional comparisons of the following food groups (meats, seafood's, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, whole grains, nuts & seeds, milk) and published our results in the highest impact nutritional journal in the world, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. We found that for these 7 food groups, milk ranked third from last for the 14 most commonly lacking nutrients in the US diet. Hence, the commonly held notion that milk is a highly nutritious food is simply untrue.
Except for calcium, milk is a lightweight for many of the vitamins and minerals needed for optimal human health. Healthy bones result from positive calcium balance. Calcium balance is like a bank account and results from how much calcium we put into our bodies minus how much we lose. The Dairy Council focuses their ads upon the input side of the calcium equation -- more, more, more. However, the calcium that we ultimately lose in our urine is just as important. If we lose more calcium in our urine than we take in, we will never be in calcium balance, no matter how much milk we drink.
The most important factor determining urinary calcium loss is acid base balance. A net acid yielding diet promotes calcium loss in the urine, whereas a net base yielding diet prevents urinary calcium loss. Foods which are base yielding are fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that by consuming about 25-30 % of our daily energy as fruits and veggies, we can maintain calcium balance at low calcium intakes without milk consumption. Humans have existed on this planet for 2.5 million years, and only in the past 10,000 have we ever consumed milk or dairy products. Like all other mammals on the planet, we did quite well without milk (once we were weaned) for the rest of our adult lives. Have you ever thought about how an elephant can grow such large, health and strong bones without drinking the milk of another species?
I hope this helps.
Loren Cordain, Ph.D., Professor
