Zoe Zupancic
12/1/2009
COM 325
Dairy Demons
A truism is something that is accepted as a norm, something that is accepted without
question. Dairy in our American culture is a truism. Milk is in our morning cereal and afternoon
lattes. Dairy is in our Friday night pizza and late night vanilla ice cream. Our own culture tells us
that the more cows’ milk we consume, the healthier we become and nobody questions these
statements. It is a tradition to have dairy in our lives. Since truisms are rarely questioned many
people do not wonder how we started to drink milk, why we drink milk, or even how it gets from
a cow utter to our fridge. Many people do not think how we are the only known species to drink
milk after our youth. Many people do not realize that we are the only species that drinks another
species’ milk. In fact, many people do not even know why we chose cows’ milk to mainly
consume above all other mammals.
Many people are led to believe dairy is a necessary and beneficial aspect in a diet,
however, I believe dairy withholds more disadvantages than advantages. Dairy should have less
of an impact on our culture and be lessened in our consumption. Secrets of pasteurization,
advantages and disadvantages of dairy, cultural allergies and consumption, advantages of cutting
dairy, difficulty of elimination, and milk substitutes are all things that need to be considered
when analyzing dairy.
Raw milk is full of diseases, bacteria, and harmful particles. In order for milk to be sold
and safe to drink, it must go through a process called pasteurization. Pasteurization is an
extremely multidimensional process with many steps. The liquid is extremely processed and the
end result is what we buy at the market. According to Lori Lipinski, author of Milk,
“Pasteurization is a process of heat treating milk to kill bacteria… dairies used
pasteurization as a way to cover up dirty milk. As milk became more mass produced,
pasteurization became necessary for large dairies to increase their profits… pasteurization kills
the friendly bacteria; it also greatly diminishes the nutrient content of the milk. Pasteurized milk
has up to a 66 percent loss of vitamins A, D and E. Vitamin C loss usually exceeds 50 percent…
Vitamins B6 and B12 are completely destroyed during pasteurization. Pasteurization also
destroys beneficial enzymes, antibodies and hormones. Pasteurization destroys lipase (an
enzyme that breaks down fat), which impairs fat metabolism and the ability to properly absorb
fat soluble vitamins A and D.” (Lipinski, 2003, Milk: It Does the Body Good?)
Milk is supposed to be full of vitamins and nutrients according to our American beliefs,
however, when analyzed completely, one can see the amount of nutrients actually lost and
destroyed in the pasteurization process. Why would we want to consume something so
manipulated, processed, and artificial into our bodies? The small amount of calcium and Vitamin
D available in milk is not a good enough reason to accept such an unnatural food. However,
everyone does have one fact correct about milk. Milk does contain some healthy benefits.
Non-fat milk is the healthiest kind of milk because of its lower fat and sugar and calorie
content. Non-fat milk is only about eighty calories for a cup and provides Vitamins A, B1, B2,
B3, B6, B12, calcium, folate, protein, potassium, and panthothenic acid. Looking at this fact, one
may think that the amount of benefits is unbelievable. However, if one looked at the actual
percentile of each vitamin or other health factor, they would see that the amount is quite
minimal. Every item on the list mentioned above averages around ten percent of your daily
intake needs in one serving of non-fat milk. This is an acceptable amount but not enough to
“build strong bones” or do any other activity that many milk advertisements say milk can
accomplish.
I believe that the disadvantages of milk completely outweigh the benefits of milk
mentioned above. Multiple sources point to the fact dairy can cause many problems and
abnormalities. Natural News author Seppo Pussa describes how milk causes acne in four
different ways.
“Research suggests that acne is linked to problems with blood sugar metabolism and
chronic inflammation. Wild swings in blood sugar levels lead to hormonal reaction that increases
sebum production and turnover of skin cells. Chronic inflammation taxes the immune system
and opens the door for acne-causing bacteria to colonize the blocked skin pores… Milk contains
an array of powerful growth hormones. That shouldn’t come as a surprise as milk is supposed to
make things grow. Insulin like growth factor-1 is one of the growth hormones found in milk.
IGF-1 is problematic for acne victims for two reasons. It increases sebum production, and it
stimulates the growth of skin cells. The faster the skin cells grow the faster they also die. That
means more dead skin cells to block the pores. Consequently it also leads to faster aging of the
skin.” (Pussa, 2008, Four Ways Milk Causes Acne)
Also, the Journal of epidemiology and community health believes that milk causes a
multitude of problems in humans. In a study conducted by the academic journal, they concluded
that milk could be harmful.
“The consumption of milk and dairy products is associated with a markedly reduced
prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, and these items therefore fit well into a healthy eating
pattern.” (Elwood, Pickering, Fehily, 2006, Milk and dairy consumption)
Another source agrees that milk is harmful but to women’s fertility. According to Natural
News author, M. Whitney, low-fat dairy products may lessen fertility in women. She explains
that drinking milk lowers chances of getting pregnant by an astonishing eighty-five percent. She
says that it is due to the fact that milk causes a lack of ovulation. Ovulation needs to happen to
women in order to for her to get pregnant, and without it pregnancy is impossible. Not having an
ovulation is call anovulatory infertility, says Whitney. In an eight-year study involving 18,555
women who drank milk over a period of time, over 438 became infertile. This is an amazing fact
that I believe our culture needs to critically ponder upon. Many factors are hidden and secret in
our society regarding hazards in our food. Our food pyramid suggests a significant portion of our
diets to be dedicated to dairy and protein. However, these guidelines are more like suggestions
than actual facts based on heavy amounts of research.
Within our culture, protein and calcium are highly recommended and incorporated into
our daily lives. Firstly, however, I want to look at our culture in terms of health. According to
American Sports Data, INC, sixty-three percent of Americans are overweight, and thirty-one
percent of obese. Obesity accounts for over 300,000 deaths a year. Also, life expectancy in the
United States is 78 years of age. In order to understand what we are doing wrong or to see how
we can improve our health, one can compare to a healthier country and adopt some of their
proven methods.
Japan is a country that leads in overall health standards and beats Americans average
health by a large amount. Japan has a small number of three point two percent of people who
suffer from being overweight. Also, Japan’s life expectancy is eighty-four. Looking at Japanese
culture, one can see that dairy is not a large part of their diet. Japanese consume less protein and
calcium than Americans. They mainly eat fish, seafood, soy, and an array of starchy foods such
as noodles and white rice. Overall, the japanese eating habits show us that less dairy is beneficial
towards maintaining weight and living a longer life. Also, many Japanese have an allergy to
lactose, an enzyme in dairy. Many cultures, in fact, have a large percentile of people with
sensitivities to lactose or dairy. According to Ohio State Medical Center many people have
lactose intolerance.
“Eight percent of all African-Americans and Native Americans are lactose intolerant
while ninty percent to one hundred percent of Asian-Americans are lactose intolerant. Lactose
intolerance is least common amoung people with a northern European heritage. Sweden has one
of the world’s highest percentages of lactase tolerant people.”
As one can see, lactose intolerance is completely normal and living without milk for
these people is a way of life. Living without milk is completely possible. Many say that giving
up milk or dairy would be very difficult. In fact, I conducted a non-scientific study on students at
Cal Poly Pomona, and most said that the most difficult thing about giving up milk would NOT
be because it is so good or because of its perceived health benefits but because it is such a staple
in our society, that it would be hard to find products without dairy. What I found interesting,
however, were the majority of the students believed that there are many varieties of milk and
dairy substitutes out on the market yet they still believed that because milk is so prominent in our
American culture, it would be extremely difficult.
Substitutes, especially these days, are available in every city or town and in every
major grocery franchise. Obviously the most popular substitute for cows’ milk is soymilk and is
even offered in chains like Starbuck’s, Peet’s Coffee and Tea, ice cream parlors, and in many
smoothie chains. Trusted corporation Associated Content, recently released the top five vegan
milk substitutes. They believe that rice milk, almond milk, grain milk, coconut milk, and
soymilk are the healthiest and best choices.
Rice milk is great because it is fortified with the same amount of vitamins, minerals, and
other benefits just like cows’ milk and it comes in many different flavors. Almond milk is a good
choice because it contains no cholesterol and is very low in calories. Grain milk is a nice
alternative because it is said to be the perfect substitute when baking calls for animal milk.
Coconut milk is good because of its luxurious texture and distinct taste. In fact many famous
chefs and inspirational cooks use coconut as a staple ingredients in much of their cuisine.
Finally, Soymilk is a wonderful alternative to cows’ milk because of it availability, sweetness,
and protein content. Soymilk can be found in any local grocer and is available from bitter to
sweet vanilla, from milk flavored to chocolate flavored. Also, soymilk has about ten grams of
protein per serving which takes lead over all other alternative milk substitutes.
Many people believe cutting dairy out of their lives would be extremely difficult but now
a plethora of substitutes are available on the market, the idea is not so farfetched. What most
people tend to worry about is calcium intake. Since the substitutes are fortified (just like cow
milk) with protein, calcium, fiber, and tons of vitamins it proves to be much more healthy than
pasteurized, disease-causing cows’ milk.
Heating the milk to hundreds of degrees to kill diseases, which ultimately kills many of
the beneficial factors of drinking milk, pasteurizes milk. Milk happens to be something that one
of the healthiest countries rarely consumes and proves to lead to a longer life. Milk has been
shown to cause infertility, acne, metabolic syndrome, and severe weight gain, along with
contributing to obesity. Many believe that giving up cows’ milk would be extremely difficult,
however, milk and dairy substitutes are readily available on the market and prove to suffice
benefits of drinking milk, baking with dairy, and the taste is enjoyable as well.
I have been completely dairy-free for over two years now and have never felt better. I
have a slight sensitivity to milk, like many others, and living without dairy has made me feel less
nauseous, happier, more active, and I happened to lose some body fat percentage as well. I
believe that everyone should at least try to cut dairy from his or her diets completely for at least
two weeks. I guarantee that the person will feel less bloated, more active, and even have less
embarrassing gas. Overall, cows’ milk should become something in the past, something that will
slowly fade out of our culture and will hopefully not be a complete cultural truism. A more
critical mind on our norms and a healthier lifestyle will result from looking into giving up dairy
and I believe that one’s quality of life will improve immensely. Quality of life is what is truly
important because life is so short. So why not try something that can improve that quality?
Giving up dairy may do just that.
Bibliography
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MD. (2002, March/April 24). Dairy Consumption, Obesity, and the Insulin Resistance Syndrome
in Young Adults: The CARDIA Study. The Journal of the american medical association,
287(16). Retrieved from http://www.jama.org
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metabolic syndrome: the Caerphilly prospective study. Journal of epidemiology and community
health, 61, 695-698.
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