Photo by:  Andrea_44

• Most people think they have to drink a large amount of milk and eat dairy products to get the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of calcium into their diet.  This is a huge myth and can sometimes be very damaging to a person’s health.

• Cow’s milk does provide a person with nutrients such as. protein, fat, carbohydrates, and calcium.  However, humans can get these same nutritional factors from healthful food.  The amount of calcium a human absorbs drinking a glass of milk is only 32 percent compared to healthful foods such as:

Based on One Cup

Kale = 40.9%

Broccoli = 52.6%

Brussels Sprouts = 63.8%

Turnip Greens = 51.6%

Orange Juice = 37%

• By eating leafy greens, vegetables, and fruits to obtain calcium you will retain more of the calcium that is needed than if your diet was centered around meat, cheese, and processed foods.  Don’t forget a person can even get calcium from the water they drink.
• There is a source of calcium in nondairy beverages such as: (per 8-oz. serving)

1. Rice Dream, Enriched 300mg
2. Pacific Hemp Milk 500 mg
3. Soy Dream, Enriched 300mg
4. Westbrae Oat Plus 300mg
5. Pacific Almond, Low-Fat 250mg

This is a very small example of how a person can incorporate calcium into the diet without eating dairy products.  Other sources of calcium are almonds, blackstrap molasses, figs, hazelnuts, lentils, maple syrup, peas, rhubarb, white beans, and much more.

Dairy products can possibly be detrimental to a persons health:

• Allergy – About 7.5 percent, or twenty-one million people have an authentic allergy to cow’s milk involving the immune system.  Cow’s milk and products made from it is one of the most common food allergens.
• Obesity and Overweightness - cows milk is full of calories and fat.  Three eight-ounce servings of milk will add 450 calories and 24 grams of fat to the diet.
• Cancer – A person can be exposed to synthetic hormones and growth factors along with possible carcinogenic contaminants like pesticides and other industrial chemicals that are likely to accumulate in animal fat which then shows up concentrated in milk.
• Parkinson’s Disease – A report published by researchers of the Harvard School of Public Health suggest cow milk consumption may be associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease.  They found a 50 to 80 percent higher risk of  developing the disease in men who consumed the most lactose, Vitamin D from dairy, calcium from dairy, and dairy protein than men who consumed the least amount of these nutrients.

These are just a few of the conditions and disease that diary products can contribute to poor health.  If you eat healthy and don’t consume dairy products you will continue to get the nutrients your body needs.

The National Dairy Counsel spends hundreds of dollars trying to sell their products. We as consumers tend to buy into the advertisements that milk is good for you, and that we have to have it to build strong bodies and strengthen our bones.  I suggest you do your homework and read up on this subject.

Suggested Reading:

“Whitewash” by Joseph Keon

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