* Milk and the Environment

Tonight at dinner my husband told me he didn't care about my cause. He equates wanting to reduce milk consumption to hating Santa Claus, and that's just not American. I figure there must be a thousand more people who feel the same way.

This post is dedicated to the environment, Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard and Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD). I won't talk about cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis, strokes, autism, attention deficit disorder, obesity, allergies, acne, arthritis or Alzheimer's. I will discuss milk and the environment (which seems to be a more popular topic).

A 2006 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations says that livestock generates more green house gases than driving cars. So the more we eat, the higher the demand and the higher the concentration of gases being produced. This doesn't include the land and water degradation.

Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options report said, “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

Global meet and dairy production is expected to double by 2050 and this will come with a steep environmental price. Livestock (cows and sheep) damage the air, land and water, three resources we can't live without. Currently, livestock accounts for more CO2 (9%), methane (37%), ammonia (64%) and nitrous oxide (65%) emissions than human contributions to green house gasses.

The Natural Resource Defence Council agrees with the FAO that livestock pollution affects public health, especially water. Siting California officials who have identified cows and agriculture as the major source of nitrate pollution in more than 100,000 square miles of polluted groundwater. Livestock damages our water resources; contributing to water pollution, euthropication (water enriched in dissolved nutrients) and the degeneration of coral reefs. The major polluting agents are animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides.

This lifestyle is not sustainable. We have to make changes, whether they are big or small, and we have to do it now. I understand things won't change over night, but we can't stop trying to do our part. We can set personal goals to cut back beef and dairy by 25%, promise to read the research and educate others.

Dr. Hubbard, you can make a difference for 22,000 plus students in your district by reducing the amount of dairy offered in the school lunch program, selecting products safe from chemicals and hormones, and educating our students about what is a truly healthy diet - More Organic Fruits and Vegetables.

Don't settle for the status quo, remember your hero Dr. Hubbard.

"Never give in – never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
- Sir Winston Churchill

Resisting Milk, One Sip At a Time

We are five days into the detox from dairy challenge, and my husband has already gone to the store to purchase milk, butter and ice cream behind my back! I am sure it was comical for the kids to watch me beg him not to eat dairy. I told him that it was important for all of us to try. He replied he would never give up ice cream or cheese, even if his health depended on it. This makes me sad because I know his father died prematurely due to a stroke (one of the many diseases linked to milk products) and I know he was influenced by his father's habits (cheese everyday).

The kids seem to be okay with the idea as long as I provide tasty alternatives. The youngest is drinking protein smoothies for breakfast instead of milk and cereal, and only time he gave into milk products was when another mom took a group of kids to Cold Stone. This is remarkable since this kid loves his milk, milk chocolate, cheese, butter and ice cream. Maybe, he is going to be the catalyst to help his father consume less dairy.

The two oldest don't drink milk, but the love cheese. They have started eating less, but haven't given it up completely. This is to be expected because I didn't start talking about dairy products and related problems until this year. They have a longer history of eating dairy products, so it will probably take them longer to understand what is at stake before they commit.

We are all resisting milk, one sip at a time.

We Were Never Meant to Drink Milk

Milk was created as a natural nutrient for newborn mammals. It is a maternal lactating secretion available from the mother for a short period of time immediately after birth. No one other mammals, other than humans, drink milk into adulthood. There is a reason for this. It is not a part of a natural diet, otherwise nature would provide it.

In the case of cow's milk, it is meant for baby cows helping them grow from 60 lbs. to 600 lbs in a year. Milk is not just Milk! The milk is uniquely and specifically tailored to the requirements of species of mammal that produces it. Today's milk contains antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals and hormones. Also, ALL cow's milk contains blood.

Dr. Robert Kradjian says in The Milk Letter, "Food is not just food, and milk is not just milk. It is not only the proper amount of food but the proper qualitative composition that is critical for the very best in health and growth. Biochemists and physiologists -and rarely medical doctors - are gradually learning that foods contain the crucial elements that allow a particular species to develop its unique specializations."

MILK: Ten Things I Hate About You

EN REASONS for ZERO DAIRY

1. HEART ATTACKS, STROKES, AND HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE six times more heart attacks in milk drinkers

• Briggs, R. "Myocardial Infarction in Patients Treated with Sippy and other high Milk Diets,", Circulation, 21:538, 1960.
• Hartroft, W. "The Incidence of Coronary Heart Disease in Patients Treated with the Sippy Diet" American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 15:205, 1964.

2. DIABETES, AUTISM, SCHIZOPHRENIA milk antibodies in blood
of diabetic children

• Dosch, Hans-Michael, "The Possible Link Between Insulin Dependent (Juvenile) Diabetes Mellitus and Dietary Cow Milk" Clin Biochem, Vol 26 pp 307-308 August 1993.
• Sun, ZJ, Cade JR, et al "Beta-casomorphin induces Fos-like immunoreactivity in discrete brain regions relevant toschizophrenia and autism" Autism March 1999 vol 3(1) 67-83.
• Sun, ZJ, Cade JR "A peptide found in schizophrenia and autism causes behavioral changes in rats" Autism 1999 vol3(1) 85-95.

3. CANCER breast, ovarian, prostate, lung cancer all dairy linked

• Westin, Jerome B. "Carcinogens in Israeli Milk: A Study in Regulatory Failure" International Journal of Health Services, Vol 23 No 3 pp. 497-517 Baywood Publishing Co. Inc: 1993.

4. ANTIBIOTIC RESIDUES 30 to 80 different antibiotics cause chronic resistant infections

5. PESTICIDE RESIDUES linked to cancer, chronic fatigue, infertility

6. HORMONE RESIDUES menstrual problems, osteoporosis

• Baldini, M, Coni, E. et.al. "Presence and Assessment of Xenobiotic Substances in Milk and Dairy Products" Ann. Ist. Super. Sanita Vol. 26, N. 2 (1990) pp 167-176.
• Mepham, TB Public health implication of bovine somatotrophin use in dairying: Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol 85 Dec1992 pp. 736-739.
  

7. OSTEOPOROSIS National Dairy Council study shows bone loss caused by milk drinking

• Lovendale, M. " The Impact of Dairy Products on Human Health, the Environment, and the National Budget" Advanced Health Journal March 1993 No. 4, Advanced Health Center, Monarch Beach, CA 92629

8. LEUKEMIA VIRUSES 20% of all cows carry leukemia viruses that can infect humans

• Ferrer, J. Milk of dairy cows frequently contains a leukemogenic virus Science 213:1014 1981.

9. ALLERGIES, ASTHMA, CHRONIC SINUSITIS

• Gerard J.W. Mackenzie J.W.A. Goluboff N. et.al. Cows Milk Allergy: Prevalence and Manifestation in an Unselected Series of Newborns Acta Paediatr Scand. Supplement 234 1973.
  

10. DIGESTIVE PROBLEMS, CANDIDA OVERGROWTH caused by allergy and antibiotic residues

*Not all research included
**Research Provided by Robert Cohen and Not Milk

Fight Against Milk - Call to Action

There are many ways to create awareness and one is by investigating different causes. In a past blog I asked people to Vote Yes on Prop 2. Prop 2 was passed in California on Nov. 4, 2008, by a large majority. I think people saw videos like the one below and responded to it.

Here are three painless ways to get involved in things that make a difference to you personally:

• The Human Society wants to continue the momentum by writing President-elect Barak Obama in hopes of influencing the type of Secretary of Agriculture that is appointed. It is up to us to take it a step further.
• Join Millions Against Monosanto to fight for better controls and labeling of milk and food supplies The Organic Consumer Association reaches millions of people, having them sign a petition directed at Monosanto/Eli Lilly, the maker of the growth hormone being used with cattle, rBGH. We need to demand that Eli Lilly (who just purchased Monosanto for $300 million) stop force-feeding untested and unlabeled genetically engineered foods on consumers and stop using billions of U.S. tax dollars to subsidize genetically engineered crops: cotton, soybeans, corn and canola.
• Sign the Food Agenda 2015 Petition to create a global moratorium on genetically engineered foods and crops. Stop factory farming and phase-out industrial agriculture. Convert U.S. agriculture to at least 30% organic by 2015.

* Detox From Milk

Today, begins my first real effort to detox my family from milk. It has been an easy journey for me, because I am reading the scientific research and I don't need to be convinced. On the other hand, I am finding a resistance to change in the family. Even my scientist sister-in-law thinks my youngest should be drinking more milk to grow faster. I am sending her a link to my blog and science journals, we'll see what she thinks after that.

So, we (yes, the family) are taking the seven day detox from dairy challenge proposed by Robert Cohen, author of Milk A-Z and the owner of the Not Milk website. No MILK for one week. That part wasn't the hard part to sell. It was the no ICE CREAM! What??? And no CHEESE! You have to be kidding! This is when you start to realize that milk is a staple part of our culture. Dairy products are a billion dollar industry interconnected to the beef industry that spends millions on advertising campaigns, such as the 3 A Day program being taught to school children. These same children are exposed to the Food Pyramid saying dairy is a part of the four food groups.

I understand why people don't want to change, but I feel it is a matter of great concern. I want everyone to have access to all the information. I want everyone to have access to non-genetically modified milk or dairy alternatives without having to make a special request. This is why I am taking the challenge, one step at a time. If what Cohen says is true, in one week I will have some results to report.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) could start the same way, one week diary free at home and school. Provide some information to students and parents about connection between allergies, attention deficit disorder (ADD), autism and milk. Challenge them to try drug free solutions first.

Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard, we can be the first school to detox from dairy.

* Boycott rBGH Hormonal Milk

…in favor of Certified Organic Milk.

This is the change I want to see in Public Schools, starting with Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD).

The dairy industry promotes the use of the drug MONSANTO, rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone)... that directly conflicts with their ad campaigns promoting health. The use of the hormone creates a number of health issues for the dairy cows and the people consuming them as documented by the Cancer Prevention Coalition , Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Dairy Education Board.

So why, with overwhelming evidence, does the National Dairy Council dismiss the proof and continue to endorse rBGH as safe? How do they get away with it? Advertising a product as healthy that has been linked to cancer, particularly breast and prostate is wrong.

Here's the smoking gun: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of growth hormones in cows based on a study that was confirmed by sources working for Monsanto, the maker of the drug. From the outside, it appears there were conflicts of interests (an ex-employee from Monsanto hired by FDA to approve the product she created). Where's the integrity?

So here's the problem, I want to trust the FDA. I want to believe they have mine and the American people's best interest at heart. But I just can't ignore the evidence that prompted Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan to have banned rBGH, along with American milk and beef imports.

"Monoanto and the FDA have chosen to suppress and manipulate animal health test data in efforts to approve the commercial use of rBGH." - Congressman John Conyers

"The risks of cancer to consumers and particulary their children, especially those enrolled in the Public School Lunch Program, are undisputable." - Dr. Samuel Epstein

READ MORE: What's in Your Milk by Dr. Samuel Epstein. It is a detailed overview of the problems associated with genetically modified milk and the cover up to keep it quite.