Dairy Truth

Thursday January 04th 2007, 6:32 am
Filed under: Dairy

The Dairy Industry has done a fabulous job of lying to the American public and it isn’t anymore evident than with the yogurt myth. Time and time again I run into people (and many of them women who are concerned about osteoporosis) who are convinced that they need to eat yogurt for the calcium and the “live cultures.” Dannon and other yogurt mass-producers claim that the acidophilus in yogurt helps the intestinal tract.

In fact, the opposite may be true! Acidophilus occurs naturally in the gastrointestinal tract of humans but tends to grow very slowly when added to dairy products like yogurt, leading to the risk of other undesirable organisms growing in your yogurt. Researchers have concluded that there is no direct proof whether or not added acidophilus in yogurt colonizes in the human intestines. What this means is that the yogurt you eat may pass right through the human body without giving you any of the “live cultures” that are purported to be so healthy. These results simply mean that there are no health benefits from yogurt consumption. And the risks associated with consuming dairy far outweigh any supposed health benefits. Consuming dairy raises the risks of osteoporosis, cancer, and heart disease.

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Nut Milk as an Alternative to Dairy

Monday October 30th 2006, 7:46 am
Filed under: Dairy Truth

Much has been written about the problems with drinking milk and consuming dairy. Many common ailments such as osteoporosis, acne, and weight problems can all be linked to drinking milk and consuming dairy products. In our household, we have since switched to nut milk. We usually drink almond milk, not only for its flavor, but also for its flexibility. Almond milk comes in a variety of flavors: original is the unflavored almond milk, vanilla adds natural vanilla extract for a sweeter taste, and chocolate is a great chocolate milk substitute for those who are lactose intolerant.

My greatest concern when switching from cow’s milk to nut milk was how it would behave in the kitchen. Sure, almond milk tastes great on cereal, but how would it do baking? Baking is not so much a kitchen exercise as a chemical reaction. Ingredients must be mixed in fairly precise amounts and when mixed (and sometimes heated), a chemical reaction takes place creating a baked food. Cow’s milk and butter are used in many recipes to hold things together, to thicken things, or as a flavor.

So, I decided to create a pure vegetarian baked good using nut milk instead of cow’s milk. My first attempt was banana bread. The recipe called for ¾ cup of sour milk, Typically, I would use cow’s milk and add a tablespoon of vinegar and let it stand for several minutes. The vinegar would cause the cow’s milk to curdle which is just what the recipe called for.

I carefully measured out the almond milk, added the vinegar,, and waited. Within a few seconds of adding the vinegar an amazing thing happened. The almond milk curdled just like the regular milk! I was amazed! I added the sour almond milk to the batter and baked my banana bread as usual.

The true test of any recipe is the taste. This banana bread was a winner! By substituting the almond milk for the cow’s milk, I totally eliminated dairy from the recipe without compromising the taste and texture of the finished product. I will be testing almond milk (and rice milk and soy milk) in other recipes and will share my results!

There are more tips like these on WellHabit.com and FastingLife.com

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Multiple Sclerosis and the Dairy Link

Tuesday September 05th 2006, 6:42 am
Filed under: Dairy Truth, Disease

from Robert Cohen of NotMilk.com

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a common neurological disease, affecting approximately 300,000 Americans. Two-thirds of those diagnosed with MS are women.

Most researchers believe that MS is an auto immune disease. Auto means “self.” The body’s reaction to a foreign protein is to destroy that antigen-like invader with an antibody. The antibody then turn upon one’s own cells. That is an auto-immune response. In the case of MS, the body’s response is to attack the outer membrane-protecting nerve cells, or the myelin sheath.

Symptoms of MS include tingling or numbness of the limbs, paralyses, and vision problems. Sometimes MS patients experience slurred speech accompanied by chronic pain.

MS costs approximately $2.5 billion each year in America. MS is found in milk-drinking populations. It is interesting to note that Eskimos and Bantus (50 million living in East Africa) rarely get MS. Neither do those native North and South American Indian or Asian populations that consume no dairy products.

Many physicians have noted a dairy link to MS. Many little clues have been reinforced by one very large clue, just published. Each clue provides a piece of the puzzle.

Norway has the highest rates of milk and dairy consumption in the world. Dr. Ashton F. Embry analyzed geogrphical regions, and provides this dairy clue:

http://www.DIRECT-MS.org/

He writes:

“…In Norway MS is up to five times more common in the inland farming areas than in the relatively nearby coastal fishing areas.”

John McDougall, M.D., cites the British medical journal Lancet in pointing out that a diet filled with dairy products has been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974;2:1061)

Dr. Luther Lindner is involved in clinical MS experiments at Texas A & M University College of Medicine. Lindner, a pathologist, writes on his website:

“It might be prudent to limit the intake of milk and milk products…”

A worldwide study published in the journal Neuroepidemiology revealed an association between eating dairy foods (cow’s milk, butter, and cream) and an increased prevalence of MS. (Neuroepidemiology 1992;11:304-12.)

The April 1, 2001 issue of the Journal of Immunology will contain a study linking MS to milk consumption. It has long been established that early exposure to bovine proteins is a trigger for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Researchers have made that same milk consumption connection to MS.

The July 30, 1992 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine first reported the diabetes auto immune response milk connection:

“Patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction… Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the auto immune response.”

In October of 1996, The Lancet reported:

“Antibodies to bovine beta-casein are present in over a third of IDDM patients and relatively non-existent in healthy individuals.”

Two months later (December 14, 1996), The Lancet revealed:

“Cow’s milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune response…this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD.”

THE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS/MILK CONNECTION

Michael Dosch, M.D., and his team of researchers have determined that multiple sclerosis and type I (juvenile) diabetes mellitus are far more closely linked than previously thought. Dosch attributes exposure to cow milk protein as a risk factor in the development of both diseases for people who are genetically susceptible. According to Dosch:

“We found that immunologically, type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis are almost the same - in a test tube you can barely tell the two diseases apart. We found that the autoimmunity was not specific to the organ system affected by the disease. Previously it was thought that in MS autoimmunity would develop in the central nervous system, and in diabetes it would only be found in the pancreas. We found that both tissues are targeted in each disease.” (Journal of Immunology, April, 2001)

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