Why Dairy isn’t as Healthy as You Think? Calcium Rich Milk Propaganda and Fear Mongering

I have always loved milk and other types of dairies like butter, cheese, clarified butter (ghee), cream, ice cream, etc. as long as I can remember. I used to consume them in plenty on quite daily basis. I would have at least some forms of dairy products regularly. In summers, I loved having milk shakes made from fruits like mangoes, bananas, cheeku, etc. And I also adored cold coffee and ice creams of different flavours a lot. This made me tremendously obese during the onset of my adolescence.

Well, I cannot entirely blame dairy alone for this as I would also combine my eating habits with lots of refined form of breads and rice, and all kinds of junk you could possibly think of. Absolutely no one in my family had any slightest of idea about the food choices I had back then that could do such a harm. Now we are not discussing about my struggles with obesity due to my food habits in this blog. My aim is to concentrate on dairy alone at this point.

Dairy has been part of every household in the world since centuries. It could be any animal’s milk – cow’s, goat’s, camel’s, yak’s, horse’s, sheep’s, or buffalo’s. But cow’s milk is the most consumed out of all, since it has similar fat content compared to human milk. Plus, cows can be easily domesticated and its milk can be effortlessly separated into cream and liquid.

Over the years, people are made into believing that they are consuming calcium through dairy but milk is not the only source of calcium. The connection of calcium with milk is so deeply ingrained that nobody is in state of unlearning it. I still remember when I was in second grade, one of our subject teachers once asked one of my classmates how many times in a day he consumed milk, with which he replied “once”. Her proud response, “Just once? My daughter has it thrice!”.

So, how did this propaganda and fear mongering start that milk is the only way to strong bones, muscles, and teeth?

According to The Food Theorists, cow’s milk was the answer to starvation when extreme climatic conditions would have otherwise made humankind extinct. Milk was the nearest and easiest option. They chose having milk and face consequences, instead of getting starved to death.

Another backstory is that, during the World War I, the U.S. government demanded canned and powdered form of milk to be sent to soldiers who were there overseas. Legitimately, they didn't want them to starve. But as the war was about to end, the demand naturally decreased. Now who would have bought those unwanted packets? The farmers already had put so much of time and effort for its production. The government then planned to target the public.

The abovementioned paragraphs indicate that milk was the answer to beat hunger.

The truth is that all humans used to be lactose intolerant but due to evolution, they started developing resistance towards milk. Keep in mind that there is a difference between resistance and ability to digest. Humans survived at different parts of the world by genetically mutating themselves such as by generating more melanin on their skin at hotter climates, milk resistance too would naturally come over the course of time. Yet millions of people are still lactose intolerant. The truth is that everyone becomes allergic to milk at some point in their life, especially in their 30s and later.

Do you remember those commercials in the 1990s or even before that were particularly about drinking milk? Those didn’t represent any particular brand but just emphasised on the idea that milk is extremely important in your diet.

There were literally no references in medical terms or statistical data apart from marketing gimmick (American ads deliberately showing how without dairy you might lose your arm) that it is the only source that contains the most calcium and vitamin D.

America’s dairy farmers’, The national dairy board were reputable sources that endorsed such ads and evidently people were bound to convince. It was supposed to be from public health announcement coming from the dairy board, but originally it was from California-based milk producers and a firm named Mccann Ericksonn San Fransisco followed by many other milk producers that united together and vigorously participated in making such commercials.

After the U.S., rest of the world followed the lead. Clearly, it too had everything to do with dairy businesses. This is one of the classic examples how easily a propaganda can be spread.

The truth is that milk and other kinds of dairy have a list of drawbacks that can possibly have long-term impacts on humans. I am mainly focusing on cow’s milk because, as mentioned earlier, it is the most in demand and supply. These points below will prove why dairy isn't as healthy as you think it is.

Disadvantages of consuming dairy

1. Milk contains more fats and carbs: Apart from calcium and vitamin D, it also consists of fats and carbohydrates, (even more in buffalo’s milk). That could be the cause of your weight gain. If you are taking packaged ones, then there is an option for skimmed milk but it might also lower your blood pressure. So, it may be a good idea to drink skimmed milk if you have high blood pressure, not when you have it on lower scale.

2. It is acidic: Pasteurisation of milk is necessary before making it safe for human consumption. This ensures preventing intake of dangerous and life-threatening microorganisms. But it also makes it acidic in nature. Calves do not have to consume the acidic version of milk because they take directly from their mothers just like human babies. Since we take the pasteurised version, we get to have the consequences of adding more acid to our bodies.

Just like any other junk food you could possibly think of such as foods containing sugar, burgers, fried foods, caffeine, meat, alcohol, etc., add dairy to your list as well. Any idea on what acidic foods do to your body? Acidity! And mineral bone loss thereby causing osteoporosis.

Also, more acid in the body means acidic birth canal. It hence also kills sperms in the vaginal canal that prevents a couple to get pregnant, certainly not the good news for those who are trying to conceive.

3. It produces more mucus: Have you ever heard that milk causes cough? Some old people used to say that we shouldn’t drink milk if we have cough already. Cough is nothing but excessive mucus produced in the throat. It can also be accumulated at places like cervix.

Mucus in the cervix is usually a positive sign and indicates that your cycle of menses and ovulation are up to the mark. Its production is at peak at the time of ovulation which help sperms swim through. The texture of mucus is very thick if ovulation does not occur. Once the ovulation is about to approach, it naturally becomes thinner (as estrogen hormone rises) and provides the gateway to the sperms. If the mucus stays the way it is throughout, and does not change during ovulation, pregnancy cannot occur as sperms would be obstructed from reaching the uterus and fallopian tubes.

A lot of times a couple keeps themselves tested for possible reasons of their infertility and their doctor keeps saying that all of their reports are normal. Too much of dairy is the culprit in this case. The downside? Utter frustration of “unexplained infertility”. So, does that mean that eliminating milk entirely would help them conceive? Nothing guarantees anything but they would be more towards the possibility scale. Try this out as it might work!

4. It results in bad breath: Consuming dairy on a regular basis results in bad breath because the amino acid content often tend to react with naturally occurring oral bacteria and produce sulfur compounds. These bacteria feed on amino acid to cause such stinking sensation.

5. Hypercalcemia: Hypercalcemia refers to very high amount of calcium in blood. This condition isn’t directly caused by drinking too much of milk, but things that are high in calcium need to be avoided if you already have more than recommended calcium in your body. Since dairy products are one of those things, one needs to avoid them at all costs. If you fail to control your calcium levels then you would suffer from conditions like kidney stones, kidney failure, abnormal heartbeat, nervous system problems, and so on.

6. It causes hormonal imbalance: Cows naturally produce certain hormones for milk production that should reach their calves in order to grow body density and ability to fight diseases. If humans too drink such milk, they are going to get those hormones in their body, thereby causing hormonal imbalance.

In addition to this, cattle are injected with hormonal injections to generate more milk to satisfy their customers’ heightened requirements. This obviously has more negative impact. This implies that if you take milk you are going to ingest yourself with these artificial hormones as well. I, myself being a regular consumer of dairy in the past, had undergone such harsh consequences of borderline thyroid and endometriosis. I also have a history of recurrent acne breakouts to the point of forming pustules. Upon putting an end to such obsession, my hormones are back on the track. I have not completely abandoned it but have a set limit of “occasional”. I also keep checking for vegan options at restaurants if there is.

7. More you consume it more you are likely to have brittle bones: It is true that milk will help you to get taller just as it helps a calf getting bigger. But taller body directly implies to longer bones and more likelihood to fracture it. Not kidding! There had been research for several years of people who consume dairy on a daily or weekly basis, the frequency on the given days, and shockingly, frequent consumers are more likely to get a fracture. You could be having troubles of knee or back pain. Try skipping dairy for a few weeks and you will be surprised with the result.

8. Might be responsible for certain types of cancers: Some researches indicate that milk could cause specific types of cancers such as prostate cancer. Although when it comes to cancer, there is never a hundred percent guarantee because there are other factors such as lifestyle and environment that can have a role to play along, but it does not mean that if everyone has milk, nobody is going to develop cancer just like for those who consume tobacco.

Is milk that bad?

Does that conclude that milk is bad? NO! It’s not that bad but isn’t a necessity either, not even for those who are pregnant. Milk is not the only source of calcium. You can rely on black sesame, spinach, broccoli, kale, legumes like kidney beans, and soy for that. Some of them even contain equivalent or even higher amount of calcium than milk. You can take your Vitamin D directly from sunlight or supplements if you live in snowy areas.

It is also an ethical choice. More demands of milk bring in more animal abuse. Cattle such as cows, buffaloes have to be artificially inseminated in order to get pregnant because only childbirth allows them to produce milk. Their calves are snatched right from their birth and sold to beef industries (might not be a concern for you if you are a meat-eater). If you live in a small town, this might be unlikely but in most big cities and countries across the globe, this is how it is.

Having milk with an excuse of “calcium” could be compared with having chicken with the excuse of “protein”. Because despite having plant-based source of these things, it is more obvious that you are more into the taste than the nutrients these food sources are offering you.

We all know how food industries dominate us by just looking around. There would always be more customers at a Burger King’s counter than at a fruit/vegetable market. By knowing that our food is even a little nutritious because it contains micrograms of so and so minerals and vitamins, we convince ourselves that whatever we eat and drink aren’t that bad.

The beauty (and annoyance!) with science is that it keeps exploring to find answers and continues contradicting itself. It could be the case that whatever you read about the food sources might change after a certain course of time. Well, these theories cannot be proven completely wrong if the method of production goes on like this for several more decades. It can only be irrelevant if dairy industries start taking ethical measures.

Also, all bodies are different. I have experienced myself that consumption of café latte (once) daily caused my stomach to bloat despite that I was never diagnosed with lactose intolerance before. When I stopped having it, it got better. I did not even notice it when I used to consume it twice daily during my office-going years. So, either maybe people do not notice it happening or they may become intolerant later in their life.

Additionally, if your body becomes adjusted to your new lifestyle that's suitable, it might show you symptoms of intolerance because at this point your body loves this new habit. That's my personal experience!

I have thoroughly researched once I discovered about a year ago that dairy isn't as healthy as you think. Due to some health issues, I consulted a naturopath who gave me the diet I was supposed to follow. To my surprise, she strictly told to not consume milk. Later on, in one of her online lectures that I attended I came to know in more detail about this. Soon I got curious and researched more. The truth was shocking.

Now that I am informed already, I thought to share my knowledge to the world. If you simply type "benefits of milk", you will not get the expected results. You will have to use terms like "milk propaganda", "milk calcium myth", "How the dairy industry tricked everyone", "Why is milk advertised", and so on. If you have doubts on whatever is written here, you can do your own research that's far from any form of biases. You can write your own view on this if any of these points don't make any sense on the comments section. I'll respond.