WHO AND WHEN IS MILK GOOD FOR

DAIRY PRODUCTS - AN IMPORTANT FOOD GROUP

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

Dairy products are a very important food group today. In part, this is because of the contamination of fish and other products that have been good foods in the past.

Dairy is also important today because the organic food movement is helping to rejuvenate and revitalize dairy as a healthful food. Also, the planet is changing and meat is no longer as important for some people as it once was. For these reasons and others, too, dairy products deserve a closer look.

WHAT ARE DAIRY PRODUCTS?

Milk is the most basic dairy product. Milk is often processed into other products such as cheese, whey, cream, butter, colostrum, yogurt and other fermented products such as kefir. Sometimes milk is further isolated into substances such as casein or sodium caseinate.

Casein is a milk protein that has been isolated by chemical means. It is a common ingredient in some milk-based protein powders and formula. Another less commonly isolated chemical from milk is lactose. This is a milk sugar, and one that is quite difficult for many people to digest, especially those of the dark-skinned races. Let us examine each of these products and their uses in more detail.

MILK

Milk is a fascinating food that has and can sustain entire populations. By way of definitions, whole milk is the milk as it comes directly from the source. It is called whole because it contains all of its cream or fatty part.

However, milk is also commonly sold in containers that offer low fat, 2% cream and no fat milk, which is also called skim milk because the fat is skimmed off the milk at the dairy or a processing plant.

Low-fat, 2% or skim milk are not the best for most children. The fat of the milk is among the best parts for growing children’s brain development.

Parents sometimes use the low-fat varieties because they believe or are falsely told it will keep the children from gaining weight. The opposite is often true, however. The fat is needed. If the child does not get it, he will drink more than he needs of the skim milk, causing him to ingest too much sugar in the process. Sugars cause most weight gain, not quality fats as are found in quality milk.

Eating more fats actually helps many children and audlts to lose weight. See our articles on the Oxidation Types to understand why.

Skim and low-fat milks are not good for most adults, either. See below for reasons why adults do not do well on milk, cheese and even most creams.

Chocolate Milk. This is a horrible concoction for anyone. Don’t ever give it to children, as it is mostly sugar. Once I visited a milk processing facility and was told that the chocolate milk was made from milk that had “gone bad” and could not be sold as fresh milk. That was the last time I even considered recommending it for anyone.

If you must give your child or yourself chocolate milk, make it yourself. It is easy to mix some cocoa powder into a glass of milk. It is not that bad a combination, etiher. Just don’t sweeten it any more than needed. And do not allow a child to live on it, as too many do. It is never a healthful food, even if home-made.

Buttermilk. This is a partially fermented milk, often with a high fat content. It is actually easier to digest for some adults than regular milk. However, the ferments make it more difficult to digest for many people. A small amount on cereal may be okay, but that is all that is best.

Children who are fast oxidizers may feel better on quality buttermilk, which is hard to find because it should be organically grown.

These are the major forms of milk on the market. Let us first look at how milk has been used traditionally, and then how milk has been altered by processing.

Colostrum. This is the first milk that comes when the baby is born. It is the finest milk in the sense that it contains special immunoglobins and other substances that help prepare the intestinal tract of the baby to receive all food items in the future.

Recall that until a baby begins to feed, the intestinal tract is not in use, since all nutrition and development depends on the blood that flows from the placenta to the baby through its naval or bellybutton area. Thus the intestinal tract must be primed, so to speak, with bacteria and other flora in order for it to work correctly.

For this reason, the horrible practice of starting a newborn on formula in the hospital if the mother cannot begin to breastfeed immediately is a totally insane practice that just causes loads of illness in the baby.

Every effort should be made to assist a baby to obtain colostrums immediately when he or she want to begin feeding. There is no reason to force this process, as the baby may require rest or sleep for hours after a difficult delivery, or any birth, for that matter.

Every effort should also be made to assist the mother to start breast feeding, since the colostrums is the finest product for the baby.

If the mother cannot breastfeed and the baby is calling for milk, another woman should be found to offer some milk, preferably, before resorting to formula. This may sound unclean, but it is far healthier in most cases than formula of any kind and would result in far healthier babies.

In many nations formula is given out to hospitals and birthing centers at no charge by companies that want to “hook” the babies on the taste of formula. Then they will never want to breastfeed. This supports the formula company, but does nothing beneficial for the child or the mother. The mother is left with engorged breasts and a colicky child in most instances. We can only hope that the practice of giving formula in the hospital to newborns will be abandoned sometime soon, though I doubt it as it is “convenient” and inexpensive.

Powdered and Canned Milks. These are poor quality products and should only be used if no other alternative exists. Fresh milk is almost always much better.

Powdered milk is much harder to digest in most instances, as it is prepared by spraying the milk over copper rollers in many cases that add copper to the milk, a chemical element that is not usually found in milk in any appreciable quantity. Caned milks are usually even worse, and are often old. Never use this product if the expiration date has passed, as it could be full of bacteria, since milk is quite difficult to preserve unless it is fermented or made into cheese.

MILK AS A FOOD, NOT A BEVERAGE

Milk is often treated as a beverage. However, while it can be drunk, it is really a very rich food. Downing a huge glass of milk is not wise at any time.

Milk should be sipped, as babies take it, to obtain all the nourishment it offers. Drinking huge quantities at once are harmful, as it is not that easy to digest.

There are several reasons for this. Whole milk is very rich in fat. This is not easy to digest and is one reason that milk is processed to remove the fat. Second, milk is rich in lactose, a sugar that is also difficult for many adults and also for some children to digest. This is another reason why mixing it thoroughly with saliva in the mouth is a very wise idea. This is one reason that cheese and yogurt are much easier to digest than plain milk, especially for many adults.

Babies who drink milk or formula too fast often vomit it up rather than try to digest it when it has not mixed with some saliva. Saliva can help greatly to digest milk sugar.

In addition, milk is high in calcium. Calcium is a needed mineral, of course, especially for babies. However, drinking too much of it at once tends to alkalinize the stomach. This is not healthful because the stomach is supposed to be quite acidic for proper digestion.

MILK AND BABIES

While there is much controversy over the nutritional wisdom of eating dairy when one is an adult, most agree that babies love milk, especially human milk.

Mother’s milk is by far the best for babies for dozens of reasons. I will just name a few, however, to make the point.

To begin with, it is uniquely made for human babies. A second reason is that it is free from harmful bacteria in most cases. When formula is made up, the purity of the water and even the container are unknown. This is a common source of infection among formula-fed babies.

A third reason is the nutritional content is far better than any formula, and much better than cow or goat or sheep milk as well. For more breastfeeding, an extremely important subject, see our article entitled Breastfeeding.

Alternatives to Breast Feeding. If mother’s milk is not available or is not tolerated well, a number of options exist. Here is a list of these, from best to worst. Please look at it carefully, because too many babies are immediately placed on store-bought formula which is about the worst alternative.

1. A Wet nurse is, by far, the best alternative to having one’s own mother’s milk, and may be better if for some reason the baby will not tolerate the mother’s milk. This could be due to the mother’s health, psychological condition or some other incompatibility.

For this reason, nursing mothers need to exercise care when taking vitamins or any medications, even over-the-counter drugs. Babies can be extremely sensitive to them. Always take the vitamins or medication at least two to three hours before starting breast feeding.

If the baby will not tolerate the mother’s milk for any reason, a wet nurse is an old idea that should be revived. Some nursing women have too much milk and would gladly help with another baby. The baby could feed at the breast or the milk can be expelled or pumped into a container. Even a little of this is wonderful.

2. Formulas: A meat-based formula is one option. It is best using lamb, for example, that is cooked, preferably boiled for a while and then shredded. This, however, is a lot of work and may not taste best, either.

Also, be sure with any bottle feeding not to warm the milk, either mother’s milk or other, in a microwave oven if possible. Use a pan with hot water in it and place the bottle in the water. This is not only much gentler. It will not burn the milk, or introduce plastic from a plastic bottle as much into the milk. Microwaves may also damage the nutrients in the milk.

For recipes for a meat-based or milk-based formula, see the book, Nourishing Traditions, 1999, by Sally Fallon. The formulas are excellent for many babies as far as we have seen.

3. Animal Milks. This is almost as good a the meat formula and much easier to prepare. Goat milk, preferably raw and certified, is often less allergenic, but organic cow milk, preferably raw and certified, is also superb for many babies. Always modify non-human milks for babies by adding fish or flaxseed oil and vitamins and minerals. The essential fatty acids contained in these oils are critical for a baby’s brain development.

4. Nut, seed or bean milks. These technically should not be called milks because they are not nearly as nutritious as real animal or human milk. However, at times they are needed if a baby has severe food allergies to animal milks.

The best is usually almond milk, followed by rice or soy milk. The best is home-made from organically grown, unprocessed ingredients with spring or distilled water.

Unless an emergency exists or nothing else will be tolerated, it is better to avoid soy milk altogether. It contains anti-nutrients and estrogen-like compounds that are hard to remove unless the soy is fermented. Even then, the protein is of lesser quality and the fat content is lacking.

Making Almond Milk. Soak almonds overnight and then grind them up or blend them into a drink. Grinding them and then adding water is probably slightly better than blending them, because grinding exposes them to a little less air. Then add a multi-vitamin/mineral for children and fish or flaxseed oil, at the very least. One could add other ingredients, as suggested in books such as Nourishing Traditions, referenced above.

Making Rice Milk. Cook rice for at least two hours and then add water for consistency. Add a multi-vitamin/mineral for children and fish or flaxseed oil, at the very least.

Soy milk is difficult to make correctly. Unfortunately, store-bought soy milk or other store-bought nut or seed milks are often made with poor quality water, added sugars and chemicals, may be old, and are often the least desirable. However, they are easiest if this is a prime consideration.

5. Grocery Or Drugstore Formula. The worst food for babies is often a drugstore formula that is loaded with sugar, artificial flavors, some powdered milk or milk substitute and comes in a can.

OTHER DAIRY PRODUCTS

All dairy products should be eaten in as natural and whole a state as possible. Organically raised animals are the best sources, where this is possible.

Eggs are sometimes considered a dairy product although they are from chickens, not dairy cows. They should also be naturally raised and allowed to run free. Some omega-3 eggs are excellent, while others are not fed as balanced a diet.

Cream And Butter. Whole milk separates if left standing for several hours or more. The liquid part is called milk and goes to the bottom. On top is the fat, which is called cream.

If the cream is whipped or churned for an hour at least, it changes form and becomes butter. This is actually an interesting chemical reaction.

Butter is very similar to cream, but is much harder at room temperature and can be more easily spread on foods like bread. Butter is not quite as healthful as the original cream because the chemical reaction needed to make it destroys a little of the cream’s beautiful structure.

Yogurt, Kefir And Other Fermented Dairy Products. Most native peoples know that fermenting their milk allows it to sit longer without going bad. It also can enhance the quality of the milk and make it easier to digest.

For adults, yogurt or kefir or similar products used in hundreds of cultures are generally the best way to take milk. They are much better than most cheeses in terms of digestability. They are also usually better than eating butter or cream.

Fermented dairy is far easier to digest for several reasons. The lactose and other sugars have been eaten up by the bacteria or yeast in the product. The yeast also assists the digestion of the product as well. This is why fermented dairy such as yogurt are the most recommended dairy products for most adults other than a little butter.

CHEESES

Cheese is made in special ways that change the properties of the milk substantially The process varies, but is basically the following:

It begins with heating the milk to above room temperature, but not to a boil. Then a “culture” is added to the milk. This consists of live yeast organisms in most cases, though it could be a different fungal strain or even a bacteria. In the warm milk the culture organisms grow fast. The product is left overnight, and sometimes for much longer.

The result is called curds and whey. Both are nutritionally rich. The curds are more solid and contain more protein. They are also far more difficult to digest without the whey. The other product, whey, is usually watery, richer in certain sugars and has a sweeter taste in most cases.

Cottage Cheese And Cream Cheeses More Healthful Than Most Others. The next step is to separate the curds from the whey. This is done traditionally by forcing the water out of the curds with a cheese press or squeezing the curds in a cheese cloth, a semi-permeable piece of cloth that only allows the whey to pass through.

If the process stops here, one gets what is called cottage cheese, named after people making simple cheese in their own homes. Among Italians, a fresh cheese that is healthful is called ricotta.

Aged Cheeses Harder To Digest. If cheese processing continues, the cheese is allowed to dry somewhat and usually is placed in molds to form its shape. Often the cheese is aged, which means it is left to settle for a number of days or longer. This product is called aged cheese and is usually harder in texture and also more difficult to digest.

However, cheese should be eaten in only small quantities by all adults because it is somewhat difficult to digest and utilize properly. Adults, however, lose the ability to digest the casein in many cases. This is in spite of the fact that the ferments or yeasts in the cheese do make it far easier to digest than just drinking regular milk. If it were made of raw, certified milk, which is hard to find today, it would be much easier to digest and would be a staple food.

As with milk, children up to the age of 10 and even through the teen years handle pasteurized cheeses better as a general rule, though today many are “allergic” to all dairy products.

Junk Cheeses. Most cheese today is mass-produced in huge batches and many shortcuts are taken to make it ferment faster. For instance, many chemicals may be added to it, it is not aged naturally and preservatives and other chemicals are added or sprayed on later to make it keep longer.

As a result, most cheese is close to junk food status, unfortunately. This is what your child is eating when he or she eats most pizza, for example, or most Mexican dishes. It is especially the case in restaurants, where cutting costs is the primary consideration, and not your health.

The worst cheese is called “cheese food” or “processed cheese”. Velveeta and Kraft make this fake food. Its ingredients don’t let you know that it may be made from rejected milk and other dairy products that cannot be sold fresh. Then many chemicals, colors, flavors and more, are added and even glue is added to give it “consistency”. This is not really a food, but it is what is served in some schools, many restaurants and even in fancy establishments as well.

Whey. The whey that remains when cheese is manufactured is also a very healthful product, especially for children. It is quite sweet and can be drunk like milk. It contains some sugars and certain immune globulins. For this reason, it is often freeze-dried or flash-dried and sold in health food stores as a food supplement.

However, whey is not the best source of protein, as some believe. We prefer egg protein and meat protein for most people.

MILK PROCESSING, THE SAD TRUTH ABOUT OUR MILKS

Milk in its whole, raw, certified healthful state is a wonderful food that literally can sustain an entire civilization. However, today most milk is highly processed and much less healthful as a result. Before we discuss this sad fact, one must also understand that cows today are not the same as those used 100 or even 50 years ago in most cases.

Hybridized Animals. This problem affects not only cows, but to some degree goats, chickens and all farm animals. However, cows have gone through the most breeding of all, as they are used in many ways.

Breeding of animal strains to obtain certain characteristics has gone on for decades, at least. It is not all bad because some strains of cattle are definitely superior for milking, for instance, as opposed to cattle raised for meat.

However, in the past few decades there has been a great effort to produce more milk from the same cow. This has led to the production of cattle that are not balanced hormonally. Such cows often have higher estrogen levels, for example, a chemical that is not healthful in excess and helps explain why modern people, especially those who drink a lot of pasteurized, homogenized milk, are taller than previous generations but not as strong.

Hybridization is rarely done to produce better nutritional quality of the milk. It is done for easier milking, greater production, easier impregnation of the cows or other reasons. Thus, over the years the overall quality of the milk has declined somewhat.

This is a problem with the entire food supply. Some day scientists with the right tools will reassess the food supply and we will return to the more nutritious breeds of cattle. However, this day is still quite far off, as best I can figure.

Pasteurized Milk. This process involves heating the milk to about 140° F. and keeping it there for a certain amount of time. This kills certain germs that thrive in milk.

All milk sold in most states must be pasteurized, enforced by state law. This was originally put in to prevent bovine tuberculosis or brucellosis from infecting human beings.

It was a good idea at the time. Now this concept has been extended and entrenched by certain dairy companies that want to control the milk market. As a result, most state legislatures have been conned into completely outlawing the best milk, called raw certified milk. This was always available along with pasteurized milk for 100 years, until more recently.

Banning raw, certified milk makes absolutely no sense, since it is the cleanest, freshest, healthiest milk on the planet. The cows or goats are inspected by the government, the farm must be rigorously checked by the government and the milk, at all steps of production, is the finest available.

For over 100 years, this was the only milk fed to babies and other children. Most adults preferred it, too. The only problem with it is that large dairies did not like the fact that independent milk producers could avoid their control of the milk market and milk price. The large dairies responded by buying up the very few state-approved pasteurization facilities in each state. Then they convinced a dull public and the state legislatures that raw, certified milk is “dangerous”. Today, all milk must go through one of the state pasteurizing facilities. The milk monopoly can control the price, which is their goal.

In truth is, pasteurized milk is far more dangerous to your health and well being. Pasteurization allows infected, second-rate milk from sick cows in some instances, to be “purified” of its germs so it can be sold. This is horrible, in fact, but is the case today. It is the main reason milk is not a better food today, along with hybridization of cows and our next topic, homogenization.

Changing the law to allow raw-certified milk to be sold would go a long way to restoring fine quality milk and would be a great blessing for America and other nations.

Since one can only buy pasteurized milk products, this is what we will deal with mainly in this article. However, if you can find raw-certified milk on the internet, for example, and you trust the source, it is far better quality than most pasteurized milk products.

Some pasteurized milk, however, is not all bad. The organic milk at the health food store, for instance, is often decent quality, as is some goat or sheep milk, even if pasteurized.

Homogenized Milk. This is another insult to our milk. It is far worse than pasteurization. It involves deep shaking of the milk to mix the larger cream particles with the milk so it won’t separate.

The shaking process causes cream to break into smaller particles. The problem is that these smaller particles can be directly absorbed into our bodies in the lymph channels and digestive system. This causes even more food allergies and may lead to deposition of the cream in arteries and elsewhere it does not belong. If possible, avoid homogenized milk at all cost. The same goes for cheese and other products made with homogenized milk.

Fortunately, cream is not homogenized, nor is most butter. Yogurt is often left unhomogenized and is either sold as low-fat without the cream, or the cream is on top. Both of these are far better than homogenized milk.

A Word About Margarine. Margarine, shortening, Crisco, non-dairy creamers and related products are often found in the dairy section of supermarkets. However, they bear little resemblance to real dairy products. They contain hardly any nutrients and many toxic substances.

Do not eat these unless you are starving to death and they are the only available foods. They are all quite harmful to our bodies. Despite scientific evidence regarding their harm, they are widely used in restaurants, in particular. They are also found in hundreds of prepared food items from peanut butter and eggs cooked in them, to almost all pastries, rolls and other baked goods.

For more on this subject, see the article on this website entitled Butter Versus Margarine.

MILK ADDITIVES

Another problem with milk are additives fed to the cows or chemicals that find their way into the milk, once it comes out of the cows. I will briefly review this large subject.

Cows in commercial farms are often large amounts of antibiotics. This is due to the need for them to prevent mastitis, or infected udders, and a number of other diseases that may affect the livestock. These antibiotics and perhaps other drugs find their way into the milk ad thus into the bodies of those who consume the products.

Hormones were used on cows to induce more milk production, including estrogens. Some may still be used, although some have been banned, as the milk was causing increased cancer rates in the mothers and children who drank the milk. This was a horror and we hope it has stopped.

Cows receive many vaccines today. All may contain mercury as a preservative, along with aluminum, formaldehyde and many other toxic chemicals. Although the amounts are small, these also accumulate and may be passed on in the milk.

All this drugging would be far less necessary if the cows were allowed to graze in the open. However, there is not enough land for this and it is “inefficient” according to some dairy “experts”. In fact, it is best and some organic farms do allow the cows to graze in the open air, a much healthier arrangement.

If you can find a dairy farm locally where you can see what the cows are fed and how they are treated, you will likely get far better dairy products in this way. The internet also offers diary by mail that comes from organic, open-air dairy farms. Unfortunately, the price will be higher as well, but it may well be worth the extra cost to obtain the best products possible.

Pesticides are often used on fields where cattle feed is grown. The feed used on cattle is usually corn and hay or other grasses. The corn is quite hybridized, heavily sprayed in most instances, and usually genetically modified today in America and some other nations. This also impacts the dairy products.

Once again, cows allowed to graze, even for part of their lives, will produce milk that is richer in many, many nutrients. Organic dairy products are also less likely to contain toxic chemical residues, although I believe all cows receive vaccines and may get other antibiotics as needed if they become ill. This is quite unavoidable, especially with hybrid cows that are often more sickly than older strains of cattle.

MILK PRODUCTS AND ADULTHOOD

Adults older than twenty or so should not drink large glasses of milk. It is too rich in certain items, including some fats, and even the sugar can be excessive. This can be felt by many adults who want to drink a lot of milk, but usually just don’t feel as well on it.

Many adults (and children, too) have a milk sensitivity or “allergy”. This can lead some to develop a milk addiction. View our article on Food Addictions for more information on this interesting topic.

The adult problem with most milks may or may not be due to the casein (milk protein) or lactose (milk sugar). However, it can be to other constituents of milk as well.

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