the milk controversy

the milk controversy

Okay… I’m traumatized. I was eating my dinner with my sis and suddenly she told me,”Did I tell you my teacher said that milk causes cancer?”

Stunned.

Milk causes cancer? Isn’t like supposed to be good for health, high in calcium and at the same time prevents osteoporosis?

Then she told me no. She said her teacher read in Time mag that a few reseachers found out that drinking milk will cause the environment in the body to be good for the growth of cancer cells. The more milk you drink the more prone to cancer u’ll be.

I just can’t believe it. I, for one, LOVE milk. When I feel like drinking something cooling, I’ll get milk. When I’m hungry at night, I’ll eat toast with milk. When I feel that I’m not drinking enough milk, I’ll drink milk.

So i decided to check up on the internet to see if it’s true that milk causes cancer.

Then I found this

“In 1977, The World Cancer Research Fund reported that milk may cause prostate cancer. Nobody noticed. This year, The Doctors study from Harvard Medical school showed that men who drink more than 4 glasses of milk per day are at higher risk for prostate cancer than those who drink less than that. The Harvard researchers explain that calcium in milk uses up vitamin D. Even though there is added vitamin D in milk, there is not enough vitamin D in milk to offset the loss of vitamin D caused by the calcium in milk. So regular milk drinkers have lower blood levels of vitamin D than those who do not drink milk. Lack of vitamin D causes cancer.“

this

“Cow milk contains the wrong proteins for human consumption. It is rich in proteins called caseins which are difficult for humans to digest. Cows have four stomachs so they don’t have a problem, but we do. These undigested proteins enter the lower intestines where they putrefy. This creates highly toxic by-products which poison us. Undigested proteins can also enter into systemic circulation, provoking allergic reactions. This is why milk is so highly allergenic. Dr. Frank Oski says that, “At least 50% of all children are allergic to dairy.” An even higher percentage of adults are allergic. Allergic reactions tax the immune system, and lower resistance to infection and other diseases. Cow milk is rich in calcium, but is a poor source of calcium. It can also cause calcium losses. Cow milk contains 1200 mg. of calcium per quart while human milk contains only 300 mg. However, an infant actually absorbs more calcium from a quart of human milk because the calcium in the cow milk is less bioavailable. While there is a lot of calcium in cow milk, there is also a lot of phosphorous. The calcium combines with the phosphorous in the digestive tract and prevents its absorption. In addition, cow milk is low in magnesium and magnesium is necessary for calcium metabolism. Calcium that is not properly metabolized ends up as kidney stones, gout, and atherosclerotic plaques.“

and this (which is a quite funny.. haha)

“Peter and I have worked together so closely over the years that I am not sure which one of us first said, ‘The Chinese don’t eat dairy produce’.” Recalling the slang name for breast cancer in China - “Rich women’s disease”, because “they’re people who eat Hong Kong food, things like ice cream and cheese”, provided further confirmation - as did her further foray into the science behind the epidemiology.

Hormones and chemicals in cow’s milk, designed to provoke the rapid early growth of infant cattle, she discovered, include insulin growth factor IGF-1, which causes cells to divide and reproduce - exactly the mechanism that occurs when tumours develop. There were small but significant studies proving the role of IGF-1 in the development of cancer - for instance, showing that pre-menopausal women with high levels of IGF-1 have a higher than average risk of breast cancer, as do dairy-eating vegetarians. “

but to counter the above… i chanced upon this

“The consumption of dietary IGF-1 plays no role in either inducing or promoting any human disease, nor does it cause malignant transformations of normal human breast cells… The suggestion that IGF-1 in milk can induce or promote breast cancer in humans or premature growth stimulation in infants is scientifically unfounded.“

and this

“Drinking milk daily will not cause cancer. A wide variety of factors are involved in the development of cancer. Some are related to family history, while others are related to lifestyle and diet. Avoiding smoking, eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and moderate amounts of red and processed meats, keeping body weight within the healthy range for height and keeping alcohol consumption to a moderate level, all help to reduce the risk of cancer.

Milk has been drunk and enjoyed by generations of children and forms an important part of their diet. Milk is the most nutritionally complete food, containing nearly all the constituents of nutritional importance to humans. It should not be excluded from the diet unless under the supervision of a health professional. A recent UK survey found that 25% of girls (aged 15-18 years) and young women have inadequate calcium intakes – a glass (200ml) of milk each day could make all the difference.“

Anyway I’m still gonna drink milk, but maybe not as much as before. Scaryyy. haha.

So I guess it all depends on the individual as to whether you wanna believe in THIS or THIS.

Oh back to my sis… she also said that eating GM (genetically modified) foods will also cause cancer in the long run. In time to come, all food will be GM because the chemicals that they insert for the food will be in the soil, and whatever food that uses that same soil is also partly GM. So GM will dominate the world in future and everyone will die earlier.

O_o

Yep… so much for our usual “dinner-table” talk. Haha.

On a side side note,

congrats to chris and continue to jia you… =)