Dairy part 3: What's in that glass?

From Wikipedia: "Milk is an emulsion or colloid of butterfat globules within a water-based fluid. Each fat globule is surrounded by a membrane consisting of phospholipids and proteins; these emulsifiers keep the individual globules from joining together into noticeable grains of butterfat and also protect the globules from the fat-digesting activity of enzymes found in the fluid portion of the milk."

Mmmm... Fat globules. Sounds delicious.

Simply put, milk is a white, opaque liquid produced in the mammary glands of female mammals for their newborn offspring. Each species of mammal's milk is different, and rightfully so. A cow most certainly does not have the same nutritional requirements as a cat, a dog, or even a human, and as such, milk is tailored to each individual newborn.

Take your average Holstein cow, for example. At birth, she will weigh about 55 pounds, and during the next three months (most calves will be weaned at this time), she will put on 195 more pounds for a total of 250 pounds. Compare that to a human child who weighs an average of six pounds at birth and puts on a mere 7 more pounds during the first three months of life.

Let me just emphasize this one more time: Cow milk is perfectly designed to bring a newborn 55-pound calf into a hefty 250-pound three-month-old. Human milk, six pounds to a healthy thirteen. Once we are weaned from our mothers, we have absolutely no more need for milk, and in fact, two thirds of the world cannot drink milk after infancy.

Moving on.

So, fat globules, protein, calcium, lactose... What else is there?

Hormones

Cows, when left alone, naturally produce about sixteen pounds of milk a day. However, with the help of hormone injections (such as recombinant bovine somatotropin or rBST), that production has increased to 50 pounds per day. Not only does this significantly shorten the life of the cow (the other culprit being the need to be frequently impregnated to keep up the milk production), but all of the added hormones may also be adversely affecting your health. More research needs to be done, but the hormones in milk are linked to obesity, early pubescence in girls, cancer, and endocrine disorders such as diabetes or hypothyroidism.

rBST also raises the levels of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), a protein hormone that is identical in cows and humans. Although it occurs naturally in humans, new research (such as the Harvard-based Nurses' Health study) suggests that elevated levels of this hormone are associated with breast, colon, and prostate cancers.

In the European Union and Canada, the use of injected hormones is illegal, but yet absurdly enough, our FDA continues to give them a thumbs up.

If you think buying organic milk or other milks free of added hormones, do not fall into the trap of thinking they will be hormone free. This simply is not the case. All milks have naturally occurring hormones, and these are still a significant threat to your health.

http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/11-dairy.html


Feces

Cow feces are perfectly allowable in milk. Why? It is simply too hard to keep the manure out of the milk. Feces are full of nasty bacteria, and while pasteurization may take care of some of the them, occasionally there are contaminations which result in food poisoning from e.coli, salmonella, etc. Never drink raw milk. It is very unsafe.

Blood

From McGill University: "Mastitis (Mast: breast, itis: inflammation) is defined as an inflammatory reaction of udder tissue to bacterial, chemical, thermal or mechanical injury. Mastitis may be infectious caused by microbial organisms or noninfectious resulting from physical injury to the gland. The inflammatory response consists of an increase in blood proteins and white blood cells in the mammary tissue and the milk.

Contagious mastitis can be divided into three groups:
1- Clinical mastitis
2- Sub-clinical mastitis
3- Chronic mastitis
1- Clinical mastitis
Characterized by the presence of gross inflammation signs (swelling, heat, redness,
pains). Three types of clinical mastitis exist.

1.1- Peracute mastitis
Characterized by gross inflammation, disrupted functions (reduction in milk yield,
changes in milk composition) and systemic signs (fever, depression, shivering, loss of
appetite and loss of weight).
1.2- Acute mastitis
Similar to percute mastitis, but with lesser systemic signs (fever and mild depression).
1.3- Sub-acute mastitis
In this type of mastitis, the mammary gland inflammation signs are minimal and no
visible systemic signs.
2- Sub-clinical mastitis
This form of mastitis is characterized by change in milk composition with no signs of
gross inflammation or milk abnormalities. Changes in milk composition can be detected
by special diagnostic tests (see below).
3-Chronic mastitis
An inflammatory process that exists for months, and may continue from one lactation to
another. Chronic mastitis for the most part exist as sub-clinical but may exhibit
periodical flare-ups sub-acute or acute form, which last for a short period of time.

Only relatively few udder infections result in “clinical mastitis” in which the udder is noted to be abnormal and the quality of milk secreted is altered. The vast majority of mastitis are “subclinical."'

This means the majority of mastitis goes unnoticed, and therefore the white blood cells (pus) end up in your glass of milk (and other dairy products). Not only is this pus in your glass, but so are residues from the antibiotics used to treat mastitis. In humans, this can cause severe allergic reactions and microorganisms to become resistant, therefore making antibiotics ineffective when needed to treat infections. Even now, scientists are having a hard time battling these mutating, antibiotic resistant microorganisms.

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=9D808AD46A08242F93EF689273BE068F.tomcat1?fromPage=online&aid=313045
http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/biosynthesis.html
http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/abstract/159/9/1129

Fat globules. Feces. Blood. Antibiotics. Hormones.

Got milk?