Optimum Health

We were all brought up with the myth that "milk does a body good." This is why most parents believe that milk is a desirable and essential part of a child’s diet. But 70% of the world’s population doesn’t drink milk. The fact is mother nature never intended mammals to drink milk after weaning. In fact, in no mammalian species, except for a small percentage of humans, is milk consumption continued after weaning. In the words of Dr. Frank Oski, Director of Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, "No one should drink milk." Mother’s milk is actually a perfect food—for infants. The chemical composition of milk is uniquely designed for the infants of each species. Consumption by adult mammals or cross-feeding to other mammals is a bad idea. Feeding elephant milk to cats, mouse milk to giraffes, or cow milk to humans will damage health. Cow milk is a major contributor to our chronic disease problems. When people stop consuming dairy—health improves. The reason for this is that the sugar, fat, protein, and minerals in cow’s milk are not appropriate for human consumption. In addition, virtually all milk is pasteurized which further changes the chemistry of the milk and makes it even more damaging.

Milk contains a sugar, called lactose, which is found only in milk. Mammals are born with the ability to make an enzyme, called lactase, which digests the lactose. All mammals, including the majority of humans, lose the ability to make this enzyme after weaning. Without this enzyme, consuming milk causes numerous medical problems ranging from mild to serious. Many people have this problem without knowing it. I have met people who wonder why they have so much gas after drinking milk. Most likely they are lactase deficient. Milk is contaminated with low-level residues of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, sulfa drugs, dioxin, PCBs, and other chemicals. According to the USDA, "No milk available on the market today, in any part of the U.S., is free of pesticide residues." These chemical residues can bioaccumulate in our tissues and eventually reach concentrations where they cause birth defects, cancer, and other problems. About 80% of the average person’s pesticide load comes from consuming meat and dairy. One example of what happens after years of this bioaccumulation was cited by John Robbins in Diet for a New America. Robbins noted that the milk of most American mothers who are breast feeding is so contaminated with PCBs, dioxin, and various pesticides that, "…it would be subject to confiscation and destruction by the FDA were it to be sold across state lines." These chemicals store in the mother’s fat which is then used to make the mother’s milk. Robbins goes on to say, "The EPA has concluded that the average American breast-fed infant ingests nine times the permissible level of dieldrin, one of the most potent of all cancer causing agents known to modern science." It shouldn’t be a surprise that cancer has become the leading cause of death for children under the age of fourteen. All this is happening because of the mother’s bioaccumulation of toxins from her own consumption of meat and dairy.

Milk is also contaminated with viruses and bacteria. Government regulations state that after pasteurization milk should contain no more than 20,000 bacteria per milliliter. A study done by Consumer Reports found that seven out of twenty-five milk samples had in excess of 130,000 bacteria per milliliter. One sample had almost three million, and others had too many to count. Exposing yourself to this level of bacterial contamination is not a good idea. A host of infectious diseases have been traced to consumption of pasteurized milk. In addition, you may be putting an unnecessary and injurious load on your immune system.

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.

Another problem is that cow milk is high in protein which metabolizes to strong acids. These strong acids could harm us, so the body uses calcium to neutralize them, thus robbing bones of calcium and causing calcium losses. The U.S. has only 4% of the world’s population but it consumes more dairy than the other 96% combined. If milk was good for our bones, we would have the strongest bones in the world. Instead we have one of the highest osteoporosis rates in the world. The countries with the highest dairy consumption have the most osteoporosis. Vegetables like broccoli, chard, and kale are rich sources of calcium. We need to get our calcium the same place cows get theirs—from plants.

Milk contains too much fat. Fifty percent of the calories in milk come from fat, 60% of which is saturated. Children as young as two and three already have early signs of atherosclerosis because of excessive fat intake, and heart disease is our number one cause of death.

Pasteurizing milk adds additional health risks by changing the entire physio-chemical state of the milk. For instance, pasteurization reduces the bioavailability of milk’s calcium by 50 percent. Enzymes are deactivated. The structure of protein molecules is changed. The milk chemistry is substantially altered so that when pasteurized milk is fed to calves, for which it was intended as a perfect food, all the calves die within two months. Experiments feeding pasteurized dairy to cats, mice, rats, and calves all had the same result. The animals get sick and die. If pasteurized milk kills all these animals, why do we think it’s good for us?

Milk consumption is clearly connected to a variety of diseases. One is iron-deficiency anemia in infants. According to Dr. Frank Oski in Don’t Drink Your Milk, about 20% of all children under the age of two suffer from iron-deficiency anemia. In about half of these cases, an allergy to milk causes intestinal bleeding leading to loss of iron and anemia. Ear infections are another problem. Most ear infections can be prevented by removing dairy from a child’s diet. Multiple sclerosis has a striking correlation with the amount of milk consumed. Juvenile delinquents were found to consume ten times more dairy than other adolescents of similar age and background. Diabetes, kidney disease, eczema, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, appendicitis, streptococcal infections, leukemia, Lou Gehrig’s disease, colds, flu, enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and ovarian cancer also have strong connections to milk consumption.

According to the American Journal of Epidemiology, ovarian cancer is highest in those countries with the highest dairy consumption. Cottage cheese and yogurt appear to be the worst offenders because their dairy sugars have been pre-digested into a sugar called galactose, which is thought to be instrumental for this cancer.

In conclusion, there is little scientific evidence that cow’s milk is of much nutritional benefit to humans, while there is ample evidence that it causes disease. Infants should be breast fed for more than a year. After that, milk is unnecessary. Cow milk and its products should be avoided by children and adults alike, and especially by potential mothers.

‘Homo carnivorous’

There is no doubt whatsoever that we cannot be a vegetarian species. From at least the time that Homo erectus appeared in the cold Eurasian continent some 500,000 years ago, we must have lived on and adapted to a diet almost exclusively of meat.

All this evidence points to our being pure carnivores, as are the big cats. However, we are a remarkably successful species. It is unlikely that we would have been quite so successful if we had been forced to rely on only one source of food. It is obvious from archaeological remains that we tended to be more opportunist eaters. We hunted and ate meat primarily but, if meat was in short supply, we would eat almost anything — so long as it did not require cooking. This still precluded some of the roots and most of the legumes and cereals that we eat today. When meat was in short supply, we got our protein from nuts and ate fruits and berries. During our evolution, therefore, when we lived well, our diet was high in protein and fat: during lean times it was richer in carbohydrates.

So, our ideal diet, the one we evolved and adapted to, must also be one which is high in proteins and fats, and low in carbohydrates.

Read the whole article;  The Naive Vegetarian

From the Weston Price Foundation- The Myths of Vegetarianism

From HealthAssistBlog

If you actually want to say "goodbye" to your belly, you should take a lesson from the French.

Despite a diet stuffed with cream, butter, cheese and meat, just 11 percent of French adults are obese[3], compared with America’s 33 percent[2]. The French live longer too, and have lower death rates from coronary heart disease. They don’t diet and they don’t spend hours panting round the gym.

Here are several solutions for the notorious “French paradox” – the riddle of how a nation of alcohol-quaffing, croissant-munching gourmands stays healthy and slim, while a disproportionate number of health-obsessed Americans are obese and at cardiovascular risk.

1 Food for pleasure – savor the flavor

Joy is a wonderful anti-aging remedy, isn’t it? French enjoy and savor their food, they are are more gourmets than gluttons. They tend to taste foods individually rather than piling a number of foods on the fork at once.

Americans have a different relationship with food that often excludes joy and pleasure and makes us eat more. It is quite common to observe how people gulp down hamburgers and fries while typing on their laptops, driving the car, talking on cell phones, reading the newspaper or watching TV. Unlike a majority of Americans, French are eating until they are sufficed, not stuffed.

The unhurried approach to eating extends even to France’s Big Mac generation. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found ‘from observations in McDonald’s[4], that the French take longer to eat than Americans.’

In an international study[1], populations were surveyed with questions dealing with beliefs about the dietЦhealth link, their concerns about food, and many other items. The group associating food most with health and least with pleasure was the Americans, and the group most pleasure-oriented and least health-oriented was the French.

2 Small portion size

Size does matter. If food is moderately palatable, people tend to consume what is put in front of them and generally consume more when offered more food.

Partly, the French paradox can be explained by the fact that French portion sizes are notably smaller than American portions. And although the French diet is rich in butter, cream, pastry and cheese, the research demonstrates they consume fewer calories, resulting in decreased number of overweight and obese people.

For example, the standard size individual portion of yogurt in France is 125 grams; the standard size in America – 225 grams. A joint French-American team of scientists from France’s CNRS (national scientific research institute) and the University of Pennsylvania set out to test their hypothesis that the French eat less and a smaller portions, compared with Americans. Researchers weighed portions at 11 similar restaurants in Paris and Philadelphia and found that:

• The average portion size in Paris was 25 percent smaller than in Philadelphia (277 grams versus 346 grams).
• Chinese restaurants in Philadelphia served dishes that were 72 percent larger than in Parisian Chinese food restaurants.
• A candy bar in Philadelphia was 41 percent larger than the same candy bar in Paris.
• A soft drink was 53 percent larger and a hot dog was 63 percent larger in Philadelphia than in France.

3 Red wine

France produces more wine than any other country, only Italy is close. The French habit of moderate red wine drinking with a meal is probably the most known French paradox contributor[5]. Indeed, Louis Pasteur (a French chemist and microbiologist), said: “Wine is the healthiest and most hygienic of drinks.” It is well established now that moderate alcohol drinkers live longer than abstainers or heavy drinkers.

Antioxidants called flavonoids, natural chemical compounds found in red wine, may promote health benefits to the heart and blood vessels. Red grapes are one of the richest sources of flavonoids, which may make red wine more heart-healthy than white wine, beer, or other spirits. However, research indicates that red grape juice is markedly less potent than wine in conferring health benefits. It is suggested that something in the winemaking process changes the polyphenols’ properties.

4 French tend to aim for food quality over quantity

Surely, most French people do not go to the markets every day and lots of people actually buy their foodstuff in supermarkets. However, open-air markets are very popular in France, and it is customary for people to buy their produce there. It is common for French to buy cheese from the fromagerie, bread from the bakery, meat from the boucherie, and fruits and vegetables from the open-air market. It is more time-consuming and sometimes more expensive than at the grocery store, but the products are fresher and of better quality.

Frozen sections in American grocery stores are much bigger than in France. The market for prepared food is not as large in France and TV dinners do not reside in French diet also. In the US open-air markets, butchers and bakeries are not common, and most Americans simply have no alternative to a grocery store.

5 Home-cooking tradition

Regardless of their social background, the French cook more than the Americans. French food is real food – prepared in the kitchen, with time taken to choose, buy and prepare meals. Home cooking provides a better control of food, and reduces preservatives, trans fat, sugar and salt consumption.

6 “No snacking” habit

Americans who snack on sweets and refined carbohydrates raise their glycemic load and, in turn, their risk of heart disease. The French tend to snack much less than Americans, instead, they try to eat more regularly. If they do snack, the French often choose fresh fruits between meals.

7 Water vs sodas

Beverage preferences also come into play. French drink a lot of bottled water instead of sodas.

According to the statistics[6], French consume on average 52 litres of soft drinks per person annually compared with 216 litres per person in the United States. On the other hand the intake of bottled water is very high in France (147 litres per person) and low in the US (46.8 litres per person)[7].

8 Walking – naturally active life

The French arenТt prone to rushing to the gym, however they are more physically active by simply walking a lot. Daily walking is part of French people lifestyle. Their streets are much more walker friendly than in the US and are full of pedestrians, because many people use cars only for longer travels. People, especially in cities, walk or use public transportation. They have to climb the long flights of metro stairs.

9 Self-discipline

It’s true that the French deny themselves very little when it comes to food. But they also eat very little of it: a piece of dark chocolate after a meal, as opposed to a large piece (or two) of cake. They know that denial isn’t healthy, but it has to be moderated.

The French have a culture of caution after a period of excess. Eating more one day makes them be more careful the next. Thay would rather trade off with a few lighter meals, than dieting.

So the French paradox is more than just the protective nature of the red wine or lower intake of calories. Most probably itТs a culture of being physically active, savoring reasonable portions of healthy foods with the addition of small amounts of high-fat foods for flavor, and a philosophy of balance and moderation. And I try to follow this philosophy to stay slender and healthy for as long as I can.