Milk - lifeblood or poison in the glass?

Milk headlines can teach one to fear: "A glass of milk can be deadly" or "milk promotes cancer". Is that true? A fact check. In the past, milk made "tired men wake up". A chubby boy on the chocolate fought for the extra portion of milk. Grandma offered her grandchildren a glass of milk - that was good for the bones.

Milk - lifeblood or poison in the glass?

Milk headlines can teach one to fear: "A glass of milk can be deadly" or "milk promotes cancer". Is that true? A fact check.

In the past, milk made "tired men wake up". A chubby boy on the chocolate fought for the extra portion of milk. Grandma offered her grandchildren a glass of milk - that was good for the bones. But anyone who researches the topic of milk on the Internet today is gripped by the scare: headlines such as "A glass of milk can be deadly", "Milk leads to osteoporosis" or "Six good arguments for avoiding milk".

Milk opponents associate the white drink with common diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes or stroke and heart attack. But what do the scientific facts say? Is it really better to do without milk, cheese, yoghurt and Co.?

After a sound answer to this question, the Competence Center for Nutrition, short KErn, has been looking for. Almost 400 scientific studies on the subject of milk have been evaluated and summarized by nutritionists.

Question 1: Cancer by milk?

Probably the biggest terror spreads the idea that milk can cause cancer. Large studies that have investigated this are mainly for colorectal cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. For example, these cancers were scrutinized in the EPIC study, which collected data from a total of 500,000 participants in Western Europe.

Overall, these studies show that neither the risk of colorectal cancer nor the risk of breast cancer increases as a result of the consumption of milk and dairy products. On the contrary, some studies even suggest that milk has a protective effect on these two types of cancer.

Why milk can protect against cancer, the scientists can not yet explain exactly. They suspect that a whole range of milk constituents could be involved in cancer defense. Above all, the calcium. Because the mineral activates the programmed cell death, the so-called apoptosis. This is a natural defense mechanism that causes degenerate cells to die off rather than grow into tumors. The EPIC study concludes that a daily calcium intake of 300 milligrams reduces the risk of colorectal cancer. To do this you must consume 150 milliliters of milk, 200 grams of yogurt or 30 grams of hard cheese.

Other anti-cancer substances in the milk may be the polyunsaturated fatty acids. They stop inflammatory processes. Milk proteins, such as casein peptides, also promote defense mechanisms. According to the 2012 Nutrition Report, one glass of milk (200 milliliters) a day is enough to produce a measurable positive effect.

Question 2: Are men at risk?

In prostate cancer, however, the protective effect fails. Here are some studies suggest that a lot of milk, more than a liter per day, could easily increase the risk of illness. Depending on the study by seven to 14 percent. The effect of skimmed milk seems to be higher than that of whole milk. Paradoxically, calcium may also be in the milk behind this phenomenon. Researchers from the Wake Forest University of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin showed in a study that men with elevated levels of calcium in the blood were three times more likely to contract prostate cancer.

"Men who have prostate cancer cases in close relationship should not exceed the recommendations of the German Nutrition Society of about 300 grams of milk per day," advises Professor Bernhard Watzl, director of the Max Rubner Institute, the Federal Research Institute for Food and Nutrition the study participated.

Question 3: Does milk make the bones crumbly?

One of the most important positive attributes attributed to milk is that it makes you big and strong. And that refers especially to the bones. But is that true? Critical voices claim that those who drink a lot of milk tend to get osteoporosis or break something.

In fact, individual studies show that in western industrialized countries, where a lot of milk and dairy products are consumed, more people get osteoporosis. However, other risk factors probably play a role here: People in these countries move less and consume more alcohol and cigarettes.

In addition, as a couch potato they get less sunlight and thus produce less vitamin D, which plays an important role in bone stability. In fact, the scientists were unable to establish a clear link between milk enjoyment and the risk of osteoporosis or fracture.

The fact is, those who drink a lot of milk can increase their bone density. This is especially true for children, adolescents and young adults. From the age of 30 to 35, the bone density begins to decrease again. Anyone who has stabilized his skeleton by then has advanced, if not taken care of, his or her age.Many other factors can accelerate bone loss later.

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    unknown territory

    NEULAND is a quality meat program under the control of the German Animal Welfare Association, which is the only one officially designated as "particularly appropriate to the species" and may advertise. The program attaches particular importance to the quality of the meat and the welfare of the animals.

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Question 4: Does mucous mucous tissue and bowel?

Milk opponents also warn against mucus from the white drink. Especially in asthma patients, this could aggravate the symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that milk proteins are deposited on the intestinal villi, thus affecting the absorption of nutrients. "Scientifically sound these statements are not," write the experts of the KErn.

But where does this prejudice come from? Milk is chemically nothing more than an oil-in-water emulsion, which is stabilized by proteins. If it comes in contact with the saliva in the mouth, it may be that some proteins are flocculating. This increases the viscosity of the saliva. This could mistakenly be confused with increased mucus production, believe the KErn authors.

Question 5: Allergy case milk?

Many abstain from dairy products for fear of allergies. "The allergy to cow's milk is not to be confused with the lactose intolerance," says Watzl. A true allergy to cow's milk proteins, which leads to an overreaction of the immune system, is rather rare. Between 0.5% and 7% of children and between 0.7% and 1.2% of adults are affected.

"In contrast, the lactose intolerance is a harmless intolerance to lactose," explains Watzl. It occurs in 10 to 15 percent of adults. Small amounts of lactose are usually tolerated anyway. Ripened cheese, for example, can be eaten by people who only consume small amounts of lactose.

Question 6: Where does the image damage come from?

The question remains, how the milk came from the white vest to the bad image. One reason for this is certainly the inconsistent study situation - which affects not only milk, but also other foods. This is partly because milk, fish or coffee are complex chemical entities that, unlike a drug, never have the exact same composition. In addition, the data are usually based on rough assessments of the subjects themselves, how much they have eaten from - another source of error.

And unlike drug trials, where participants are under long-term clinical observation, food studies can be falsified by many other factors that are quickly overlooked. Already one has a colorful collection of contradictory results. Only large overview studies bring clarity then - as happened here.

Opposed to this is the tendency of people to make legends: "Behind the mistrust of milk are certain ideologies and very subjective, individual assessments," Watzl suspects. In the age of the Internet, they spread rapidly.

Conclusion: acquittal for the milk

Scientifically proven data does not seem to exist for the danger of milk consumption - even for ideas that associate milk with cardiovascular risk or diabetes. In one quarter of the world's countries, there are still clear recommendations for milk.

On average, we cover about half of our calcium needs through milk and dairy products. After all, it is still a good quarter for vitamins B2 and B12. And then there are zinc and iodine in the cow product. Grandma was right: milk is obviously one thing above all: pretty healthy.

Milk - lifeblood or poison in the glass?

FAQ - 💬

👉 Milk is indeed a white poison. Milks are categorized into 2 types, A1 and A2. And A1 is found to be harmful to humans which may lead to cancer, diabetes etc. But despite being harmful 90% of consumer milk is A1 type. A2 are much more healthier and nutritous than A1 milk.

👉 They collect the milk and bring it back to Lifeblood’s Sydney or Brisbane Processing Centres in special eskies. If the mum is donating for the first time, the Donor Coordinators also take a small sample of their blood for health tests. Every bag of milk that’s donated is weighed, labelled and entered into our computer system.

👉 So there’s the answer… by drinking milk, you not only dilute the detergent (or other poison), you overwhelm the lactase enzymes, allowing your stomach’s hydrochloric acid to curdle the milk, which coats your stomach and intestines, slowing down the rate with which your body absorbs the poison. So why not just induce vomiting?

👉 Research indicates that one bovine protein in milk destroys theinsulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, causing diabetes. Sixty Percent of America's dairy cows have leukemia virus. Is it wise to eat the flesh or drink body fluids from diseased animals?


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