Dairy products can contribute to heart disease
• Whole milk dairy products are very high in cholesteroI'. Your body does not need all of this cholesterol because the liver is designed to make it for you. When you combine the large amount of cholesterol that whole milk has with the large amount of sugar (lactose) that whole milk has, your body responds by absorbing the fats and cholesterol into the bloodstream. This causes plaque' to form on the artery walls and occlusions of these arteries begin to form.
• For many years whole milk was the only milk that was available to the public. Now you have your choice of whole, 2%, 1%, and skim. The lower fat milks did not sell very well until the American Heart Association went public with the information abotit the link between the high cholesterol and heart disease. More and more people are drinking the lower fat milk however heart disease is still at an all time high. Research now shows that the lack of B vitamins in low-fat milk causes a problem in protein metabolism. Low—fat milk has a substantial amount of protein that has to be metabolized in the absence of B vitamins. When protein is metabolized this may it forms homocystein. Nomocystein is an amino acid used by the body in cellular metabolism and in the manufacturing of proteins. Elevated concentrations in the blood increase the risk for heart disease by damaging the lining of the blood vessels and enhancing blood clotting.
• When milk is homogenized (a process that breaks up the fat and cholesterol so that it is in small clusters) the saturated fat and cholesterol absorb more readily into the blood stream and cause the risk of heart disease to go up.
Dairy products cause digestive problems
• When we are born we have a significant amount of lactase ( the enzyme that is needed to break down the milk sugar lactose) present in the small intestine. This enzyme is there because we need it to break down the lactose in our mother’s breast milk. Around the age of 2-4 we start to lose the enzymes because we are not supposed to be consuming milk beyond that age. If you think about it, humans are the only species on the planet that consumes milk beyond infancy. When you continue to consume dairy products after the enzymes are no longer present your body will respond by bloating, cramping, and forming intestinal gas. Long term consumption can cause inflammatory bowl diseases, leaky gut syndrome, and allergies.
• Mycoparatuberculosis bacterium is an organism found in dairy products that has been linked to Chrohn’s disease. Chrohn’s disease is an auto immune disease that attacks the intestinal walls and makes proper digestion almost impossible.
Dairy products cause osteoporosis
• Dairy products have always been advertised as food that helps to build strong bones because of their high calcium content. These advertisements could not be further from the truth. It is true that milk is a high source of calcium, but at the same time it is not a good source of calcium. When the high amount of calcium in milk is consumed along with the massive amount of protein in milk you end up with calcium that you can’t use. The proteins are broken down and they enter the blood stream as amino acids which cause the blood to become acidic. Maintaining the proper pH level in the blood is not just important to the body, it is life threatening if it is not done immediately. So your body will use the calcium that it gets from the milk as well as pull some fro in the bones to form calcium bicarbonate which is used to buffer (balance) the blood pH. As a result of this buffering process very little calcium is absorbed and used from the dairy products that you consume.
' Cholesterol: a substance normally synthesized by the liver and is important as a constituent of cell membranes and a precursor to steroid hormones. Its level in the blood stream can influence certain conditions, such as astherosclerotic plaque and coronary artery disease
Plaque: a deposit of fatty material on the inner lining of an arterial wall