This question interests me because diet interests me. I believe the fuel that is used for the human body is going to affect the performance of the human body. Using the wrong type of fuel for a car will affect its performance significantly. People do not use diesel for cars requiring unleaded conventional gasoline. The same concept applies to diet. Certain foods have certain impacts on the human body, and I personally believe cow's milk is not intended for human consumption; cow's milk is intended for a calf's consumption. In my own experience, when I have avoided dairy and meat completely, I have felt better. I slept better; my joints felt healthier; I had no indigestion; I felt more alert; my skin cleared up; and I thought more clearly. I believe that my diet heavily affects my physical and mental health. I also believe that human beings were not made to consume animal products. In this research, I will be examining dairy and its affects on human health rather than animal products as a whole. In my high school senior project I performed research on this topic and how my health is affected by my diet. I am not an expert on the subject, but I know where I can find the opinions of experts and empirical data to back up their (and my) claims. 

In "Should Dairy Be Recommended As Part Of A Healthy Vegetarian Diet?" Amy Joy Lanou describes milk as unnecessary for human consumption. Although dairy is highly recommended in the Western world, dairy should cease consumption upon weaning. Milk is mostly consumed for calcium, but only about 30% of the calcium in dairy is absorbed. Lanou cites a study on calcium intake to prevent bone fracture. The study concludes dietary calcium is not likely to decrease bone fracture incidence. 

Lanou's values are against consuming milk at the stake of people's health. She is directly addressing the health of vegetarians, but dairy consumption in regards to health can be applied to a much larger scope. The data and claims presented in this article apply to vegetarians and meat consumers alike. Lanou's interest is in healthier people, but the dairy industry's interest is in making money. In a consumerist society, dairy producers push their product and showcase how beneficial it is in order to make money. If Lanou succeeds, people are healthier and dairy companies lose money. 

Lanou has a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition. She is a professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Her research is primarily on plant based diets and chronic disease risk reduction. She may have a partial bias because of her research focus, but the amount of bias is completely negligible. In Should Dairy Be Recommended As Part Of A Healthy Vegetarian Diet?, she cites 71 references that support her claims. She also does nothing to invoke an emotional response. Her argument is purely logical. 

"Forks Over Knives" is a documentary film directed by Lee Fulkerson that features the work of T. Colin Campbell. Campbell is a researcher that focuses on the effects of diet on human health. One of Campbell's major claims is that casein, the primary protein in milk, is a carcinogen. Essentially, milk causes cancer. This is evident in the experiment Campbell performed on rats presented in "Forks Over Knives." He induced early cancer growth in rat livers, and then fed two different groups of rats diets containing 5% and 20% casein. The rats with the 5% showed no cancer growth; the rats with 20% had rapid cancer growth. He took the study further and alternated the diet in a single group of rats fron 5% to 20%. When fed 20% casein the rats experienced tumor growth, but when fed 5% cancer growth actually went down. The data behind this study is invaluable for my research topic showing that dairy is detrimental to human health. 

Campbell eats a whole foods plant-based diet. He does not appear to have an agenda to destroy the dairy industry, but rather an agenda to save people's lives. Bias could be present, but in a situation where something promoted by the government is causing cancer growth in laboratory rats, bias may be warranted. Campbell falls in the same group as Lanou. The dairy industry has money to lose, but Campbell has a healthier human population to gain. 

Campbell is a leader in the forefront of nutrition. He was trained at Cornell University in nutrition, biochemistry, and toxicology. He has authored over 300 published works. Campbell is extremely credible. 

Based on the two sources listed above, the problem is dairy's effect on human health. My research project will focus mostly on the effects of dairy on the individual. I have a prospective source regarding the environmental impact of animals on the environment. Whether or not I use that source depends on how well my argument sits with the current information. If dairy farming negatively impacts both human and environmental health, my argument will only be strengthened. 

