Humans are the only species to drink milk after infancy, let alone the only species to drink another animals milk. As an infant, milk is an essential part of life. Infants start off only drinking breast milk but as children grow majority of parents give their children cows milk. Some continue drinking throughout life and some decide they don’t like it and stop drinking it. Everyone always says how good milk is for you, that it has such great health benefits. Therefor I decided to do some research to back up the, what I have now found to be, myth. The negatives of milk outweigh the good, and all the good can be found in many other things. 

There are an abundance of alternative milk, being almond milk, soy milk, and coconut milk. These milks are very popular amongst those with milk allergies and vegans. “Fortified Almond milk contains as much calcium and vitamin D as dairy milk” (Douglas). Many people are drinking milk for the vitamins and calcium so if almond milk is better for you it is an easy switch.  “It is also rich in other vitamins and minerals, including potassium, manganese, magnesium, vitamin E, copper and selenium” (Douglas). A major benefit of Almond milk is that it is very low in cholesterol and saturated fats unlike dairy milk. Almond milk has the least amount of calories compared to all other non-dairy milks, and exceptionally fewer than dairy milk. Contrary to previous information milk is still very rich in nutrients. “Dairy foods may offer better bioavailability of its nutrients than plant foods” (Douglas). Even families with dairy allergies are recommended by doctors to try and fit dairy into their diet. This is because it isn’t plant bases where almond milk is. 

Soy milk is another alternative, it was the first non-dairy milk offered to consumers. Soy milk is very popular amongst Americans. Recently though there has been evidence proving that soy milk has high amounts of phytoestrogens. They are, “plant based versions of hormone estrogen” (Douglas). But this has been found to lead to breast cancer. Another thing about alternative milks is the costs. They are somewhat higher than dairy milk, but some would say the price is worth it. 

A glass of milk can contain up to twenty chemicals in it. The word pasteurized means “dead food”. Finding out these things was very shocking to find out. How does milk get so many chemicals in it? The chemicals can get into the milk by an antibiotic or growth promoter administered to the cattle, some drugs in the cattle feed, and some from run off consumed by the cattle. Some of the chemicals include “traces of anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, antibiotics, and various painkillers — all of which are routinely used to treat disease in animals and humans.” Some of these amongst others have been shown to cause illnesses and even cancer. 

Recent scientific studies have been done tracing milk to cancer. It is proven to increase the risk of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. “Those who consume two glasses of milk a day are thirty percent more like to get prostate cancer” (Chan). You can find high traces of IGF-1 in milk. IGF-1 is insulin like growth factor and this is a stimulus for cancer cell growth.  Regularly consuming milk and dairy have been proven to lead to increased levels of IGF-1. “One study showed that men with the highest levels of IGF-1 had more than four times the risk of prostate cancer, compared with those who had the lowest levels.” “In a large study including 1,893 women from the Life After Cancer Epidemiology Study who had been diagnosed with early-stage invasive breast cancer, higher amounts of high-fat dairy product consumption were associated with higher mortality rates.”  Finding out milk could play a role in getting cancer makes milk lesser of a beverage. 

Milk has always displayed as this great healthy thing. Everyone thinks milk is so great for your bones, but really has little to no effect. Dairy products have always been known to support bone health, but scientific evidence questions that. Research has shown that milk has little to no benefits on bones. There was a study done that showed milk did not prevent stress fractures in young girls. Bone health can be better supported by other things. Other things such as eating fruits and vegetables, exercise, reducing sodium intake, and taking vitamins. There is nothing in milk that you can’t get somewhere else. Maybe not all in the same place but it is doable. 

Some people truly can’t drink dairy milk and it is because they are lactose intolerant. Lactose is a sugar found in milk and when you are lactose intolerant your body cannot break that sugar. The effects of someone who is lactose intolerant and they drink milk are usually just bloating or gas. “People sometimes confuse lactose intolerance with a milk allergy. While lactose intolerance is a digestive system disorder, a milk allergy is a reaction by the body’s immune system to one or more milk proteins.” A milk allergy can be life threatening which is found early on in life while lactose intolerance is discovered later on in one’s life. This is because we are not meant to drink milk after childhood, but us as humans do. 

Humans are the only species to drink milk beyond childhood. All other mammal species drink milk from their mother until they are big enough to get food on their own. Humans, drink milk from their mothers then start drinking milk from another mammal. Humans are the only species to do anything remotely like this. Who decided to drink milk from a cow? It is proven it is not supposed to be done or healthy from some humans and it is lactose intolerance that proves that. 

Almond milk amongst others are healthy alternatives to dairy milk. Dairy milk is proven to help form some cancers, is no help to bones, all nutrients in milk can be gained other ways, there are unknown chemicals in milk, cows are mistreated, and has a lot of sugar in it. After researching milk, it has helped me discover milk is not worth drinking.  It does more damage than good, and a lot of the good is false advertising. Some people say stop drinking milk right away and those people may be correct. 
