
“Drink all your milk or else you will not grow up to be a strong person,” is probably one of the most common sayings a parent says to their child growing up. As a little kid, parents want their children to grow up the healthiest and in the best shape possible, so they try and feed their children best foods out there. No parent wants a weak kid; they want their most prized possession to be able to stand up for themselves when they are not around. So what do parents do? They feed their children vegetables, fruits, and carbs; but, these foods do not help with the strength of the bones, so parents give their kids milk. Drinking milk as a little kid, known almost anywhere around the world, is an amazing way to make the bones strong. There are so many key ingredients that the body needs from dairy that other foods cannot give; however, no one really knows the true health side effects from dairy products, so everyone continues to keep drinking milk, eating cheeses, using creams, because no one knows what they truly do to ones’ body. It is very important to get this information out so people can live healthier and happier lives. Most people have no idea that dairy products are so unhealthy until they hear it from a friend. After they will look it up and be appalled, but in reality need to do the right research to know other better, healthier alternatives. If more people knew how bad dairy was for them, more people would do something about changing their ways of life and stop consuming as much or stop consuming all dairy products. 

There are so many side effects, both good and bad, due to the consumption of dairy products; but what most people do not know is, the bad effects outweigh the good effects by a landslide. Since the beginning of time, all mammals produce milk to feed to their offspring, including humans. This does not or should not consist of other mammals drinking from other mammals. This is what humans have been doing for over a couple centuries now. Researchers for so long have been studying whether or not the process of this is healthy or not.

Growing up there were always ads on the TV or ads on billboards that screamed, “milk does the body good,” to back up milk companies trying to get their brand known. Well little did everyone know that there was actually a lawsuit against this ad because this fact was in correct. The lawsuit stated that they had to stop saying that milk created stronger bones because this just was not a true. From this, many other milk ads have stopped because they do not want to get in trouble (“Why Milk is Bad for You”).

 Milk and other dairy products are not what they used to be. Milk became a popular drink starting in the 19th and 20th centuries, and was actually a very beneficial substance to put in one’s body. However, “milk was consumed unpasteurized or raw it was straight from the animal to your home,” so nothing was being done to the milk (“Why Milk is Bad For You”). Later processing and homogenizing milk became a standard in all the industries and by doing this, it changes the chemistry of the milk, which can increase detrimental and acidifying effects. The ingredients in the milk contain substances that are not wanted by one’s body. In factories, cows milk is, “often a toxic brew made of bioengineered hormones antibiotics that are fed to feed livestock and even pesticides,” which is all bad for the human consumption (“Why Milk is Bad For You”).

Dairy promotes the cancer- growth factor and this is more commonly known as IGF-1. This is the number one thing to stay away from consuming, if one is trying to eat a cancer-free diet. IGF-1 does help the immune system, but is still very unsafe to be putting in the body. This hormone has not only been linked to cancer but many other horrible diseases (5 Things You Should Know About the Link Between Dairy and Acne).

Milk does offer so many key ingredients that the body, “needs such as: calcium, magnesium, folate, B1, B2, B6, B12, and vitamins A, D, and E,” and without these the body would not function the proper way it is supposed to (6 Reasons to Get Your Dairy). The milk from cows is okay for the bones and is full of an abundance of calcium but recent studies have shown otherwise. A cow milk has a ton of Vitamin D and potassium in it, so drinking a cow’s milk is an easy way to obtain it (Health Benefits and Nutritional Information). By consuming a lot of potassium this can help the body fight cardiovascular disease and diminish heart problems. As always, there will forever be a downside when gaining a profit and this can be seen here. 

Everyone knows that to obtain a lot of calcium, they should drink a lot of milk. However, milk actually depletes the calcium from one’s body. Milk that is “ready for consumption must be free from pathogenic bacteria” and most milk is not free from pathogenic bacteria so it is very unhealthy to consume milk of this type (Milk Regulations and Milk Quality). Scientists and researchers have recently found that dairy can create osteoporosis all throughout one’s bones. Osteoporosis is a medical condition where the bones in someone’s’ body become very fragile usually from the deficiency of calcium or vitamin D.  The Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine actually have studied that by consuming pasteurized milk the body barely even absorbs any calcium and there is an increase in calcium loss (Debunking The Milk Myth: Why Milk Is Bad For You And Your Bones). The Physicians Committee for Responsible medicine goes on to say that, “the countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis are the ones where people drink the most milk,” this can cause human bones to fracture more easily (“Why Milk is Bad For You”). Many specific experiments have been to prove this fact to an even further extent. The risk, “of any bone fracture increased 16 percent in women who drank three or more glasses daily, and the risk of a broken hip increased 60 percent,” rather than women who did not drink three glasses of milk daily (Too Much Milk May be Bad for your Health).

Lactose intolerance, in more recent years, seems to be a more relevant problem in more and more people. This is a condition where someone, “lacks the enzyme lactase, which is needed to break down the sugar found in milk for proper digestion,” so without this enzyme the stomach does not digest properly (Health Benefits and Nutritional Information). Some people may wonder how they know if they have it; but, this is a very obvious condition that is very easily detected. People that have lactose intolerance show signs of bloating, flatulence, or diarrhea. In addition to this, people in extreme cases can compromise the absorption of the nutrients that other foods are giving the body. The dairy products with the lowest amount of lactose are always going to be the better choice, instead of consuming something with the full amount of lactose (Health Benefits and Nutritional Information). Researchers have studied this for years trying to see how many people lactose intolerance actually effects. Studies have shown that almost 75 percent of the world-wide population has it (Dairy Products). While some peoples’ cases may be worse than others, it is still a very difficult condition to live with.

Lactose intolerance shows up in more people than researchers expected. Studies show that, “15 percent of people of northern European descent, 80 percent of black and Hispanic people, and more than 90 percent of Asians and First Nations people do not produce lactase” (Health Benefits and Nutritional Information). People who cannot produce lactase cannot handle lactose beyond infancy. However, there is a healthier alternative. This way people can get the nutrients they need by drinking “milk.” The alternative is lactose-free milk, and it has “added enzymes” to help with the process of the digestion or even lactase supplement to help with the horrible symptoms that come with drinking milk or eating any type of dairy products.

Researchers have been studying for years, trying to see whether or not drinking milk really does help improve bone quality. Alternative ways of consuming dairy products without drinking milk have been proven. Dairy products, such as yogurt and cheese that have a low lactose count, show people to have an increased amount of fractures in bones (Debunking The Milk Myth: Why Milk Is Bad For You And Your Bones.) Studies have shown, “the risk of any bone fracture increased 16 percent in women who drank three or more glasses daily, and the risk of a broken hip increased 60 percent,” so all in all drinking milk does not either, “protect against or promote” the fracturing of bones effects (Too Much Milk May be Bad for your Health).   

The milk that humans drink and the milk used to create other dairy products all come from cows. Milk from cows should be just for cows and not for humans. We are the only species that drinks milk from another mammal. As humans, we are “biologically designed” to drink from humans. The “bio chemical makeup of a cow’s milk is perfectly suited to turn a 65-pound newborn calf in to a 400-pound cow in one year,” not for humans to drink and grow through their adolescent years (“Why Milk is Bad For You”).

Dairy is full of natural hormones. Some may hear this and think that this is a good thing but it is not. Since, all the milk that humans consume are from a pregnant cow, there are both, “male and the female involved in the reproduction experience,” and in every glass, “there are over 60 hormones,” and all these hormones are not beneficial for one’s skin (5 Things You Should Know About the Link Between Dairy and Acne). Dairy contains sugar, and it is especially found in milk sugar, lactose, is a big ingredient. These milk sugars go through the human body’s bloodstream; which researchers have studied have been linked to diabetes. A group of researchers reported to CBS News the “increased risk of death they observed could be explained by the high levels of sugars contained in milk,” and this is especially seen in lactose and galactose (Too Much Milk May be Bad for your Health).

 In other studies, milk has shown to not help with weight loss. Dairy products, even though may some think that they are healthy, actually do not help when one is trying to lose some weight. Dairy is packed full of calcium and protein but it is also full of sugars and this can cause a turn backwards in someone’s goal in trying to lose weight. All these sugars go further than just gaining weight but also is not the best for someone with acne. Dairy actually can cause or create more acne.

Many researchers have studied how bad dairy is for one’s skin. Dairy has shown to be one of the worst foods to consume when one is trying to take care of their skin. Dairy is one of the most inflammatory foods that one can put in their body. Dairy can also be extremely difficult to digest and whenever the body cannot digest any dairy toxins, the skin takes the blow and shows the effects. The effects are in forms of acne and sometimes even rashes (5 Things You Should Know About the Link Between Dairy and Acne). 

In today’s society drinking milk is almost like asking for animal cruelty. Yes, this may seem extreme but it is true to a point. Many of the animals today, that are taken to farms for human consumption are kept in animal shelters where they are starved to death, and abused. They are not fed correctly and these are the animals that humans then consume in to their bodies. This is not healthy for the animal but especially the people that are consuming this animal. This includes cows, where everyone gets their dairy from. There have been many movements that try and help with animal abuse but no one really knows what happens behind the doors of industries. (“Why Milk is Bad For You”).

Even though there are so many horrible side effects that are due to the consumption of dairy products, there are some beneficial effects. If someone eats full-fat dairy, this can help with the metabolism of the body; however, one does risk the consumption of too many calories because the dairy being full-fat. In addition, studies have shown that even though dairy may be the cause to some types of cancers, it does help prevent colorectal cancer. When in taking dairy, if one wants to be the healthiest that they can be, they should have grass-fed dairy, because it is high, “in fat soluble vitamins, especially Vitamin K2, a nutrient that is incredibly important for regulating calcium metabolism and has major benefits for both bone and heart health,” which are all amazing impacts on the human body (Dairy Products).

Milk has all these positive side effects that come with it when consuming, however,  studies have shown, “ a high amount of saturated fat and cholesterol, which have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease,” which are also very unhealthy side effects  (Health Benefits and Nutritional Information). It does not even stop here, even though the body will obtain all that potassium for fighting off cardiovascular disease, potassium has a huge amount of serotonin in it. Serotonin is a hormone in peoples’ mood, sleep, and even sleep. All of these important factors in one’s lives can be affected by the intake of too much milk.

  “The more milk you drink, the stronger your bones will be,” is another one of those common phrases that parents need to stop repeating to their children as they grow up.  Researchers have repeatedly continued to study this controversial topic, whether dairy is truly beneficial or detrimental to one’s diet. So many people struggle with the pros and cons of dairy because no one really seems to know the truth, or at least they do not feel like doing the research on it. Overall, the bad effects of dairy outweigh the good effects. There are so many health issues, fatal and non-fatal diseases, animals being abused, and other detriments that occur that are just not worth the “good” effects.  More people need to know about what dairy does to the human body to become aware of what is actually happening to ones’ self. From this then they can decide if they really want to cause more harm to their body. 
