Sep 30th, 2009
To Dairy or not to Dairy
Over the years I’ve come across some people who feel milk and milk products have no place in our diet. Their argument seems logical in some ways. No other animal on earth (that I’m aware of) continues to drink milk, from any species, beyond infancy. Sure a surrogate hippo was in the news showing it breast feeding some piglets. But milk beyond infancy? We seem to be the only ones. All other animals get weaned and move on. If no other animal continues to drink milk beyond this time then why should we? Isn’t it unnatural? Abhorrent?
Well, on the flip side, no other animal has managed to walk on the moon either. Is that unnatural? And if you think so, who is to say you are right? Who is to say others are wrong? Fundamentally the questions becomes ‘should’ we embark on such fantastic endeavours? To me, that means one should objectively look at the question, its surroundings, the motives for the question, and the reasoning for or against it.
So along this vein of inquiry, ‘should’ we drink milk? Why or why not? If you dismiss, as I do, the answer, “Because our Palaeolithic forefathers didn’t drink milk” then the resulting assessment and ‘answer’ becomes rather obvious to me. Milk, and it’s associated products, offer a plethora of compounds and constituents which confer significant benefit to us. There can be no doubt that humans inherently require certain nutrients in order to survive. Water, high biological value protein, highly bioavailable minerals, essential vitamins, trace elements,… etc. Well, that’s basically the ingredient list of milk. If these fundamentally necessary nutrients are not only present but abundant in milk…. then why NOT take advantage of it? Is there harm in doing so? Are there other constituents that may negatively impact on our health?
I respect the philosophical question, “Just because we can do something does that mean we should?” As such I’m open to further arguments and reasoning which posit milk is not meant for human consumption beyond infancy. To keep the argument as basic as possible it should be implicit that “milk” be referred to as the unadulterated, unfortified, straight-from-the-cow milk. The dairy industry and the consumption of it’s products, I can well imagine, would spark a whole other debate.
Basically I like milk. I always have. And I can see no reason to avoid its consumption given the numerous and readily available benefits. If you’re curious as to what sparked my thoughts on this topic follow the link to the article below regarding blood pressure:
I had previously assumed that milk products might be good for managing blood pressure simply because of its high potassium content. I hadn’t heard of this study before and I certainly had never heard of bio-active peptides which act in a similar fashion to ACE inhibitors. That’s pretty freakin’ cool if you ask me. And I’ve always believed in the DASH diet. Now I believe in the “DASH+” diet.
4 Responses to “To Dairy or not to Dairy”
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Other species haven’t developed air conditioning, either, and I for one am in no rush to give that up! Almost every element of our daily life consists of something we may not have been “meant” to do. To me, though, that’s the point of discovery and innovation. I wouldn’t go so far as to argue for innovation at -any- cost, but that’s why I use my purchasing power to avoid any element that could involve immoral or abusive practices. For that reason, I’d find (marginally) more weight in an argument saying that milking’s abusive to animals. But then, I don’t see myself stopping drinking milk any time soon. Full disclosure: I also eat meat, drive a gasoline-powered car, and wear clothing made outside of North America
I see your point, but I think what bothers me more is the insistence that we HAVE to drink it and its been hammered into our society that milk/dairy is one of our four basic food groups. When I was in Hong Kong, I was really looking forward to seeing what sorts of dietary recommendations they had there seeing as how milk is really not part of the traditional southern Chinese diet, but their “food pyramid” is just based on the old USDA one, and it’s simply because nutrition as a science is so western-oriented! So my position on milk is that it *can* be a part of a healthy diet, but it doesn’t *have to* be a part of a healthy diet.
That’s a great point, Vincci. Do you know what would constitute the bulk of “old world” Calcium and Vitamin D intake? Prior to the introduction of westernized diet to places like Hong Kong? I’ve always been interested in the interrelationships between Ca/Vit D intake, exercise, lifestyle etc on bone health. I imagine historical Asian bone health would have been maintained by things like soups with bones in, soy products, physical activity… ? I really do not know enough about Asian culture. Indian culture I understand more having been there and, working in NE Calgary, I’ve certainly been able to learn more. A trip to China, Hong Kong, Japan etc is definitely in my future!
Basically I totally agree with you, milk should not be considered an exclusive part of our diet. Sadly, though, North American lifestyle often makes it so.
Oh and Brian, I like your little disclosure haha.
Thanks for the comments!
Haha… for the record, I have nothing against not drinking milk – and I can see and agree with Vincci’s point. I’d just not want anyone telling me I’m not supposed to be drinking it! If for whatever reason the stores stopped selling milk, I’d probably go out and buy a cow so I could milk it myself