Milk: Is it All that It's Cracked Up to Be?

Advertisements everywhere are urging Americans to consume milk as well as other dairy products, claiming that they're extremely healthy and can accelerate weight loss. Now while milk and other dairy products may very well promote and improve weight loss, what about the problems that dairy products, especially milk, cause?

Milk causes major digestive problems in many people. Some people are lactose intolerant and are unable to digest the lactose that milk, cheese, etc. contain.Lactose intolerance can cause many embarrassing symptoms, such as gas, bloating , belching, and diarrhea. There are special over-the-counter enzymes which help those with lactose intolerance to comfortably consume these foods, but they aren't always successful.

For some reason, many people are allergic to milk, especially infants. For mothers who choose not to breastfeed, a large amount of babies have trouble digesting cow's milk. Most of them do quite well on soy or lactose-free formulas. Many moms with cow's-milk sensitive babies complain about going to the store to purchase soy formula and having to go to several stores to obtain the correct formula because many stores out. They say that there are shelves full of the regular, cow's milk formula, but little to no soy formula. What is going on? Is there an epidemic of babies being intolerant to cow's milk formula?

Another reason why cow's milk isn't all it's cracked up to be is because of the fact that a majority of the milk comes from cow's that were injected with antibiotics and hormones. Whatever the cow was injected with, the person consuming its meat or milk are consuming it. This can cause a myriad of problems in people, including hormonal imbalances and antibiotic resistance. The hormones in the milk also cause kid's to reach puberty prematurely, if consumed on a regular basis.