The Dairy Question

Before I get started, here's a quick update. Well, I've stepped off the straight and narrow a couple times. There was a Saturday night ice-cream pig-out. There were two lunches out this week during which white flour was unavoidable (I'm only human - sometimes I just gotta eat what's in front of me!). And I had a piece of homemade Boston Cream Pie at work (it was worth it!). These deviations don't worry me so much. What does worry me is not getting enough fruits and vegetables. As usual, it's easy to just rely on protein (eggs, legumes, peanut butter) and grains (i.e. unprocessed carbs, but carbs nonetheless). So, that is something that I need to work on.

As the title indicates, I'll be ruminating about milk today. I, myself, almost never drink milk. I probably eat about 1-2 servings of cheese per week. Maybe one serving of yogurt. This is not due to any noble principle, I've just never been big on dairy. I have, however, changed my intake amounts a little. I'm avoiding cheese a little more because it's processed. Not indulging in too much yogurt because it's high in sugar. I'm writing about dairy today because my three year old son has developed a real taste for yogurt. He eats it everyday for breakfast. That being the case, I have to supply him with a dairy product that I feel comfortable about him eating. My big question is, do the bovine growth hormones really pose a threat to human health?

I have been buying the Chobani greek yogurt because it contains milk from cows not treated with rBST and it has the lowest amount of sugar of all non-BST yogurts (including organics). It is totally delicious. It's also kinda pricey and I wonder if I'm being crazy and wasting my hard earned dough for a few special words label.

So, here's a quick run-down rBST. Enter Monsanto. (shudder) 'Nuff said. The following are some highlights:
-It's been banned in Japan, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.
-It makes cows much more likely to get sick (mastitis, fertility problems, lameness and more). Very bad for the cows.
-It can have lower nutritional content.
-According to wikipedia's sources, it has not been linked to cancer or disease in humans.

Now, we scratch the surface and find that, apparently, consumption of milk from cows treated with rBST is associated with higher cancer risk (theearthcenter.com, notmilk.com, the Cancer Prevention Coalition, and purefood.org reporting on the EU Scientific Community's take).

O.K. Now I've satisfied my curiosity and I will continue to only by Chobani, Cabot, Stony Field Farms, and any other yogurt maker that uses milk from rBST free cows!

The other important question is should we really be eating dairy at all. I've never liked milk and I've always been critical of the notion that cow's milk is essential for human health. There are lots of folks who say that milk is not only unnecessary, it's harmful. The Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine has a nice write-up detailing how getting calcium from milk is actually bad for your bones.

That's all good and well for me because I don't consume much dairy anyway. But, now I have to think about giving it to my son . . . I'm going to have to look into the impact of milk on other aspects of health. A subsequent blog.

What did I do today to avoid diabetes and the other big bads?
-I ate a serving of organic spinach!
-I blogged instead of stuffing my face.
That's it so far but the day is young.