Why Is Milk Important To The Human Diet?

Superior Essays
Milk, a common household staple. Praised for its ability to build strong bones and muscles, as well as its perfect match with cookies. However, it is possible that milk is not what it is made out to be. People create information, the information then becomes fact because it is widely believed. Most likely because the source, or the person who created the information, is credible. However, just because something is widely believed does not make it true. For example, people used to think the world was flat, now we know that it is round (Smale 2003). People thought humans only use 10% of their brains, now we know each part of the brain has a different job (Boyd 2008). People used to think blood is blue until it is oxygenated by leaving the body, …show more content…
The University of London published in the PLoS Computational Biology journal that humans did not start drinking milk until about 7,500 years ago when dairy farming communities began appearing in central Europe (2009). These people developed the ability to digest lactase and have passed the genes down through their family chain. Before this point, milk was not a necessity to the human diet. Therefore, milk is not necessity for the human body now. Additionally, it is against nature to drink milk past the weaning point, or past 2 years old (2007-2016). If milk was a necessity to keep bones healthy, then women would be able to produce their own milk from the point of pregnancy onward. Most importantly, if milk was essential to the human diet, then humans would be able to digest it. However, The Dairy Council states that 70% of humans are lactose intolerant after the weaning stage. To be lactose intolerant means to not have the enzyme lactase which breaks down the lactose in dairy products. This can lead to flatulence, bloating, diarrhea, cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Some ethnicities are more lactose intolerant than others, which leads the array of symptoms and displays why some people have mild symptoms they do not realize. Human’s ancestors did not drink milk, other species do not drink milk, and most humans do not have the enzyme to digest milk, thus displaying that milk is not a …show more content…
This was due to a study financed by the National Dairy Council, and conducted by Dr. Michael Zemel at the University of Tennessee (Brody 2005). Dr. Zemel found that the higher intake of calcium lead to an increase in percent of body fat lost (Brody 2005). However, there was only 3 small trials, of only about 30 participants each, which is not an accurate representation of the population. It was also biased towards dairy considering the National Dairy Council spent $1.68 million to finance it (Elkaim 2005). Since then numerous studies have taken interest in this subject and have concluded that milk does not lead to weight loss. Years ago, the milk industry advertised that the to obtain results and have a healthy body one needed to drink 3 cups of milk a day or “24oz/24hrs”. However, Catherine S. Berkey of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women 's Hospital in Boston led a study, consisting of 12,829 children ages 9 to 14 nationwide, that concluded milk increases weight gain (Stein 2005). Those who drank the recommended 3 cups were 35% more likely to become overweight compared to those who only drank 1 or 2 (Stein 2005). These results still held true even after the consideration of physical activity, other dietary factors, and growth (Stein 2005). Most of them even drank low fat milk (Stein 2005). Another large study was done by the Harvard School of Public Health, which

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    First of all, milk is very important for developing bones. As a child, if humans drink the right amount of milk daily for their age group, their bones will be strong as they grow. Also,it helps the body perform certain functions. When someone gets a cut, milk can clot the blood to help it heal faster. It’s also great for transmitting nerve messages through the body.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Accordingly, she goes on to state that low-fat milk doesn’t fill people up as significantly and it will cause people to gain extra weight. Ludwig points out that bone fracture rates tend to be lower in countries where they don’t drink milk. However, countless people find it the easiest way to consume calcium is to drink milk, regularly in children since people tend to find it harder for kids to eat collard greens and other vegetables so countless parents will end up just getting chocolate milk for their children. In conclusion, Claire Sibonney’s idea that would should question and argue that drinking 3 cups of milk a day in healthy coincides with my claim that milk is unhealthy, and she goes further into her point by stating that milk contains high amounts of sugar even in unsweetened whole milk which has 13 more grams of…

    • 1426 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some studies have shown that babies that are breast-fed have larger heads and lower blood pressure than “babies fed formula when the children are three years old, but it 's not clear whether they have a long-term impact on health”(Rettner). No formula can duplicate these natural…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most people think of cows as creatures that provide us the most delicious and healthy foods; milk, cheese, and meat. Cows are the most harmless, and mundane animals there are, but are they really that harmless? The hard truth is that cow agriculture is ruining our lives and the planet. Agriculture is one of the leading causes for issues such as; environmental degradation, and nutrient pollution. Even with these issues, the calcium and protein that are provided by these cows are essential for life, or are they?…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Eymology Of Lactose

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lactose intolerance is found all over the world in infants and adults. The link to the web article is here…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Stolzer’s article “Breastfeeding: An Interdisciplinary Review” it goes on to talk about how in ancient times mothers would breastfeed their children up to almost seven years old. Also women in European societies practiced wet nursing, where they would hire lower class/income women who were nursing to breastfeed their children. Soon after though, women began to get tired of breastfeeding and they began to look down at breastfeeding and they viewed it as “immodest” (Stolzer 105). Because of their view on breastfeeding that led to a dramatic decrease in breastfeeding rates all over including in the US, and formula began to be advertised and became widely popular. What these ads and companies failed to mention on the other hand were the negative side effects that came with giving children formula, which were increased risks of infant infection, malnutrition, anemia, brain damage and death (Stolzer 106).…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lactation Consultant

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Lactation Consultants Improve Infant Health Intro Many people are unware of how lactation consultants impact the health of an infant. Because of this lack of knowledge, this has caused me to question exactly how these nurses impact infant health. Therefore, with this paper I am trying to answer how lactation consultants’ role positively impact neonatal health.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Milk is made up of two proteins called casein and whey. Casein is the main protein found in milk and dairy products. The first article I read was a study done by the International Journal of Medical Sciences. They wanted to be able to see the…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Like I said, chocolate milk has the nutrients we need. It also gives kids the daily recommended serving of dairy. Dairy has a lot of the nutrients that we need to stay healthy. Dairy is important for your bones and…

    • 508 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Through his research, Freedhoff has come to the conclusion that people shouldn’t force their children to drink milk because the health benefits just aren’t outstanding. He wants parents to stop asking their kids to finish their glasses of milk because he thinks this is the “right” thing to do. Freedhoff could have taken on this argument from various perspectives, but the reason he chose to present his point from a health and nutrition angle is due to his medical and health based background. Yoni Freedhoff is an assistant professor in family medicine at a university. He also runs his own blog called “Weighty Matters” and is committed to weight management…

    • 1210 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the article Why You Should Stop Drinking Milk, wrote by a student studying Public Relations at the University of Texas, Leonor Martins’ main focus is to warn her readers on not only the harm dairy milk does to the human body, but also the maltreatment of the producing cows. The emphasis on the health concerns pertaining to ingredients found in dairy milk and the mistreatment of the farm cattle is organized into a distressing warning. It seems that the audiences that Ms. Martins is targeting are health conscious consumers and animal right activists that might get just as shocked by the topic. At first, attention is attained with the use of buzzwords and style that conveys a disturbing caution towards dairy milk drinkers.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Breastfeeding in America Breastfeeding in America is underutilized due to a couple complex issues, and is portrayed as having benefits over formula when every other scientific experiment compares the naturally occurring event to the manmade alteration. This being said the results should naturally state that by feeding your child formula you are putting them at a higher risk of a wide range of diseases; however the reverse is true research states that you reduce your child’s risk of developing a wide range of diseases by feeding them human milk. The first article I found is Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk, and the Second article is Barriers to Breastfeeding in the United States both article are primary sources which lends credibility…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary Response Is milk one of the most important things in human life? Most of people would say yes, due to the experience that they were forced to drink milk by their parents in their childhood. And even the government has encouraged people to drink milk every day, includes adults. Actually, milk may not be as important as what people thought for adults’ health; but it is more helpful and important for children.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Human milk is superior in that it provides so many long term and short term benefits to the infant, in every category of growth and health (American Academy, 2005). The benefits for breastfed infants are numerous, ranging from neurocognitive development to an increase in immune health. Findings have even suggested that this simple act reduces the risk of childhood malignancies (Lawrence, 2000). The milk itself adapts to the needs and development of the child. Enzymes within human milk can improve digestive health and act as a defense against microbes.…

    • 1983 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gluten Informative Speech

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Step 1: Do a food elimination diet I am putting the food elimination diet first, as it is the one tip that can bring you the best results. You might have heard of the saying, “You are what you eat”. In fact, this saying packs a lot of truth in 5 simple words. Our bodies regenerate cells as time passes by. The essential building blocks that are necessary for creating these cells come from the food that we eat.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics