Milk

                                                                    What is Milk?


A white fluid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals for the nourishment of their young, consisting of minute globules of fat suspended in a solution of casein, albumin, milk sugar, and inorganic salts.

What Vitamins and Minerals Do Milk Provide?

• Calcium   
• Vitamin D
• Protein
• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B12
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Phosphorous

What Are the Pros and Cons of Milk's Effect on Cancer?

Pro: "Studies in animals have suggested that calcium may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. We pooled the primary data from 10 cohort studies in five countries.

RESULTS: Milk intake was related to a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. CONCLUSION: Higher consumption of milk and calcium is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer."

Con:"New data from a long-term study suggest an association between consumption of higher quantities of dietary calcium and risk of prostate cancer... They [researchers] found a moderate elevation in risk of prostate cancer associated with higher intakes of dairy products and dairy calcium. The researchers also found that men who drank more than six glasses of milk per week had lower levels of the potentially protective form of vitamin D than men who drank fewer than two glasses of milk per week."

Do Milk and Dairy Products Help People Lose Weight?

Pro (Yes): Dairy foods may also play a role in improving body weight and/or composition, according to a growing body of scientific research. Studies suggest that for people who do not consume recommended amounts of dairy products, they can enhance their weight loss efforts by including 3 servings of dairy products each day in a reduced-calorie weight loss plan. In several controlled clinical trials of overweight and obese adults following reduced-calorie diets, increasing dairy intake to 3 servings a day of milk, yogurt, or cheese resulted in greater weight loss compared to adults who only cut calories. The current body of research includes randomized clinical trials (considered the 'gold standard' of science), observational, animal and cellular studies conducted by leading research institutions throughout the country. This intriguing connection is being studied worldwide - with positive results reported in Denmark, Greece, Italy and other countries.

Con (No): Nearly half of American women say that they have heard that dairy foods help people lose weight. If only there were sufficient evidence to back up the claim. In 2002 the U.S. Patent Office issued Patent # 6,384,087 to Michael Zemel, his wife, and another researcher, giving them exclusive rights to the claim that calcium or dairy products can prevent or treat obesity. Zemel's published studies looked at a total of just 46 people who consumed extra calcium from dairy foods... None of the [dairy industry's] ads mention that dairy 'burns more fat' only in people who get too little calcium. There's no evidence to support the milk industry's claim that 'more than a dozen research studies now support the finding that drinking 24 ounces of milk every 24 hours will help people lose more weight than just reducing their caloric intake.' None of Zemel's studies instructed people to drink 24 ounces of milk a day. And MilkPEP, the industry's non-profit Milk Processors Education Program couldn't point us to a single study in which people did. The dairy industry's ads don't explain that Zemel's research only applies to people who are overweight. He has no published research on dairy foods and normal-weight people.

What is Known About Milk's Effect on Teeth?

Milk has the right ingredients for promoting oral health. Besides the obvious beneficial factor, calcium, milk also contains multiple proteins important for oral health. Casein is a family of proteins comprising 80% of the milk protein that can help to recruit calcium phosphates to repair the cavity. Casein is also able to prevent the adhesion of cavity-causing bacteria to the tooth surface. In addition to casein, milk also contains whey proteins, lactoferrin, lysozyme and antibodies that can promote oral health via their strong antibacterial activities. These proteins are generally thought to have a positive effect on cariogenesis via two mechanism: prevention of demineralization and inhibition ob bacterial attachment and/or biofilm formation.

Is Drinking Milk a Good Way to Build Strong Bones?

Pro (Yes): You can help children achieve lifelong bone health by talking to parents and young people about the importance of calcium consumption, especially during ages 11 to 15, a time of critical bone growth. Children and teenagers can get most of the their daily calcium from 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free milk. Although calcium is found in a variety of foods, the 1994 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Statement on Optimal Calcium Intake designated dairy products as the preferred source of calcium because of their high calcium content. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans also recommends milk and milk products as sources of dietary calcium based on studies that show a positive relationship between intake of milk and milk products and bone mineral content or bone mineral density in one or more skeletal sites. Low-fat or fat-free milk is the best source of calcium because it has high calcium content without added fat, and because the calcium is easily absorbed by the body.

Milk is a great way to build strong bones because it has protein that can help gain muscle and strong bones.

Con (No): There is much debate over whether long-term consumption of dairy products helps bones at all. A good deal of evidence suggests that it does not. Several studies of teenagers have found that their adult bone health is related to their physical activity level earlier in life, but not to the amount of milk or calcium they consumed. Milk consumption is apparently no help later in life either. In a 12-year Harvard study(1.49 MB) of 78,000 women, those who got the most calcium from dairy products received no benefit and actually broke more bones than the women who got little or no calcium from dairy. Similarly, a 1994 study of elderly men and women in Sydney, Australia, showed that those who consumed the most dairy products had double the hip fracture rate of those who consumed the least. These findings indicate that despite the amount of calcium in dairy products, other dairy compounds accelerate calcium loss. Animal proteins and salt are two likely suspects.

Is Milk Healthy For Humans?

Pro (Yes): Milk contains nine essential nutrients, making it one of the most nutrient-rich beverages you can enjoy. Just one 8-ounce serving of milk puts you well on your way to meeting the Daily Value for calcium, riboflavin and other key nutrients. The protein in milk is high quality, which means it contains all of the essential amino acids or 'building blocks' of protein. Protein builds and repairs muscle tissue, and serves as a source of energy during high-powered endurance exercise. An 8-ounce glass of milk provides about 16% of the Daily Value for protein. Vitamin B12 helps build red blood cells that carry oxygen from the lungs to working muscles. Just one 8-ounce glass of milk provides about 13% of the Daily Value for this vitamin.

Milk can be good for you with all the essential nutrients you are giving your body. Your body only needs a certain amount of milk to drink due to other nutrients. Milk is good to drink if you are a body builder, it has protein that can help gain muscle to your body.

Con (No): Milk’s main selling point is calcium, and milk-drinking is touted for building strong bones in children and preventing osteoporosis in older persons. However, clinical research shows that dairy products have little or no benefit for bones. Dairy products—including cheese, ice cream, milk, butter, and yogurt—contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and saturated fat to the diet. Prostate and breast cancers have been linked to consumption of dairy products, presumably related to increases in a compound called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I). Milk proteins, milk sugar, fat, and saturated fat in dairy products pose health risks for children and encourage the development of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Milk and dairy products are not necessary in the diet and can, in fact, be harmful to health.

Citations 

"Milk ProCon.org - Is Drinking Milk Healthy for Humans?" ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2014.