I have been hearing people say milk is bad and not good for the health. is it good or bad? I really need your honest opinions.I love milk just to much, hope am not doing more harm than good to myself.

Best regards

na wa ooo. its really amazing the kind of things ppl spread about food.

milk is an animal source of protein which contains many other nutrients, vitamins and minerals which are essential for maintenance of body function and systems, repair of worn out tissues.

there are six main groups of food that should be consumed on a daily basis but in varying quantities.

these include milk, starch, vegetable, protein, fats n oil, and water group.

Milk/yoghurt group should form part of the daily diet and should not be excluded for any reas

there r different types of milk: low fat, skimmed milk, evaporated, condensed, etc.
these milk types yield different amount of calories per ml, depending on the fat content.
for instance, whole milk may provide 351 kcal of energy while low fat may provide 250 kcal.

so for someone who is overweight or obese, it is important to take the low fat milk type instead of the other types.

also moderate the amount taken: dont take a whole tin of milk, or scoop too many tablespoons of the powdered type.

Milk is not bad

as its always said, too much of everything is bad

milk in my opinion is not bad but taken in too much quantity might not be that good for the sysytem/body

now some people are allergic to milk, can cause them different unpleasant experience but that does not make it bad

one man's meat is another man's poison

.

1) Go to this website you will get a lot of info that can hlep you a great deal WWW.HACRES.COM you will find a lot of info to help you eliminate the disease. Good luck

2) Also contact this email in Lagos Tsfchurch@yahoo.com. The man came to train here in The U.S he will be able to help you. Good luck and God bless.

@Kebab

Animal source of protein is a bad source of protein for human. Most of the devastating diseases have been traced to consumption of animal products, especially cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorder and more. Also the by-product of protein after the body metabolizes it is uric acid which causes many diseases including arthritis and more, it also lowers the body's alkalinity (PH) and triggers the body to draw calcium from the bones and teeth which eventually results in osteoporosis. So I don't know why we ask people to consume this stuffs when the people that are encouraging the consumption of them would not disclose the truth to us because of the big money politics involved.

Go to this website you will get a lot of info that can help you a great deal WWW.HACRES.COM you will find a lot of info to help you. You can also contact this email in Lagos Tsfchurch@yahoo.com The man came to train here in The U.S he will be able to help you will materials that you can study as well.

We Africans should do more home work on foods in relation to diseases and health so that we can help our people.

I think we should be careful with the kind of information we pass around and what we read on the internet because not everything is correct. People give misinformation, or incomplete information to make their product seem like it is the best. I have checked the hallelujah website and while it contains some information, it is not the whole truth of the matter. That diet may work for some people, and may not work for others. People, please make informed choices about your health. I also do not believe in fad diets but in lifestyle changes, which are more permanent and give better results in the long run.

i will try to make this as elementary as possible:

Nutrition starts with eating food and drinking fluid. The body then breaks down the food and drink into respective nutrients. These nutrients travel down the body to be used where necessary. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose or used as body fuel, protein is broken down into amino acids and fats are broken down into fatty acids. These nutrients are key nutrients and necessary for good health and proper body function. Adequate Nutrition is based on getting all the right balance of nutrients necessary for good health. Only eating some particular foods will not make you healthier.

Proteins are made up of chains of amino acids and are necessary for your body to build up enzymes, antibodies and hemoglobin. When you eat protein, your body breaks it down into amino acids and then tries to reassemble them into other configurations to make other proteins for use around the body. There are about 20 amino acids which the body needs daily. Eight of them are essential and must be included in the diet daily. This is because the body cannot synthesize them or produce them. The other 12 amino acids are non essential and can be synthesized from other proteins. So if you are consuming protein and miss out on those containing essential amino acids for long periods of time, then you stand the risk of getting malnourished.

There are various scientific means used to test the bioavailability, body utilization and quality of a protein and the amino acids that make up the protein. Some proteins are absorbed extremely well. An example of this is egg albumen. It has very high bio availability and contains all the essential amino acids. It is called a complete protein. It is a protein derived from animal source.

Another group of protein is called incomplete protein. An example of this protein is soya. It contains some essential amino acids but does not have trytophan. It is a protein derived from plant source. Often, proteins from plant sources are incomplete proteins and need to be combined with other sources of proteins in order to provide essential nutrients.

There is another group of protein called complementary protein. These proteins are lacking in one or more essential amino acids and can be combined with other proteins to give a complete protein. Animal protein and plant protein can be taken together to provide the essential amino acids needed for proper body functioning.

Protein sources include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, yoghurt, cheese, dried beans, and legumes.

Milk is the body's main source of calcium, needed for growth and the repair of bones. Yogurt is also a good calcium source. Yogurt and dry or powdered milk products have different amounts of fat. Check labels for fat and calorie content. Milk is good to drink and can be added to cereal and other foods. Choose milk exchanges from the skim and very low-fat, low-fat, and whole-milk lists. Items on the whole-milk list contain much more fat than those on the skim and low-fat lists. Limit your choices from the whole-milk list as much as possible.
From a professional and personal point of view, I do not subscribe to completely cutting some particular groups of food from the diet. The only exception is for people who have diet related diseases and that category are placed on specialized diet which would try to compensate for the nutrients being lost from the excluded list and compensate for it through other sources.
Otherwise, I emphasize more on reducing and moderating intake and watching the calories to avoid obesity and other diet related diseases. Most food substances are beneficial with their own functions but too much of everything is bad.

Kudos to you Kebab, you've really done a nice job, believing you are educating us from ur professional experience.

All tanx to nairaland

Keebab

I see that you are very knowledge able about this, the only thing is that you have not touched the relativity of the by product of protein to our heallth. You might be right in terms of number of protein. However,  we would need information on how much meat does a zebra, buffalo, and other herbivores eat to develop such strong muscles?. Also what process has the milk you buy on the shelve gone through to sustain the shelf life it currently has, and what happens to protien and other nutrients and enzymes (which are the life force of protien and other nutrients) in it after it is heated for 107 degrees or higher?. remember most milk you buy on the shelves has gone through approximatlely 170 degrees of heat. I think you must be working for a meat or milk or perhaps phamacitical industry or have a represented interest. I really don't have time now ,I have to go for an appointment, but I will be back to go into few details.

Keebab

I see that you are very knowledge able about this, the only thing is that you have not touched the relativity of the by product of protein to our health. You might be right in terms of number of protein. However,  we would need information on how much meat does a zebra, buffalo, and other herbivores eat to develop such strong muscles?. Also what process has the milk you buy on the shelve gone through to sustain the shelf life it currently has, and what happens to protein and other nutrients and enzymes (which are the life force of protein and other nutrients) in it after it is heated for 107 degrees or higher?. remember most milk you buy on the shelves has gone through approximately 170 degrees of heat. I think you must be working for a meat or milk or perhaps pharmaceutical industry or have a represented interest. I really don't have time now ,I have to go for an appointment, but I will be back to go into few details.

I'm sorry to disappoint you but I do not work in a food processing or pharmaceutical company. my only interest is to pass along factual and correct info so that people can make informed decisions. I studied human nutrition n I know my onions.

All food substances, nutrients, antinutrients, water , n even drugs  undergo a metabolic process when consumed. they also produce byproducts which are excreted by the excretory system (which consists of the kidneys, liver and associated organs). God created us with an ecxretory system. Its the reason why we pass out feaces,
urinate, sweat, etc.  a problem may arise if the excretory system is unable to perform its functions and it could be a physiologic factor or it could be related to other factors. in such situations, medical attention and further investigation will be required.

Proteins are made up of amino acids. Amino acids are chemical compounds containing nitrogen, hydrogen. Uric acid is also made from nitrogenous substances. It would be wrong to just say that protein from animal sources will result in uric acid build up n should be avoided. Both plant and animal sources of protein will produce waste products of metabolism, which would normally and ordinarily be excreted from the body.

i am not a food technologist so i cant really give info on d heating n processing of milk or food substances. however, i can tell u dat processed foods go through a lot of quality controls before they r allowed to go on stands for sale and they have to satisfy the regulatory body, even in Nigeria! lets also not forget that it is not only milk that is processed, even bread undergoes some form of processing!

also u may not compare the metabolic mechanism of zebras, buffalos, etc to that of humans. they are ruminant animals with four stomachs(if u catch my drift)!

Kebaf

That is the point I was getting at. When food is processed, especially heated it loses almost all it's vitality at 107  degrees or higher, protein is totally killed or denatured at 160 degrees. So what you eat has no nutrients, and all the vitamins, and enzymes that are useful to the body are destroyed, (remember while protein is used to build and repair muscles, enzymes are the life force of that process). But because God created our body very strongly the body still breaks it down and digests it, however, the cells of the body is being wrongly fed, and therefore can not duplicate healthy cells, and most times the after effect of metabolizing these foods are acidic which many times is harmful to the body. That is what results in sicknesses and diseases in people's body.

As per the website I wrote up there, no one has to buy anything from them, only the books I would recommend. If you read the book u will see it goes beyond what we know in foods. Doctors, scientists, nurses are part of their team and researchers. The research is 30 years of proven result. I'm not part of the site, i don't sell their products but the research is real and the information is correct and I'm applying it to my diet and life style every day and it works. I would that all Africans know it and be  in good health. How many Naija do u know can afford a heart, kidney, liver transplant?, how many of our people are dying of cancer and other dreadful diseases when they can avoid it by simple diet and life style?. If even if you are in medical profession you need to read those books and see how much you will help a lot of our people. That is the only reason I respond to that information, because our people are dying for what we don't know. The whole principle is based on Gen 1:29 in the Bible. The research has been so deep and detailed and so many lives are being changed.  in one of the books, a copy of the letter that was sent to Mrs Clinton is in there with facts and figures. It is not for every one but I hope someone would just read and benefit by it.

As a matter of fact, as a nutritionist if you read the books you will see how noble of a profession you have and you will be able to help many people. I was as sceptical as you are when at the begining but things changed as i learn more and more. that's all I have to say now.

milk is not necessarily bad but remember that if you won't be making babies soon,you should really reduced the intake of milk, it makes your hormones produce not just sperm but thick sperm that will definitely increase your sperm count. Hence, if you have been told that your sperm count is low, you should increase the way you consume milk,

milk isnt bad for your health but many black people are lactose intolerant, and can have side effects from milk.

However, dont let that stop you drinking it

besides, there are many alternatives to whole milk like reduced fat, lactaid, soy etc.

And I noticed powdered milk doesnt produce quite the same reactions as fresh milk, though i could be wrong since its not like I did a study.

diary products is one of the essential food groups - without taking diary products you will have an imbalanced diet. Let us examine all things before coming to a hasty conclusion. Your health is at stake!

Milk is very Super good for your overall health. if you have lactose intolerant there are many options that can help like trying different types of milk or using products that helps with the intolerance. like the lactase enzyme this helps with the milk digestion.
No treatment can improve the body’s ability to produce lactase, but symptoms can be controlled through diet

Furthermore, calcium intake is very important for good bones and teeth - it helps to fight osteoporosis

Indy mystery: Why do Indianapolis 500 winners drink milk?







After crossing the bricked finish line on Sunday, the winner of the Indianapolis 500 will drive into the winner’s circle, be presented with a celebratory wreath and take a swig from a cold bottle of milk. The latter is one of the grandest traditions in sports, but also one of the most confusing. Why milk? Why is it in a bottle? And (this one was actually asked by a girl I knew in college) has it been sitting in the sun all day?

After solving mysteries in Beijing, Boston and Augusta, GA, the old Y! Sports investigative unit is here to answer all your questions in order to solve the mystery of the milk-drinking drivers. It all started in 1933. After Louis Meyer won his second Indianapolis 500, he requested a cold bottle of buttermilk to quench his thirst. The Yonkers, NY native had grown up drinking the beverage and favored it throughout his racing days.  Three years later, Meyer won his third title and, again, he requested a cold glass of buttermilk to celebrate. This time, a newspaper photographer snapped a photo of Meyer taking a swig from the bottle while holding up three fingers, one to represent each of his Indy victories. The shot would appear the next day in a number of newspapers.

As legend has it, a local dairy executive saw the photo and, realizing a great marketing opportunity, vowed that milk would be given to the winner the following year. (They had thought Meyer was drinking regular milk, not buttermilk.) Except for a stretch from 1947 to 1955, milk has been presented at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ever since.

Today, instead of buttermilk, the winner is given a choice between whole milk, two percent and skim. Those bottles are held in a cooler by two selected Southern Indiana dairy farmers and are etched with the words “Indianapolis 500 winner,” making the bottles not just a beverage receptacle but a trophy in their own right. The drivers seem to like the milk, not just for what it represents, but because of its taste as well.

Dario Franchitti said in 2007 that the milk is: “Good. Really good. They chill it and it's very cold. I went for full fat inside and then I went outside in Victory Circle after the rain stopped and I had another bottle and I think that was 2%. That was good as well. I was liking the milk.” 

Personally, I can’t imagine that milk is the ideal beverage to consume immediately after finishing a grueling three-hour race run at 200 mph in cramped, often-sweltering conditions. But for the racers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon, no drink would be finer. Thanks to the Indiana Dairy Council for helping solve this mystery. We’ll be raising a tall glass of skim in their honor this Sunday.



http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Indy-mystery-Why-do-Indianapolis-500-winners-dr?urn=nascar,165450

I would hope not, . . .cos how else am i supposeed to eat my cereal??

Milk seems to be a nutritious source of everything but there's more to it. I stopped consuming all dairy products after reading this article written by a medical doctor and there are also many other articles warning against milk consumption, Please read for the sake of your health and your children.


http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/dont-drink-milk.asp

The misinformation on this thread is breathtaking, though there have been a few informative answers.
This is not a cut and dried question - The consensus amongst enlightened nutritionists is that Milk does have some good properties, but they are far outweighed by the bad properties.

Milk has been subject to extreme hype and misinformation through the media. A general agreement is now forming that humans were not really desigend to ingest Cow milk. Remember, milk from any animal, is intended, and therefore biologically created, specifically for the young of that animal. In fact, humans are the only animals to ingest the milk of another species. Also, no adult animal delibrately seeks out milk to drink aprt from humans. To compound this further, most of the milk we drink is from intensively farmed animals an contain antiibotics, growth hormones, fat, cholesterol and allergenic proteins. All this lends to the hypothesis that milk is indeed bad for you.

Good properties -
- Milk contains proteins, and has a decent Biological Value (BV) - but its by no means the best. You can get better proteins from a multitude of other sources.
- Milk contains Calcium,which is more bio-available than other sources, but you can also get Calcium from green leafy vegetables. In fact,it is now common scientific knowledge that excess calcium from milk DOES cause Oesteoporosis
- Milk contains Vitamin D


Bad Properties
- Milk contain saturated animal fats - unless its skimmed or semi-skimmed. Excess fat consumption can cause Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure
- Pasteurised Milk contain antibiotics, Oestrogen precursors, Growth Hormones(BGH) , etc. All these are given to the cows to help them grow quicker, produce more milk, and combat infections. Unfortunately, when we ingest the milk, we also ingest these compounds. This has has been attributed as the number one cause in increased pre-pubescent maturity/early onset maturity of children in Western societies ,and increased tolerance and resistance to antibiotics. It has also been lined to certain cancers.
- Milk consumption promotes mucus formation in the body - if you drink a lot of milk, you will surely have this problem
- Milk consumption promotes an "acidic" state in the body. This has been shown to increase the incidence of cancers, allergies and general unhealthiness.
- Pasteurised milk has lost most of its enzymes, vitamins and trace elements.
- Intensively farmed cows(that produce the milk we drink) are fed high protein and soy/corn based meals. This makes their milk/meat high in Omega 6 Fatty acids. Excessive consumption can lead to cardio-vascular disease and also depression in some individuals.
- Milk is a leading cause of Ear Infections in infants and babies
- Most infants are allergic to Cow Milk Proteins (this is not the same as Lactose Intolerance)

Milk is good. It just depends on the kinda Milk. There are different milk sources; the best one is the natural milk gotten from Cows. All the same, too much of everything is not good. Im sure you don't even drink as much as 3cups in a week, so u gat no problem.

Thank you, this is great information!

Re: Is Milk Bad For Your Health?
« #26 on: July 16, 2009, 05:01 PM »
The misinformation on this thread is breathtaking, though there have been a few informative answers.
This is not a cut and dried question - The consensus amongst enlightened nutritionists is that Milk does have some good properties, but they are far outweighed by the bad properties.

Milk has been subject to extreme hype and misinformation through the media. A general agreement is now forming that humans were not really desigend to ingest Cow milk. Remember, milk from any animal, is intended, and therefore biologically created, specifically for the young of that animal. In fact, humans are the only animals to ingest the milk of another species. Also, no adult animal delibrately seeks out milk to drink aprt from humans. To compound this further, most of the milk we drink is from intensively farmed animals an contain antiibotics, growth hormones, fat, cholesterol and allergenic proteins. All this lends to the hypothesis that milk is indeed bad for you.

Good properties -
- Milk contains proteins, and has a decent Biological Value (BV) - but its by no means the best. You can get better proteins from a multitude of other sources.
- Milk contains Calcium,which is more bio-available than other sources, but you can also get Calcium from green leafy vegetables. In fact,it is now common scientific knowledge that excess calcium from milk DOES cause Oesteoporosis
- Milk contains Vitamin D


Bad Properties
- Milk contain saturated animal fats - unless its skimmed or semi-skimmed. Excess fat consumption can cause Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure
- Pasteurised Milk contain antibiotics, Oestrogen precursors, Growth Hormones(BGH) , etc. All these are given to the cows to help them grow quicker, produce more milk, and combat infections. Unfortunately, when we ingest the milk, we also ingest these compounds. This has has been attributed as the number one cause in increased pre-pubescent maturity/early onset maturity of children in Western societies ,and increased tolerance and resistance to antibiotics. It has also been lined to certain cancers.
- Milk consumption promotes mucus formation in the body - if you drink a lot of milk, you will surely have this problem
- Milk consumption promotes an "acidic" state in the body. This has been shown to increase the incidence of cancers, allergies and general unhealthiness.
- Pasteurised milk has lost most of its enzymes, vitamins and trace elements.
- Intensively farmed cows(that produce the milk we drink) are fed high protein and soy/corn based meals. This makes their milk/meat high in Omega 6 Fatty acids. Excessive consumption can lead to cardio-vascular disease and also depression in some individuals.
- Milk is a leading cause of Ear Infections in infants and babies
- Most infants are allergic to Cow Milk Proteins (this is not the same as Lactose Intolerance)

Milk and dairy produce is most certainly NOT good for us. Shame on the nutritionist for stating otherwise - they do say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Milk and dairy is acid and we humans need an alkaline diet. Dairy is often hailed as necessary for calcium for our bones and teeth. The reverse is true. Dairy and meat consumption actually makes the body leech calcium and nutrients. Then there's the moral question of the barbarism of the dairy industry - or doesn't that matter?

Remember, the meat and dairy industries are incredibly powerful lobbyist and will do whatever it takes to get you to continue to consume and increase your consumption of their 'products'. Unfortunately many uninformed people perpetuate these myths without doing their research. think about the scale of the industry, the antibiotics, the hormones, the carcinogens. I wouldn't go near it if you want to stay healthy.

http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

Dr Joseph Mercola

The path that transforms healthy milk products into allergens and carcinogens begins with modern feeding methods that substitute high-protein, soy-based feeds for fresh green grass and breeding methods to produce cows with abnormally large pituitary glands so that they produce three times more milk than the old fashioned scrub cow. These cows need antibiotics to keep them well.

Their milk is then pasteurized so that all valuable enzymes are destroyed (lactase for the assimilation of lactose; galactase for the assimilation of galactose; phosphatase for the assimilation of calcium).

Literally dozens of other precious enzymes are destroyed in the pasteurization process. Without them, milk is very difficult to digest. The human pancreas is not always able to produce these enzymes; over-stress of the pancreas can lead to diabetes and other diseases.

The butterfat of commercial milk is homogenized, subjecting it to rancidity. Even worse, butterfat may be removed altogether. Skim milk is sold as a health food, but the truth is that butter-fat is in milk for a reason.

Without it the body cannot absorb and utilize the vitamins and minerals in the water fraction of the milk. Along with valuable trace minerals and short chain fatty acids, butterfat is America's best source of preformed vitamin A.

Synthetic vitamin D, known to be toxic to the liver, is added to replace the natural vitamin D complex in butterfat. Butterfat also contains re-arranged acids which have strong anti-carcinogenic properties.

Non-fat dried milk is added to 1% and 2% milk. Unlike the cholesterol in fresh milk, which plays a variety of health promoting roles, the cholesterol in non-fat dried milk is oxidized and it is this rancid cholesterol that promotes heart disease.

Like all spray dried products, non-fat dried milk has a high nitrite content. Non-fat dried milk and sweetened condensed milk are the principle dairy products in third world countries; use of ultra high temperature pasteurized milk is widespread in Europe.
Other Factors Regarding Milk

Milk and refined sugar make two of the largest contributions to food induced ill health in our country. That may seem like an overly harsh statement, but when one examines the evidence, this is a reasonable conclusion.

The recent approval by the FDA of the use of BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone) by dairy farmers to increase their milk production only worsens the already sad picture.

BGH causes an increase in an insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) in the milk of treated cows. IGF-1 survives milk pasteurization and human intestinal digestion. It can be directly absorbed into the human bloodstream, particularly in infants.

It is highly likely that IGF-1 promotes the transformation of human breast cells to cancerous forms. IGF-1 is also a growth factor for already cancerous breast and colon cancer cells, promoting their progression and invasiveness.

It is also possible for us to absorb the BGH directly from the milk. This will cause further IGF-1 production by our own cells.

BGH will also decrease the body fat of cows. Unfortunately, the body fat of cows is already contaminated with a wide range of carcinogens, pesticides, dioxin, and antibiotic residues. When the cows have less body fat, these toxic substances are then transported into the cows' milk.

BGH also causes the cows to have an increase in breast infections for which they must receive additional antibiotics.

Prior to BGH, 38%of milk sampled nationally was already contaminated by illegal residues of antibiotics and animal drugs. This will only increase with the use of BGH. One can only wonder what the long term complications will be for drinking milk that has a 50% chance it is contaminated with antibiotics.

There is also a problem with a protein enzyme called xanthine oxidase which is in cow's milk. Normally, proteins are broken down once you digest them.

However, when milk is homogenized, small fat globules surround the xanthine oxidase and it is absorbed intact into your blood stream. There is some very compelling research demonstrating clear associations with this absorbed enzyme and increased risks of heart disease.

Ear specialists frequently insert tubes into the ear drums of infants to treat recurrent ear infections. It has replaced the previously popular tonsillectomy to become the number one surgery in the country.

Unfortunately, most of these specialists don't realize that over 50% of these children will improve and have no further ear infections if they just stop drinking their milk.

This is a real tragedy. Not only is the $3,000 spent on the surgery wasted, but there are some recent articles supporting the likelihood that most children who have this procedure will have long term hearing losses.

It is my strong recommendation that you discontinue your milk products. If you find this difficult, I would start for several weeks only, and reevaluate how you feel at that time.

This would include ALL dairy, including skim milk and Lact-Aid milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. If you feel better after several weeks you can attempt to rotate small amounts of one form of milk every four days.

You probably are wondering what will happen to your bones and teeth if you stop milk. The majority of the world's population takes in less than half the calcium we are told we need and yet they have strong bones and healthy teeth.

Cows' milk is rich in phosphorous which can combine with calcium -- and can prevent you from absorbing the calcium in milk. The milk protein also accelerates calcium excretion from the blood through the kidneys.

This is also true when you eat large amount of meat and poultry products. Vegetarians will need about 50% less calcium than meat eaters because they lose much less calcium in their urine.