Author Archive for Russell Eaton

Don’t combine vitamin D with milk

Published
by
Russell Eaton
on May 10, 2008
in Nutrition
. 0 Comments
by Russell Eaton

Several recent studies have continued to support the link between Vitamin D and positive health issues ranging from lung health and new asthma treatments to the prevention of breast and colon cancer. For example, the research shows that daily intake of 1,000 units of Vitamin D cuts the odds of getting colon cancer by about half, and the chances of breast and ovarian cancer by about one third.

Clearly, regular, sensible exposure to ultraviolet sunlight helps the body produce Vitamin D which is good for health. There is no risk of an “overdose” on Vitamin D from sunlight (although you might get sunburn!). What is less well known is that vitamin D supplements can be very harmful in some circumstances.

Vitamin D has many important functions, one of which is the absorption of calcium. This vitamin greatly increases absorption of calcium (from the food you eat) and puts it into the blood stream so that it can be used by the body.

The big danger is that if milk is consumed on the same day that vitamin D supplements are taken, the bloodstream is overwhelmed with calcium, and this can cause harmful calcification just about anywhere in the body. Calcification of the body is known to be at the root of much illness such as stroke, cancer and heart disease, to name but a few of the conditions.

When dairy milk is consumed, the casein protein in milk makes the bloodstream go acidic. This happens before all the calcium in milk gets to the bloodstream. The body reacts by pulling calcium from the bones into the bloodstream (calcium is very alkaline and this helps to neutralize the blood).

As the milk is gradually digested, calcium from the milk enters the bloodstream. As this happens, calcium levels in the blood become too high. In a kind of “knee-jerk” reaction hormones in the body get rid of the excess calcium in the bloodstream by ’storing it’ it in different parts of the body, leading to harmful calcification and illness.

Problems are made worse if vitamin D supplements are taken on days that dairy milk is consumed. This will increase further the amount of excess calcium that accumulates in the bloodstream. Doctors call this ‘hypercalcemia’, a known medical condition that can result in a variety of health problems. It is important, therefore, to avoid consuming dairy milk and vitamin D on the same day.

To avoid the health problems associated with hypercalcemia and harmful calcification it is important to never take vitamin D supplements on days that dairy milk is consumed. An ideal solution is to switch to non-dairy milk which is far more delicious and nutritious than dairy milk. If non-dairy milk is not readily available, you can easily make your own milk at home from a variety of ingredients that can be stored or frozen.

About the Author:
Non-dairy milk made from seeds, nuts and soybeans is super nutritious and absolutely delicious. Find out how to Make Your Own Milk. No special milk-making machine needed. Only takes minutes to make from ingredients stored at home.

Why Lactose-Free Milk Should Always Be Avoided

Published
by
Russell Eaton
on May 10, 2008
in Health & Fitness
. 2 Comments
by Russell Eaton

Lactose is found in all animal milks. Goat’s milk, for example, has 5% to 10% more lactose than dairy milk. It was assumed that only a minority of people suffered from lactose intolerant, but the latest research dispels this myth. The reality is that virtually everybody is lactose intolerant - it’s just a matter of degree.

With lactose intolerance the body is unable to digest lactose properly, causing varying degrees of nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea, which begin about 30 minutes to 2 hours after milk consumption.

The severity of symptoms varies depending on the amount of lactose each individual consumes or can tolerate. Lactose intolerance usually develops over time, getting worse as you get older, with men and women suffering equally.

When lactose (the principal sugar in milk) is consumed it is broken down by lactase bacteria into galactose and glucose. If you don’t have enough lactase (which most people don’t) your body won’t be able to break the lactose down - that’s when you suffer lactose intolerance.

Human babies have enough lactase to digest the lactose in human milk. But in the first few months or years of life the baby gradually loses the capacity to breakdown and digest lactose.

For example, in the USA the medical profession regards over 50 million people as being clinically lactose-intolerant. Some racial and ethnic populations are more widely affected than others. As many as 75 percent of African-Americans and American-Indians (and 90 percent of Asian-Americans) are said to be lactose-intolerant. The condition is known to be least common among people of northern European descent.

But even people who do not think they are lactose intolerant do in fact suffer from the condition whenever animal milk is consumed. However, the effects for some people may be so mild as to be hardly noticeable. Slight feelings of indigestion or bloating will usually be associated with a poor or rushed meal rather than with lactose intolerance.

There are dozens of studies showing how lactose in dairy milk causes human illness (too many to quote here). A quick search on Internet will reveal lots of studies into the subject.

Typical government advice for people wanting to avoid lactose in milk is to say they should eat other calcium-rich foods such as fortified juices, fish and broccoli. But this doesn’t help much because what most people need is information on alternative kinds of milk.

You can, of course, buy ‘lactose reduced’ or ‘lactose free’ milk. For example in the USA you can buy ‘Lactaid’ which is lactose free. The drawback is that lactose-free milks are generally not so widely available, and tend to be more expensive.

But the biggest drawback is that lactose-free milk is usually ultra-pasteurized (also known as UHT or ‘Long Life’ milk). This is a major drawback because all the research is showing that UHT milk is much worse for health compared to regular pasteurized milk. For example, the research is showing that UHT milk may be the biggest dietary cause of a variety of serous brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntingdon’s and others.

What then is the best way to avoid lactose in milk? There is a simple solution: switch to milk made from nuts, seeds, or soybeans. These non-dairy milks offer a wonderful variety of delicious flavours and they are full of healthy nutrients.

About the Author:
For easy ways to make pasteurized milk see Make Your Own Milk - The word’s best milk-making recipes. Also, make sure you see Organic Milk Myth - Why organic and UHT pasteurized milk are so much worse for health compared to regular pasteurized milk.

Organic Milk Less Healthy Than Regular Milk

Published
by
Russell Eaton
on February 8, 2008
in Health & Fitness
. 0 Comments
by Russell Eaton

A widely accepted view is that organic food is healthier than nonorganic equivalents. Or that at least it is not worse. However, when it comes to dairy milk it’s quite a different story. A new book ‘Organic Milk Myth’ reveals the shocking truth that organic milk is significantly worse for health than regular nonorganic pasteurized milk. This is fully backed up by the latest research.

The idea that organic milk is actually much worse for health will sound bizarre to most people, particularly those who pay extra for what they think is a better product. Individuals and families are willing to pay a premium price for organic milk, but only if they think it is healthier. But when you realize that organic milk is quite a lot worse compared to regular milk, it no longer makes sense to pay extra.

You may wonder how it is possible that organic pasteurized milk, available from retailers everywhere, can truly be worse for you than regular pasteurized milk? You may consider that organic milk is not particularly better than nonorganic milk. However, to consider that organic milk is very much worse for health (compared to regular milk) is a different matter entirely.

Yet all the latest evidence is showing precisely this. Furthermore, UHT milk (Long Life milk) is shown to be even worse for health than organic milk. Astoundingly, about 80% of organic milk sold in the world today is UHT milk.

In some countries, such as Spain, Belgium, and France over 95% of all milk sales are UHT. In other countries, sales of UHT are growing fast, ranging from 15% to 95%. The milk industry likes this because the longer shelf life of UHT makes the supply chain from cow to consumer more economical. This also has government support - there is a worldwide trend to switch up to 90% of all milk over to UHT by 2020 in the belief that this is better for the environment (less refrigeration means lower global warming emissions).

Even in parts of the world where UHT sales are less than half of all milk sales, most organic milk is UHT. For example, research carried out by Professor Rusty Bishop from the University of Wisconsin shows that in the USA and Canada “over 80% of organic milk is sold as organic UHT milk.”

All kinds of UHT milk (whether organic or nonorganic) are worse for health than non-UHT milk for a variety of reasons. For example, it is a fact that UHT is much higher in damaged whey proteins compared to non-UHT milk. Damaged whey proteins are a major cause of brain diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. There is plenty of research to support this view.

For Parkinson’s Disease, for example, a large study found a clear link between the disease and milk consumption (American Journal of Epidemiology, January 2007). The diets of more than 130,000 people in the study were analysed and it was found that those who consumed the most milk had a very significant 70 percent higher risk of getting the disease. Since UHT has more damaged whey proteins than regular milk, it is likely that the risk of getting Parkinson’s Disease will be even higher than 70 percent for UHT milk consumers.

But why is organic milk worse than regular milk? Isn’t organic milk meant to have less pesticide residues and no antibiotics? Isn’t organic milk meant to be better for the environment and kinder to cows? When the evidence is examined, an astonishing picture emerges. Organic milk has no less pesticides and antibiotics than regular milk. Furthermore, the vast majority of organic cows (in the world generally) are treated no better than nonorganic cows. They are kept in confined spaces in cow sheds most of their lives, and the belief that organic cows are allowed out to pasture most of the time is very much a myth.

Regarding the environment, all the research is showing that organic milk is very much worse for the environment in terms of global warming emissions and energy consumption. This occurs because organic milk requires greater energy consumption (pint for pint) for transportation, distribution, and warehousing. Most organic milk is produced on smaller farms, and consequently cannot match the economies of scale applicable to nonorganic pasteurized milk.

About the Author:
To get information on why all kinds of organic milk and UHT (Long Life) milk are so unhealthy (compared to regular milk) see Organic Milk Myth. Other resources can be found at www.about-milk.info.