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Is Cow Milk Designed for Humans?

Is Cow Milk Designed for Humans?

In 2012, about 212 billion liters of cow's milk was consumed globally. A huge proportion of the 212 billion liters was consumed in America. The average American consumes 375 pounds of dairy products every year and 1 out of every 7 dollars spent in grocery stores in the United States goes for the purchase of dairy foods. Cow's milk is more American than apple pie, which should not be a surprise although apple pie does not have a multi-billion dollar industry lobbying congress leaders to do its biddings and a multi-million dollar advertising budget to promote it as the perfect food for humans, especially children.

In nutrition classes in school, we were taught that milk is one of the four basic food groups required for proper nutrition and maintenance of good health. Obviously, the dairy products we ingest are obtained from cow's milk. However, our instructors failed to tell us that the milk of cows is designed to increase the size of a 65-pound baby calf into a 700-pound cow pending when the cow’s digestive system will be ready to take in solid food. This generally takes about one year. In the words of Dr. Michael Klaper, one of world’s leading specialist in nutrition-based medicine, “Cow's milk is baby calf growth fluid.

Comparing Cow's Milk and Human Milk

The composition of cow's milk is similar to that of human milk, but the concentrations of these components differ. Milk from cows contains much higher amount of proteins, such as casein and whey, and even higher concentrations of sodium, potassium, fats, minerals and hormones, including the potent cancer promoters estrogen and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) than the milk obtained from human mammary glands. These nutrients promote the rapid growth of a baby calf but are not well suited for other species, including humans.

Casein is not well suited for our digestive system; it coagulates and form curds in our gastrointestinal tract. On the other hand, whey, as it is found in higher proportion in human milk, is more easily digested by human babies. In addition, high levels of casein together with other proteins and hormones found in cow milk, such as estrogen, lactoalbumin, and IGF-1 has been linked to the development of diseases, such as asthma, acne, breast cancer, prostrate cancer, type-1 diabetes and even mouth ulcers.

Is Dairy Part of a Healthy Diet?

The answer is simple: No. All the nutrients required to maintain good health can be obtained from whole food plant based diets. Cow's milk is designed to meet the nutritive needs and sustain the rapid growth of a calf. We do not have the need to gain hundreds of pounds in a few months. Humans absolutely have no business drinking the growth fluid of baby calves.

Note: We are grateful for the comments below from Veterinarian Amy Amy Levinsky which helped us to improve this blog. Helpful comments are always welcome and appreciated. We invite our readers to sign up for membership at DrCarney.com and join in the conversations

Additional Information: 

(1) Give up Dairy Products to Beat Cancer

(2) Cow's Milk Is Bad for Humans

(3) Is Cow's Milk Meant for Human Consumption?

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Dear Dr. Carney,

Thanks for the work you do in promoting a plant-based lifestyle. I recently saw your article titled “Is Cow Milk Designed for Humans?”. I think it’s a great article overall that informs the public that cow’s milk is meant for calves to consume, and I think that there is one part that could be improved to make it even better yet.

As a veterinarian (and a vegan!), I was concerned to see that the article states that cattle are better equipped to digest milk than humans are because of the ruminant four-chambered stomach. Based on my veterinary education, I am not sure this is completely accurate. At birth and during the first few weeks of life, the rumen, reticulum, and omasum are undeveloped. In contrast to the mature cow, in the calf, the abomasum is the largest compartment of the stomach. [The abomasum is equivalent to the stomach of a monogastric (ie. like a human stomach)]. At this stage of life, the rumen is nonfunctional and some feeds that are digestible by the adult cannot be used by the calf. During nursing, milk bypasses the rumen via the esophageal groove and is directed into the abomasum. Reflex action closes the groove to form a tube-like structure...

Dear Dr. Carney,

Thanks for the work you do in promoting a plant-based lifestyle. I recently saw your article titled “Is Cow Milk Designed for Humans?”. I think it’s a great article overall that informs the public that cow’s milk is meant for calves to consume, and I think that there is one part that could be improved to make it even better yet.

As a veterinarian (and a vegan!), I was concerned to see that the article states that cattle are better equipped to digest milk than humans are because of the ruminant four-chambered stomach. Based on my veterinary education, I am not sure this is completely accurate. At birth and during the first few weeks of life, the rumen, reticulum, and omasum are undeveloped. In contrast to the mature cow, in the calf, the abomasum is the largest compartment of the stomach. [The abomasum is equivalent to the stomach of a monogastric (ie. like a human stomach)]. At this stage of life, the rumen is nonfunctional and some feeds that are digestible by the adult cannot be used by the calf. During nursing, milk bypasses the rumen via the esophageal groove and is directed into the abomasum. Reflex action closes the groove to form a tube-like structure which prevents milk from entering the rumen. Within ten minutes, the milk forms a clot in the abomasum from the coagulation of milk protein or casein, the enzymes rennin and pepsin, and the hydrochloric acid in the abomasum. Other milk components, primarily whey proteins, lactose and most minerals separate from the curd and rapidly pass into the small intestine. The lactose is digested quickly and, in contrast to casein and fat, provides immediate energy to the calf. The clot is then slowly absorbed over the next 12–18 hours.

As long as the calf remains on milk, the rumen remains undeveloped. When calves begin consuming grain and forage, a microbial population becomes established in the rumen and reticulum. End products of microbial fermentation are responsible for the development of the rumen. So in truth, calves physiologically digest milk in a similar fashion to the monogastric human. Thus, although the four stomach compartments are present in the calf, the whole system is not functional in the calf, and instead, milk is digested similar to humans.

Source: http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/dairy/feed-and-nutrition/feeding-the-dairy-herd/ruminant-anatomy-and-physiology.html

Sincerely,

Amy Levinsky, DVM

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Amy Levinsky
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hello Amy,

What you have said seems very right and I believe that we will need to write a bit of a correction to our blog post so I thank you for bringing this to our attention. With you being a veterinarian I suspect you are very well suited to help us know how to best improve our position in this blog. Can you please elaborate a bit more on the reasons why you personally believe that cows milk is not suitable for humans.

I would love any ideas of how you think we should write a correction to the blog post or even rewrite sections of the blog post to make them more accurate. Of course your comment here is also very helpful. I am thinking that the main issue in your mind might be the actual difference in the composition of cow milk compared to human milk.

Thank you SO MUCH for writing to us about this.

Sean Carney

Comment was last edited about 8 years ago by Sean Carney Sean Carney
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hello Sean,

I would probably just remove the points about the four-chambered stomach making cattle better equipped to digest milk from the article. Since it is not correct, for the reasons written in my previous post, it doesn't support the argument that cow's milk shouldn't be consumed, and may possibly harm the integrity of the overall message.

In regards to my understanding of why humans should not really be consuming cow's milk, I don't have the nutrition science background/credentials to state such reasons. That is where the plant-based nutrition professionals (like Dr. Carney!) come in. I was raised on the standard American diet, and didn't become vegan for a long time because of how I had been indoctrinated with the belief that we "must" consume animal products as part of a normal, healthy diet. After discovering plant-based nutrition experts, I realized that people can not only survive, but truly thrive, on a whole foods, plant-based diet.

My reasons for avoiding dairy (and other animal products) is first and foremost for ethical reasons, which I suppose is beyond the scope of this blog.

~Amy Levinsky, DVM

Amy Levinsky
This comment was minimized by the moderator on the site

Hello again Amy,

And, Thank you. Dr. Carney wants me to modify the blog as you have suggested and hopes that your comments will be a blessing to our readers! She also applauds you for your ethical stance. And of course there are also environmental as well as the ethical and health concerns. All of these are valid and good motivations for abandoning the practice of drinking cow's milk.

I am very grateful to you for the time you spent on this.

Sean Carney

Sean Carney
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