Dairy Products: Suited for Human Nutrition?

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Dairy Products: Suited for Human Nutrition? JoAnn Guest Jan 10, 2005 20:11

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http://www.amazingdiet.org/

 

Milk and dairy products are advertised as wonder foods that will supply

all the nutrients required for healthy growth. The calcium levels in

milk, in particular, are stressed as an essential component of the human

diet, and the impression is created that a loss of this dietary source

of calcium will lead to abnormal bone development.

 

It is certainly true that dairy products are packed with nutrients, but

this does not mean that the combination of nutrients is suited to human

nutrition.

 

Mother’s milk is essential for infants, but then infants are specially

designed to cope with this growth-promoting food. Prior to weaning, the

necessary enzyme systems needed for the digestion and assimilation of

milk components are active, but they are progressively deactivated with

age.

 

The milk of other mammalian species also differs in composition from

mother’s milk, and this, together with the potential danger from

ingested antigens, makes cow’s milk unsuitable for human consumption.

 

There is considerable resistance from industry, and even from the

established scientific world, to the idea that dairy consumption is

detrimental to health, but the evidence from recent scientific findings

seems fairly conclusive with regard to this issue.

 

Dairy consumption is being coupled with a host of other diseases, and as

consumption rises world-wide, so the evidence is becoming more and more

conclusive.

 

In the past, the detrimental effect of the consumption of dairy products

may have been masked by the positive effects of other lifestyle choices

such as higher consumption of grains, fresh fruits and vegetables with

their high fibre content.

 

Western diets have, however experienced a sharp increase in the

consumption of animal products, including dairy products, with

concomitant decline in the consumption of whole grains, legumes, fruits

and vegetables, and this may explain the increase in the incidence of

degenerative diseases in industrialized countries.

 

Lactose Intolerance

 

Lactose, the sugar in milk, is broken down in the intestines by the

enzyme lactase. Most people are able to digest lactose properly during

infancy and early childhood, but as they grow older this ability

declines. Approximately 75% of adults worldwide are lactose intolerant

and those with the highest intolerance are native Americans and Asians

and only slightly lower than these are the blacks, Jews, Hispanics, and

southern Europeans. Lactose intolerance is lowest among northern

Europeans and their descendants. In the US some 25% of Caucasians, 51%

of Hispanics and 75% of all African Americans have insufficient levels

of lactase to digest dairy products and 90% of Asian Americans are

lactose intolerant.,3

It has been found that 90% of African people are lactase deficient, and

in the case of the rural Zulu of South Africa it was found that they

showed no change in blood glucose concentrations after ingesting 50 g of

lactose.[ii] When milk and dairy products are digested, lactose is

broken down by the enzyme lactase into glucose and galactose.

The presence of lactose is a feature of mammalian milk, but the

concentration of this sugar is normally geared to the needs of the

species, as are the concentrations of all the other components of milk.

In the case of humans, mother’s milk does not only contain the essential

nutrients that are required for growth and development but also contains

the bacterium bacillus bifidus that assists in the digestion of lactose.

In cow’s milk, however, the bacterial composition differs from that of

human milk, and if cow’s milk is fed to infants, this can interfere with

the digestion of lactose.

Moreover, human milk has a higher carbohydrate concentration (7%-7.5%)

than cow’s milk (4.5%-5%) and contains some 200 mmol/litre of lactose

which makes it sweeter than cow’s milk.

The lower protein and higher carbohydrate content of human milk is also

more suited to the needs of infants, because their growth rates are

considerably lower than those of calves.

After the conversion of lactose to glucose and galactose, the available

galactose is not utilized as such, but is converted to glucose in the

liver by a series of steps requiring the initial presence of the enzyme

galactokinase.

The production of both the enzymes lactase and galactokinase declines

with age, and the capacity to digest and utilize the products of lactose

in adult life is thus curtailed.

A deficiency in the enzyme lactase will result in fermentation of

lactose by intestinal bacteria, which can result in abdominal distress

such as the development of excessive gas, cramping, bloating, borborygmi

(stomach rumbling), altered bowel habits and diarrhoea.[iii]

The severity of the symptoms depends on the quantity of lactose consumed

and the level of intolerance.

Milk Protein Intolerance

A further problem with milk is encountered in the digestion of the milk

protein casein. In comparison to human milk, cow’s milk contains 300%

more casein and more than double the amount of total protein.

Casein and ß-lactoglobulin are the two main proteins in milk and they

are unique in that they contain a perfect blend of amino acids, which is

precisely what is needed during early infant growth.

Human infants, however, double their mass on average 180 days after

birth, whereas cows achieve the same feat in only 47 days. Cow’s milk is

therefore geared to meet the rapid growth requirements of cows, but is

not suitable for humans.

Casein also naturally stimulates thyroid function in infants, and as the

thyroid is involved in many developmental processes, including the

development of the nervous system,

casein from other mammalian species could have adverse effects on

metabolic processes of infants particularly since a portion of the

dietary casein can be absorbed

undigested and serve as " antigen " .

As is the case with the enzyme lactase that digest lactose, the

concentration of the enzyme rennin, that breaks down the casein, also

declines with age in all mammals, and by the time milk teeth develop it

is virtually nonexistent in the human digestive tract.

Without rennin, the digestion of casein has to be carried out by the

normal proteolytic enzymes which are not as efficient in breaking down

casein.

The presence of casein in the diet of mammals has also been linked to

elevated cholesterol levels and various degenerative diseases such as

arteriosclerosis.

Rabbits fed casein developed arteriosclerosis, but the effect could be

reduced if a plant protein source, such as non-gmo soybean flour was

introduced into the diet.

This shows, that the amino acid pool produced by casein probably no

longer meets the requirements of weaned or adult mammals.

Casein also produced higher cholesterol levels than non-gmo soy protein

in a number of animal species, including rates, hamsters, guinea pigs,

pigs, and monkeys.

In humans, a reduction in cholesterol levels was also found if meat and

dairy proteins were replaced by soy proteins.

Casein also seems to have an adverse effect on 'insulin secretion',

'thyrozine' levels, gastrointestinal 'hormones' and it has an adverse

effect on 'calcium metabolism'..

The above has been excerpted from the book Diet and Health by Professor

Walter J. Veith available through our webstore.

_________________

JoAnn Guest

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