Taylor Harrison-Why You Should Stop Drinking Milk

Now I know what you’re thinkinG

You’ve heard all your life that milk is good for your bones and you’ve seen plenty of your favorite celebrities with that famous milk mustache for those Got Milk campaign ads. So how could milk be bad for you? Well I’m here to tell you that they are lying to you! (WHAT!? A corporation is lying to me to make money? Shocker.) Here’s 5 reasons why you should stop drinking milk immediately!

1. Milk Makes Your Bones Weaker

Here’s a quick body chemistry lesson. The proteins found in cow’s milk are acidic. Our bodies naturally neutralize acidic compounds by using calcium. Calcium is mostly found in the bones of our bodies and therefore milk depletes our bones of calcium. The Harvard Nurse’s Study found that drinking milk can increase your risk of bone fracture by 50%! In fact, countries that consume less dairy products, such as in Asia and India, have lower rates of osteoporosis than other countries. So it’s not that milk does give you enough calcium, it’s that its taking away the calcium you already have. Bummer, right?

2. Milk Is Killing You

Yes, you read that right. The British Medical Journal found that people who drank an average of three cups of milk a day were twice as likely to die earlier than those who drank one cup a day. The study believes that a sugar in milk, called galactose, causes an inflammatory response in the body which makes the bones weaker. Drinking milk can also contribute to heart disease and obesity, which leads me to my next point…

3. You’re Not A Baby Calf

Cow’s milk is made for baby calves, human breast milk is made for baby humans. A simple very concept. Milk was made with saturated fats and sugar, so babies could gain weight quickly and easily digest the nourishment they need to survive those tough early years of life. But as we get older, our bodies stop producing the enzyme that can digest lactose, the sugar found in milk. That’s why 75% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant. The symptoms of lactose intolerance include stomach pain, diarrhea, bloating, and gas. So basically all the effects you usually try to avoid when picking the foods you want to eat. You probably wouldn’t go to your local grocery store and buy a fresh gallon of human breast milk, so stop buying cow’s milk!

4. You’re Drinking Milk… and Hormones, Antibiotics, and Pus

Yep, that nice cold glass of milk is filled with harmful additives. Commercial dairy cows are given a growth hormone, called Bovine, which makes them produce milk faster. One of the warning of Bovine is that it causes mastitis, an udder infection, where pus is secreted from the cow and 16.5% of the cow die from it.

Once it gets sick, the cow must then be treated with antibiotics. All of these additives have a negative effect on your health. The Harvard Nurse’s Health Study found that this hormone can make you seven times more likely to develop breast cancer. The Cancer Prevention Coalition has tried for years to get this toxic growth hormone out of our milk, but the dairy industry will not listen. So now all of those hormones, pus cells, and antibiotics are what you end up eating with your morning bowl of Frosted Flakes. Yum.

5. Dairy Cows Are Treated Like Crap

The dairy industries see cows as products instead of the extremely emotional animals that they are. Their bodies are pushed to the limits from living in a constant state of stress. Cows are deeply maternal animals and, after being forced to give birth multiple times, their calf is immediately taken away to have the same fate as their mothers. Mother cows are known to cry for months after they lose their calf.

Cows usual live an average of 20 years when they are free range, but commercial cows are usually killed after 5 years because they are too weak to be profitable anymore. They are forced to stay in cages that barely allow them to turn around and this eventually leaves them unable to walk. Once they can no longer produce milk, they are slaughtered to become dog and cat food because their bodies are too sickly to be turned into a steak and given to humans. Now cow should be forced to live in these cruel and inhumane conditions.

I’m not perfect

I’ll admit I still use milk for baking and other meals at times because I’ve grown up with it all my life. I’m trying to slowly drink and use it less in my daily life. There are plant based milks, like almond, soy, or coconut, which are healthier and more humane options to get your nourishment on a daily basis. Whether you get rid of dairy products is up to you, but it’s important to at least be conscious of what you’re putting in your body.