Please. Could you tell me which form of "milk" is safe to drink?
Asked by
Aster (
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)
November 4th, 2013
A few months ago I gave up cows’ milk and turned to plain soy milk. Now I am reading that soy screws up your endocrine system.
Is almond milk bad too? Does almond milk come in different forms? I think I’ve had it unsweetened and didn’t like it at all. I just want some milk to drink with dinner, cereal and oatmeal. What kind can I drink without dying of cancer from it?
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51 Answers
Everything is going to kill you in the end. Screw it and enjoy life.
Hemp milk.
Low sodium, low cholesterol, high iron, no THC, and no estrogen.
info
I don’t care for it, but then, I don’t care for soy or almond either. My husband and my son both love hemp milk.
My whole family is drinking cow milk since they are born and noone died cause of it.
What about organic cow’s milk?
I really have no idea. I hate milk.
Why are you avoiding cow’s milk? Lactose intolerance?
I believe @Aster is going vegan as a “trying to be healthier” measure.
Well then, scratch the organic cows milk.
Have you tried coconut? That seems to be hot right now.
Cow’s milk comes from cows and has hormones and antibiotics in it . That does not appeal to me . Ground beef is sold even if it has tumors in it. They just grind it all up together. Who wants to drink milk from a sick cow?
Sweetened almond milk is quite good with cereal.
As I read that, I was slurping the milk from the bottom of my bowl of Frosted Flakes. Haha.
@Aster Have you ever been on a farm? The first thing the driver of the milk truck does is takes a sample of the milk before he or she loads it on the truck. If there are any traces of antibiotics the farmer has bought a tanker load of milk.
I’m sure that has happened, @Adirondackwannabe but I doubt it’s every delivery at every farm.
Does anyone know of a reason not to drink almond milk? I don’t like that it’s so heavily sweetened, but I’ve kind of developed a taste for it, and I wonder if it’s unhealthy.
@Aster There’s always organic cows’ milk, to avoid the hormones, although it costs the earth.
If you’re looking for healthy milk you could get your own cow and see to its nutrition and health yourself. Some people have discovered that although they cannot tolerate pasteurized milk, they can easily digest raw cow’s milk. Raw milk is safe if it is taken from a healthy animal. I know people who do that.
I also know people who avoid the additives in commercially made alternative milks by making their own at home, such as homemade almond milk.
Raw almond milk: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/rawfoodsrecipes/r/almondmilk.htm
Thanks @snowberry but get my own cow? are you serious?
I was thinking about organic cows’ milk but wow; is it expensive!
@Aster – What state do you live in? I could do a quick search for raw milk providers in your area. We have a few dairy farms in my area that sell raw milk and free range eggs.
@glacial there is unsweetened almond milk; the sweetened version is way too sweet for me!
@Aster: “Cow’s milk comes from cows and has hormones and antibiotics in it .”
Huh? Even the milk found at the large supermarkets here is growth-hormone and antibiotics free.
@Seek_Kolinahr Texas and there is a dairy but it is fifteen miles from our house. Thank you for offering.
@tom_g I can get the type of milk you mention three miles from my house and I will consider it. I just hate to spend that much.
@Aster: “I just hate to spend that much.”
How much? A half gallon of milk here is only $3.00 – $3.40. How much would you be paying for soy, almond, rice, or hemp milk? Those quarter gallon containers generally cost about $2.00 – $2.50, so it would be more money.
I really don’t remember but I’ll check it out Tom.
@tom_g “Even the milk found at the large supermarkets here is growth-hormone and antibiotics free.”
If that’s true, I think you’ll find it’s the exception, not the rule. I bought some milk in North Dakota a few months ago, and was amused to read a disclaimer on the label to the effect of “We are led to believe that there are no growth hormones in this milk, but we can’t be sure.” Then it made a ridiculous statement like, “No significant difference has been found between milk containing hormones and milk not containing hormones” – except that it didn’t specify what had been compared. It could have been the colour, for all I know.
I thought Tom meant they have a special shelf for organic milk. I didn’t think he meant that all the milk at his store claims to be organic!
Yeah, organic milk is almost double the price of non-organic milk here. I think he meant all the milk.
My milk (Florida, Publix or Aldi, usually) always says “Our Farmers Pledge NOT to use Artificial Growth Hormones”, and then there’s “The FDA has determined that no significant difference have been shown between milk from rBST treated and non-treated cows.”
Meaning, if there are hormones, the’ve not been shown to appear in the milk.
@tom_g: “I thought Tom meant they have a special shelf for organic milk. I didn’t think he meant that all the milk at his store claims to be organic!”
No, :) I didn’t mean that all of the milk is. I take it for granted because I haven’t purchased non-organic milk in 20 years. The “main” milk section in even our most traditional markets here are organic milk. There are those plastic gallon containers still there that someone must buy. But I don’t know who does. Note: Of course, there is Whole Foods, but I am referring to the supermarkets.
@glacial: “If that’s true, I think you’ll find it’s the exception, not the rule.”
Could be that the Boston area is not the norm here. But I can’t imagine too many people are still drinking that non-organic plastic bottle swill.
@Seek_Kolinahr I think those are exactly the same messages I was talking about.
@Seek_Kolinahr Saying that “our farmers pledge” not to use hormones is a way of refusing to take responsibility, and it’s a way of saying they have no oversight. No one is checking to see whether the farmers are keeping that pledge.
Further, saying “no significant difference has been shown”, but not specifying a difference in what is just using weasel words. As I said, it could be that there is no difference in colour, and they never tested anything else. When I teach statistics, this is one of the things I tell undergrads never to do. It’s a way of implying that you’ve done something you haven’t. In other words, it’s a lie.
And if the standard organic doesn’t sound good enough (man, it sure tastes great), you can always go with the grass-fed cow stuff. There’s plenty of that at Whole Foods (or equivalent). Like this.
@tom_g I live in a dairy province, and it’s rare to see organic milk in the main milk section – like, you almost never see that. It’s sidelined with the organic products. I wish that it claimed more of the supermarket real estate here, and I also wish I could afford to drink it. :/
And thanks, @ccrow, I’ll look out for that. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin#Human_health
Milk from rBST-treated cows is chemically similar to traditional milk. Both have very similar levels of protein, fat, and sugar. A study also indicated that both sources of milk had comparable levels of vitamins and minerals. Milk from rBST-treated cows is not, however, chemically identical to traditional milk. Milk from rBST-treated cows contains slightly elevated levels of hormones such as BST, and IGF1. Cows treated with rBST have a substantially higher rate of mastitis and more often require antibiotics; however, strict regulations and testing prevent any milk tainted with antibiotics from being sold in most markets in the developed world
…
BST is present in milk from both rBST-treated and untreated cows, but it is destroyed in the digestive system and even if directly injected, has no direct effect on humans
…
The Food and Drug Administration,[34] World Health Organization,[4] the American Dietetic Association,[29] and National Institutes of Health[35] have independently stated that dairy products and meat from BST-treated cows are safe for human consumption. The American Cancer Society issued a report declaring “The evidence for potential harm to humans [from rBGH milk] is inconclusive. It is not clear that drinking milk produced using rBGH significantly increases IGF-1 levels in humans or adds to the risk of developing cancer. More research is needed to help better address these concerns.
What’s your definition of “safe”?
Almond milk? Almonds have no nipples.
You’re not going to die of cancer from regular pasteurized cows milk. If you are lactose intolerant you might fart, but that’s about it.
@Rearbear thank you so much for your sensitive answer. You can’t beat class.
@Aster Yes I am serious. I know someone who owns a share of a cow on an organic farm. They pay the farmer to collect the milk and they go out every day or so and pick it up.
People have changed their entire lifestyle, even moved across country to accommodate their convictions or their health needs. I am not suggesting YOU do it, but I know people who do and have done it.
As for cows injected with BST, one of the hazards is that the cows end up receiving a lot more antibiotics because they are more prone to mastitis. I know this because we worked closely with a dairy farm for my daughter’s science experiment. She won 2nd prize in the regional science fair, by the way.
@Aster You wrote, “rearbear”. Heh. Get it?
@Aster The way it works on dairy farms, they monitor all the cattle for infection or any signs of illness. This is done by noticing their behavior, their temperature, and possibly other criteria. Once the animal is determined to have mastitis, (or any infection) it’s taken out of the milk production line, but they still strip the milk out as often as possible, and they start them on antibiotics. The cow continues to be milked as usual, but it’s thrown away until (I think) 6 weeks after the end of the antibiotic course. Once that’s done, the cow goes back on the production line. I’m sure our resident vet could help with the details here. I’ll ask her.
Breast milk ice cream. Ew.
I just threw up in my mouth a little.
^^ PETA tend to be overly dramatic, they are definitely not the best source. On the other hand, this,
”Cows treated with rBST have a substantially higher rate of mastitis and more often require antibiotics”
is reason enough for some, me included. “Mastitis” sounds painful. I’ll drink the organic milk.
@longgone Organic milk is fine if you can afford it.
I’ll never understand this ridiculous worry about every little thing. Oh no, killer milk!
I’m with @Adirondackwannabe. Everything is killing us. Switching to almond milk is hardly going to make any huge difference in your health.
@livelaughlove21 Yeah, the day I listen to any of PETA’s drivel is the day I go to Tammy Faye Baker for style tips and her husband Jim for moral advice.
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