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Writer's pictureThe Young Vegan

What Does Science Say About... Drinking Milk?

Updated: Mar 15, 2021


Before starting this post I did a search on Google, "should you drink cow's milk?" The first thing that came up was an article written for the Guardian newspaper in 2016.


"Not really – it made sense to drink milk at one time, so we adapted to do so. And cow's milk is nutritious – it contains calcium, vitamins A and D and riboflavin, as well as protein and isn't heavy on calories... Lactose is the sugar found in milk and dairy products and it needs the enzyme lactase to break it down. Without enough lactase, the lactose is broken down by bacteria in the small bowel, causing bloating, flatulence, stomach cramps, diarrhoea and nausea."


PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals say that we should stop drinking cow's milk and give 12 reasons that include, the amount of fat in milk, milk allergies and acne. There have been a lot of studies that have shown a strong link to drinking milk and having acne and other skin conditions. Some people have found that, after taking milk out of their diet their acne went away completely.


It's not just drinking milk that can be really bad for you, eating cheese isn't a healthy choice either. Cheese is made by taking milk, keeping it until it goes of and gets lumpy then squeezing those lumps into a block and leaving them to go hard. It takes a lot of milk to make cheese which means that you get more milk from cheese then from just drinking it straight. This also means that when you eat cheese you get a lot more of the bad things that you would find in milk, this can include germs. Remember that milk has to be left to go off before it can be made into cheese? Well, the germs in that off milk don't go away, they will stay in the cheese, then when you eat it those germs will stay in your gut, you don't poop them out, they actually set up home inside you.


But then what about the cows? We know that cow's milk isn't good for humans, but what about how we get the milk from the cows, what do the cows think? I'm pretty sure that they hate it. To get milk from a cow they have to have a baby, without a baby cows don't make milk, it's the same for people. Cows are forced to get pregnant, The cows will be in a pen so that they can't escape, sometimes they are held down while people do this because the cows do not like it one bit. When they have their baby the calf is taken away so that humans can take the milk. This is something else that the cows don't like, they cry for days after their babies are taken. The babies cry for their mummies too, but they are taken and sold for food, the whole thing is very sad.




We don't need to drink milk of any kind, cows milk, goats milk, I've even seen camels milk in the supermarket, we don't need plant milk either, but if we do want milk for porridge, cereal, hot chocolate or a vegan cheese sauce there are lots of plant based alternatives. Many plant based milks have vitamins and minerals added to them such as vitamin B12, iron and calcium so you won't be missing anything that you need by not drinking cow's milk.


Below is a link to the PETA article if you want to read it yourself


https://www.peta.org/living/food/reasons-stop-drinking-milk/

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