Milk

[violaine]

I've read so many conflicting articles about the benefits as well as the drawbacks of milk. I've read that as well as helping to build bone mass with calcium, that semi-skimmed milk can also help to protect against certain types of cancer. But I have also read that milk can actually increase risk of breast cancer! This is all very confusing: does anyone have any more definite information about both the benefits and drawbacks of milk (particularly semi skimmed)?

[tracymort]

well if you don't eat everything they warn you about you'll eat nothing! just decide which ones you believe really! For me avoiding artificial sweeteners is important! ANyway back to milk. Cows milk isn't great when you have a cold as it is mucous producing. I heard it's something to do with the size of the proteins. Goats or sheeps is better for you really.

[TRINITY]

Well i been a vegan for a numbe rof years and at the age of 26 have ospteoporosis which means brittle bones and I've ahd all nastiness occour as a result, so if you can handle the taste drink it, dunno but full fat prob. best ;.)

[Kit]

Skimmed milk contains proportionally more calcium than full-fat. (Sorry to hear about your probems, Trinity - one of the reasons why I've never gone in for soya milk is the difficulty in finding calcium-enriched soya that hasn't been sweetened. I understand that sesame seeds contain a lot of calcium, but not sure how many you'd have to eat to be useful.)

[BadBob]

If man had spent millions of years developing a drink specifically designed to help baby cows grow would we all be drinking it ? I actually drink milk , but thats the basic argument for not drinking cows milk, thats its not for the likes of us humans but for cows. I subscibe to tracyh's words that if you listen to all the scares then you wouldn't be eating much.

[IggyB]

goat milks the answer, it much tastier and healthier and not mucus producing ... however it doesn't work very well it tea (goes a bit lumpy)

[LadyPickers]

I have recently read that milk from water buffaloes is the way to go - less of the nasties that are found in cow's milk. Waitrose are trialling it in two of their stores, but I believe that it is being rolled out to other branches soon. They had a really good article about it in their WFI magazine (poss Nov 03?) or it may be on their website.

[darth vader]

skimmed milk, semi-skimmed milk, and whole milk ALL have the same proportion of calcium, Kit

[Janetex]

There are many nationalities who do not have dairy foods as part of their diets. My daughter has been dairy-free for 22 years (apart from some goat & sheep milk products). Calcuim is available from many sources and a balanced diet is important.

[Bert]

The Japanese are famously lactose-intolerant, and, contrary to popular belief, cats generally have a bad time with cows' milk. Sogood do a "soya milk" that is calcium enriched, though it is sweetened, to make it taste like "real" milk, with grape juice, I think.