Milk: Is it healthy?

Milk-Does it help? Can it make acne worse?
Most people have heard that milk is good for them. It helps build bones and is an excellent source of calcium. However, there is a lot of controversy in this idea!

For the skin, the most recent dermatology literature discusses how acne is worsened with milk consumption. Milk comes from pregnant cows. Today, cows are kept in a constant state of pregnancy to produce milk. The later in pregnancy the cow is, the greater the amount of hormones the milk contains. When milk is processed, it is gathered from many cows at all different stages of pregnancy, so the amounts of hormones found in today's milk, is significantly higher than in the countries where there are no dairy farms, and cows are allowed to move throught their normal cycles of reproduction.

These high levels of hormones found in pregnant cows, specifically estrogen is being studied further. From an acne stand point, many people who have acne could be suffering from a hormonal imbalance. Consuming milk and or dairy products, worsens acne, because it can change or worsen hormonal imbalance. For some time now, I have recommended to my acne patients to be dairy free. For my Optimal Health patients, I recommend being dairy free for other reasons.

70% of the world is lactose intolerant, which suggest that biologically we were not suppose to be consuming dairy after infancy. The idea that milk builds bones is a myth. Milk is converted to lactic acid by the stomach. To maintain your natural acid base balance, your body pulls calcium from the bones when milk is consumed, and thus weakens bones, not building it! This becomes a greater problem after the age of 30 when our bodies are no longer building bone and are in a constant state of losing bone mass.

From a GI stand point, dairy intolerance can cause bloating, gas, nausea, diarrhea and weight gain! Weight gain occurs when consuming something the body can not digest. The body begins to preferentially absorb fat and sugar causing weight gain! And the extra estrogen found in milk or milk products such as chocolate can increase weight. And as my clients hear in our Optimal Health evaluation, the greater the body fat (from gaining weight), the greater the inflammation in your body. And this inflammation is the root cause of all chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

So I recommend that all of you try being dairy free for one month. Avoid all dairy products which include milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream as well as anything with casein. This is whey protein, as well as processed luncheon meat such as pastrami, salami, bologna, and hot dogs! After one month, if you want, slowly add the milk back in your diet. If you have bloating, gas, etc, you most likely are dairy intolerant. For acne, this test will need to continue for three months due to the skin cycle being about 8 weeks.

Other sources of calcium are kale, spinach, sesame seeds, and almonds. For a milk substitute, try Almond milk or Cocunut. I really enjoy this as an alternative to milk! So remember, to look good, feel great...don't drink milk!