All Things MILK

A collection of videos & articles 
about milk

This is a pretty comprehensive indictment of the dairy industry, as to how a persistent lie, year after year, for decades, can become a truth in the mind, even after it has been proven to be a lie.

The first section will reference videos. The second will refer to written articles. And the third will consist of excerpts from several books.

#1) Robert Cohen talks abut his book 'Milk: the Deadly Poison' (5min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE&NR=1

#2)  Informative lecture worth the time. You can skip the 1st 3min. introduction. (51min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh3wY4_FhBE

#3) John McDougall: 'The Perils of Dairy' (2003). There has never been a case of dietary calcium deficiency reported in the world literature. In 2003 the dairy industry dedicated $165 million dollars to advertise their products. You can start at the 6:25 mark, unless you want to listen to 6 min. of introductions.  (1hr. 17min.)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJvrlwnEqbs

#4) Most interesting video of attempt by Fox News to cover up an investigative report on Monsanto's bovine growth hormone intended to increase cow milk producton. (10 min.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqepg46qtDA&feature=related

#5) Interview in spanish, with english subtitle, about dangers of milk. (15 min.). Gentleman being interviewed has published 3 books on veganism. "The Ethical Diet,"  "You Will Not Drink Milk," and "Vegan Children, Happy and Healthy." In this video he explains why milk products are not a natural part of the human diet. Worth the little extra effort to read subtitles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmTDLBBDo_M&feature=related


#6) German video on milk production (9 min.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlGr1GpG-0


#7)The Problem with conventional and organic milk. (2:21)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTruEnXhkVA

#8)What you never knew about Dairy: (4min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8kdpcFaNsw


Lengthy article with videos:
Got Brainwashed? 5 things to consider before you pour your next glass of milk               http://www.yourtimetravels.com/blog/animal-advocacy/got-brainwashed-5-things-to-consider-before-pouring-your-next-glass-of-milk/


This is a lengthy article on milk, titled: The Bizarre and Outrageous Cruelty Behind Every “Milk Moustache” http://www.nonhumanslavery.com/behind-the-milk-moustache

The Dangers of Cow's Milk, an article:
No other animal in the animal kingdom drinks milk beyond childhood. No other animal suffers from osteoporosis, except the occasional pet raised on human meals.
http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/linda_folden_palmer.html

From:THE MILK LETTER : A MESSAGE TO MY PATIENTS
Robert M. Kradjian, MD
WHAT IS MILK? Milk is a maternal lactating secretion, a short term nutrient for new-borns. Nothing more, nothing less.
Invariably, the mother of any mammal will provide her milk
for a short period of time immediately after birth. When the
time comes for 'weaning', the young offspring is introduced
to the proper food for that species of mammal.
See entire article:  http://notmilk.com/kradjian.html


Obtaining Notmilk Calcium
from Robert Cohen: http://www.notmilk.com/

There was a time in my life when human breast milk
was my primary calcium-rich food. Those who believe in
God or Evolution or Mother Nature are in universal
agreement on one thing: Human breast milk is the
perfect food for baby humans.

I've been weaned. I no longer drink human breast milk.
Nor do I drink dog milk, pig milk, or cow's milk.

My calcium comes from eating or juicing raw
fruits and vegetables.

A 100-gram portion of human breast milk contains
33 milligrams of calcium. Consider that number
(33) when reviewing my favorite calcium-rich foods.

My top two-dozen calcium choices (per 100-gram portion):

1. Almonds 234 mg
2. Apricots (dried) 67 mg
3. Beet greens 99 mg
4. Broccoli 48 mg
5. Carrot 37 mg
6. Cashew nuts 38 mg
7. Swiss Chard 88 mg
8. Collards 250 mg
9. Cress 81 mg
10. Dandelion greens 187 mg
11. Endive 81 mg
12. Escarole 81 mg
13. Figs (dried) 126 mg
14. Filberts (Hazelnuts) 209 mg
15. Kale 249 mg
16. Lettuce (dark green) 68 mg
17. Mustard Green 183 mg
18. Olives 61 mg
19. Orange 43 mg
20. Parsley 203 mg
21. Raisins 62 mg
22. Spinach 93 mg
23. Sunflower seeds 120 mg
24. Water Cress 151 mg

Can it be any clearer to you that there are quite a
number of raw food options containing calcium?


From: http://www.thevegetariansite.com/ed_milk.htm

Here, I offer seven questions that get to the root of the Dairy Council's "Calcium Crisis." These questions raise some serious concerns regarding milk, and I invite the Dairy Council to respond.

1) If cow's milk improves bone health, how is it that the United States is a world leader in dairy consumption yet also has one of the highest rates of osteoporosis?

2) What percentage of studies related to milk and calcium are funded by the Dairy Council and other milk-industry groups? Each year, how many researchers and nutritionists receive grants from the Dairy Council and other milk industry groups?

3) Leafy greens contain no cholesterol or saturated fat, and they are loaded with beneficial phytochemicals that are absent from dairy products. There are some greens like spinach that contain oxalates that inhibit calcium absorption, but a number of other leafy greens have been proven to be better calcium sources than milk (both by weight and by calorie.) If increasing dietary calcium is a goal of the dairy council, why isn't priority given to leafy greens, especially since the calcium in leafy greens is often more plentiful and better absorbed than the calcium in dairy products?

4) During the June 1999 Calcium Summit, no representatives were present from industries or farm collectives that market leafy greens. Nor were representatives invited from other food concerns that market nondairy calcium rich foods and supplements. Given the contribution that these products could make to calcium consumption, why weren't people connected with these industries specifically invited to the summit?

5) Why do many "Got Milk" advertisements feature celebrities of African or Asian descent, while these ads fail to mention that most adults of these ethnicities lack the enzyme to properly digest milk?

6) Why hasn't the National Dairy Council taken a stance to ensure that milk from cows treated with Monsanto's rBGH is labeled, so that consumers can choose to avoid this milk if they so desire?

7) The National Dairy Council and its associated groups consistently put out the message that milk builds strong bones and reduces osteoporosis risk. If milk can reduce the risk of osteoporosis, why has Harvard's Nurses' Health Study, which included over 57,000 women, found women who consumed the most calcium from dairy products had almost double the rate of hip fractures compared to women who got the least calcium from dairy?

                                          
FROM BOOKS

WHITEWASH: Joseph Keon (2010)

I wrote this book to try and explain why Americans, among the top consumers of calcium in the world (largely by way of dairy products), also have one of the world's highest rates of bone fracture.

For over eighty years the milk industry, through relentless advertising and the cooperation of our public school systems and the medical professions, has hammered a myth into the collective American psyche: that cow's milk is a healthy, calcium-rich food essential to building and maintaining strong bones and teeth.

Consider these facts: societies with low-calcium diets and only a fraction of our dairy consumption have less risk and prevalence of bone fracture. Dairy products are not dietary staples in China, Japan, Vietnam, or Thailand, yet the residents of these countries suffer some of the lowest rates of bone fracture.

The world's biggest consumers of cow's milk, dairy products, and calcium--Australia, New Zealand, North America, and Western Europe--also have the highest risk of suffering a bone fracture.

You will learn why cow's milk and products made from it are not only unnecessary in your diet, their inclusion places you and your children at risk of a host of health problems.

You will come to understand why and how the milk myth has been so successfully perpetuated upon us all, and how truly easy it is to leave dairy products behind.

According to the USDA the average American consumes approximately thirty ounces of milk, cheese, and butter a day--or
six hundred pounds of dairy products a year. Seventy-two percent of our calcium is derived from dairy foods. Milk vending-machines stand in high-school corridors across the nation. From our earliest years we receive the pervasive messages promoting cow's milk and dairy foods.

Every source of available information, from health magazines, wellness newsletters, doctors, school coaches, personal trainers, and commercials on television, confirmed the same message: Drink More Milk. To question milk was almost like questioning the American flag.

The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) primary job is not to encourage healthful eating, as you might assume, but rather to promote American agricultural products. During the last revision of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, put out by the USDA and HHS (health and human services), six of the eleven advisory board members had intimate ties to dairy industry institutions.

The National Osteoporosis Foundation agressively promotes the milk myth, strongly advocating the consumption of dairy products in its literature, even when the body of scientific evidence fails to support this as a truly affective way to protect bone.

The US government's significant role in supporting and virtually sponsoring the dairy industry also compromises its objectivity in this regard. The gov't subsidizes the milk industry with up to $2.5 billion in tax breaks every year (2009).

Teaching materials provided by the Dairy Council have been the primary sources from which teachers derived nutritional information
for their classes. Today, an estimated 20 million schoolchildren each year receive the dairy industry's promotional literature in the classroom.

Although still high, sales of dairy-related products have been declining since the mid 1960s. Average American milk consumption:
1966       35.5 gallons of milk/yr
1976       31.6     "            "
1986       28.6     "            "
1997       26.2     "            "

In 1999 the Dairy Council held a  'Calcium Summit' in Washington D.C. There is a serious shortage of calcium in the American diet, we were told, and this portends the serious condition of osteoporosis. Funded by the dairy industry, full page ads in the New York Times warned of this major health "emergency".

The obsession with calcium suggests that all bones need to be healthy is calcium, and if we can cram enough calcium into our body through milk, dairy products, and other means....It is simply not that easy. As we will see, this culture of calciumism is sorely misguided.

The reality is that our present approach to preventing bone fracture is an unqualified failure. Why is one industry seemingly so concerned about the health of Americans, while untold numbers of others don't seem to care at all? For exaample, why are there no 'Broccoli Growers Association, or National Kale Council busy holding "calcium summits and filling magazines and billboards with clever ads coaxing consumers to rely on their products?

It cow's milk is essential for human health, how did so many humans survive prior to large-scale dairy farming, packaging, trucking, and refrigeration? And how do hundreds of millions of people around the world continue to maintain excellent bone health without drinking cow's milk? Why are humans the only species that drinks the milk of another species?

Peruse any of the multitude of health magazines published in America, particularly those aimed at women, and you are bound to find an article on the importance of calcium and the virtues of drinking milk.

Jane Brody's well-respected health column in the New York Times, advised readers, "The best, and best absorbed sources of these nutrients (calcium & vitamin D) are low-fat and nonfat dairy products". In another column, this one on dental health, Ms. Brody assures readers that "Milk builds strong bones." As we will see, the first assertion is simply untrue; the second would be correct if it only referred to cow's bones. There is no conclusive evidence that cow's milk builds strong bones in humans; in fact, the data that do exist suggest it plays a far less significant role than we have been led to believe.

There are some 5,400 different species of mammals, including cows, and everyone produces milk for their young. In each case, including humans, the milk is nutritionally unique to meet the exact needs of the species. In other words its nutrient compostion --fat, protein, carbohydrate, sodium, phosphorus, and so forth--varies in proportion to factors such as the growth rate of the various species' offspring, which differ dramatically.

Where did we get the idea that humans should drink cow's milk? Why is it that so many people find it acceptable to drink cow's milk but not cat's milk, giraffe's, dog's milk, or rat's milk for that matter? If I asked you why you don't drink elephant's milk, you would probably reply, "because elephant's milk is for baby elephants!"  Precisely my point.

5% of the calories in human milk is protein         180

11% of the calories in horse milk is protein            60

15% of the calories in cow milk is protein              47

17% of calories in goat milk is protein                   19

The number after protein above, is the number of days required for the offspring to double their their birth weight. The slower-growing the species, the lower the percentage of calories provided as protein.

There is no essential nutritional factor in cow's milk that humans cannot readily obtain from a healthful food that is better suited to our well-being.

The primary justification for promoting cow's milk is the abundance of calcium it contains. But cow's milk does not have a corner on the calcium market. As we will see in chapter 9, there are a multitude of healthful foods from which we can derive the calcium our bodies need.

Few people are aware that humans can absorb a greater portion of the calcium found in a cup of kale, broccoli, or fortified orange juice, than that in a cup of cow's milk.

As we shall see in chapter 7, excess dietary protein (more later)

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This comes from World Animal Foundation:  http://www.worldanimalfoundation.net/home.html

The Dairy Industry

How has milk production changed since the 1950s? Intensive dairy practices and modified feeds have enabled U.S. dairy cows to produce 2.5 times as much milk today as they did in the 1950s. These intensive practices place dairy cattle under enormous stress to produce an abnormally large amount of milk, 10-20 times the amount of milk they need to suckle their calves. As a result, dairy cattle "burn out" at a much younger age than their normal life span or even the life span of a milk-producing dairy cow in the 1950s and consequently are culled and slaughtered at an early age.

Up to 33% of dairy cows develop mastitis, a very painful udder infection that can become systemic, and is a common reason for early slaughtering. Abnormally large udders produce problems walking, so a cow's legs are usually spread apart, distorting the normal configurations of her pelvis and spine. Her back problems are aggravated when she must walk on hard ground and concrete.

The dairy farms of today are quite different than the picturesque sunshine-filled meadows of contented cows we imagined as children. Today, most dairy cattle are confined to a barren fenced lot with a packed dirt floor, where they must endure all types of weather, including rain and extreme temperatures 24 hours a day. Factory farming systems (sometimes known as dry-lot) seldom provide shade, shelter or clean comfortable resting areas. Dairy cattle are often covered with their own filth because they cannot escape the dirty dry lot conditions. In colder climates dairy cattle may be provided shelter in winter, but most dairy practices remain the same.

To boost their milk production, the cattle are fed high intensity feeds and grains that often cause digestive upset. They are also injected with Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) to increase by up to 25% the already exorbitant amount of milk they produce. Of the 9 million dairy cattle in the U.S., 7-25% are injected with BGH.

The use of BGH to increase milk production results in increased udder size and increased frequency of infection. The large numbers of cattle that are crammed into small spaces where the soil is hard and compact increases the incidence of injury and lameness as well. Some dairies have up to one thousand cows, which means the factory dairy farmer may often fail to recognize that veterinary care is needed until the illness or injury has progressed beyond successful treatment ... and the cows are sent to slaughter.

Fully 25% of dairy cattle are slaughtered before they are 3 years old. Only 25% of dairy cattle live more than 7 years, although the natural life span for cattle is 20-25 years. (The oldest cow on record lived to be 49 years old!) Injury, illness, milk production lower than optimum, poor conception rates, and other factory-farming-induced health problems are common reasons dairy cattle are sold for slaughter long before they have lived out their natural life span.

Every year 17 million shots of antibiotics are given to cattle for infections related to milk production and other diseases. Most commercial ground beef is made from the meat of culled dairy cattle. Because dairy cattle have not been raised specifically for human consumption, dairy cattle have often been treated with antibiotics shortly before being butchered in an attempt to cure the disease that later resulted in their being killed. Therapeutic antibiotics are also routinely given to dairy calves and cattle. This means that antibiotics are entering the human food chain through the consumption of the milk and meat of dairy cattle. Many experts feel that the excessive consumption of antibiotic-tainted animal products has created a number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (superbugs) that may be a threat to human health.

A heifer (female) calf will probably remain on the farm to replace her mother or some other worn-out milk producer. A bull (male) calf is usually thrown in a truck and sent to an auction while he is still wet with amniotic fluid, still unable to stand by himself. Many bull calves die at the auction yard and those who don't are often sold to a veal operation, where they live out their short lives confined to a tiny crate that prevents almost all movement and fed an iron-poor diet to make their flesh pale. For calves reared as replacement heifers, life is not much better -- farmers make feeding and maintenance easier by housing the heifers for the first few months of their lives in crates barely larger than veal crates.

The days of a calf being born in a field and being nurtured by her mother are long gone. Calves are separated from their mothers within 24 hours of birth, and weaned from milk within 8 weeks (calves will gladly suckle for as long as eight months if allowed to do so). A calf separated from her mother at an early age does not receive any immunities through her mother's milk, and is therefore vulnerable to disease -- a 10% mortality rate is common.

The nearly half a million factory farms in the U.S. produce 130 times more waste than the human population. Cattle produce nearly one billion tons of organic waste each year. The waste from livestock, chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides are a primary source of water pollution in this country. Wastes from dairies, feedlots, and chicken and hog farms enter waterways, damaging aquatic ecosystems and making the water unfit for consumption. Cattle also contribute significantly to global warming because they emit methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide, three of the four gases responsible for trapping solar heat.
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Buddhist Monks consider the elimination of milk and dairy

Feature documentary on milk ‘Got the Facts on Milk?’ promotes increased interest in a non-diary diet among Buddhists and yoga practitioners.

http://www.milkdocumentary.com/2011/12/14/san-francisco-chronicle/

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Health Concerns about Dairy Products

Many Americans, including some vegetarians, still consume substantial amounts of dairy products—and government policies still promote them—despite scientific evidence that questions their health benefits and indicates their potential health risks.

Osteoporosis

Milk’s main selling point is calcium, and milk-drinking is touted for building strong bones in children and preventing osteoporosis in older persons. However, clinical research shows that dairy products have little or no benefit for bones. A 2005 review published in Pediatrics showed that milk consumption does not improve bone integrity in children.¹ Similarly, the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study,² which followed more than 72,000 women for 18 years, showed no protective effect of increased milk consumption on fracture risk.
(read more)
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vegdiets/health-concerns-about-dairy-products?mid=57


RAPE OF THE COW FOR HER MILK!

Bob Linden   (feb. 19, 2012) Can a true "feminist" ever support rape? Shouldn't an attack such as the recent one on contraception be matched by equally great and ongoing feminine outrage over the massive industrialized rape of millions who are exploited only because they are female. They say "no", but nobody ever listens. One by one, they are raped, held captive in a restraining device called "the rape rack". Is this some story of sexual perversion in a foreign land, or is it sexual perversion in your refrigerator? Face it. Innocent cows, undeserving of rape as everyone is, are thrown on a device that the dairy industry itself calls "the rape rack". Period. End of story. If you drink cows' milk, you drink RAPE MILK. You also drink KIDNAP MILK. Can a true "feminist" support rape and kidnapping? After being forcibly raped, there is no abortion - there is the birth of her child, who is immediately kidnapped from her, as they cry for each other. Can a true "feminist" be insensitive to mother-child bonding. Her baby's milk, RAPE MILK, then becomes STOLEN MILK shipped to your supermarket. Her baby will be brutally murdered in weeks. Can a true "feminist" support "infanticide"? Cows' milk - RAPE MILK, KIDNAP MILK, STOLEN MILK, BABY KILLER MILK - cannot possibly be in a "feminist's" refrigerator, can it? Where is the "feminist" outrage over being braindirtied by cowboys whose reverence for life and women comes in the form of some contraption called a "rape rack". Women come with an innate knowledge. Women produce eggs and milk. Doesn't that tell you who gets whose milk? If we are bright enough to be "feminists", shouldn't we be bright enough to know we don't give birth to baby cows? Why would we feed their milk to our children? And would having a vagina lead one to conclude that vaginal excretions aren't necissarily the best foods for the family? Is belly-button lint? I'm just asking. When I debated the "cattleman" about a week ago on the radio, I brought up the issue of the "rape rack". Of course the "cattleman" made it sound more like consensual sex between a married couple, but that word "rape" seems to give it away. And it's people like that "cattleman" who have all the money in the world to advertise and braindirty "feminists" into drinking RAPE MILK, "feminists" into supporting the dairy and egg industries whose very existence depends on female exploitation. There is never a question of equal pay for equal work here. The pay is a miserable life, and the payoff at retirement is a beheading. Is it not ironic that women who engage in this female exploitation, who consume the mammary secretions and vaginal excretions of these imprisoned slaves, then develop the breast cancers, the ovarian cancers...And what about rape? Is it any wonder that it is so prevalent in a society that "nourishes" itself on it, that drinks rape milk , or eats it as rape cheese, rape yogurt, rape butter, rape ice cream. You are what you eat. All of those "foods" started with a rape. Can a true "feminist" ever support rape? If not, A TRUE FEMINIST MUST BE VEGAN, right? - Bob Linden www.GoVeganRadio.com - listener-supported, donation-financed "GO VEGAN WITH BOB LINDEN" radio, as heard on Air America

  

PROTEIN

PROTEIN: If you think you need to eat animals, drink their milk, or eat their eggs in order to get enough protein, and the 'right kind' of protein, then by the time you finish reading these extensive entries, you will find it difficult and even foolish to continue thinking that way.

I've gathered this protein information in two ways. The first section comes from numerous websites, while the second section is composed of many passages from several books.

I) From Internet Sites:

Basically proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids. There are 22 different types of amino acid and the body needs all of them to function properly. Amino acids are chemical compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, which combine together into different structures to form the various types of protein that the body requires.

There are many forms of protein, which all play an important role in the function of the body. For example, collagen is a protein and is vital for the strength, elasticity and composition of our hair and skin. When the proteins that we consume in our food are broken down through digestion into individual amino acids, these amino acids are then absorbed and reform in order to create new proteins that are then used by the body.

The 22 types of amino acid are divided into two groups: essential and non-essential amino acids. There are 14 non-essential amino acids. They are termed non-essential as they can be manufactured by the body and do not have to be derived from food.

The body, on the other hand, cannot produce the remaining 8 essential amino acids itself, and therefore they must be derived from the food that we eat.

Non-essential amino acids are just as important as essential amino acids, as without the other, new proteins that are needed by the body cannot be properly formed. It is therefore vital that a variety of foods are eaten in order to provide the body with all of the amino acids required.

Complete and incomplete proteins:
There are some foods that contain all of the 8 essential amino acids required to form the new proteins together with the non-essential amino acids. These foods are called "complete" proteins and tend to come from animal sources of protein such as meat, dairy products, eggs, fish, shellfish and poultry.


The proteins that are termed "incomplete" proteins are usually lacking in one or more of the essential amino acids. They are generally found in vegetable products like fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and nuts.


However, by combining two or more of the "incomplete" proteins, a complete supply of essential amino acids is available. For example, baked beans on toast or rice and beans will form a complete protein and give the body all the essential amino acids.


What is the exact role of protein in our body?
Protein is required by the body for the growth, maintenance and repair of all cells.

(II) From Books (just getting started on this; July 29, '11)

The China Study: T. Colin Campbell (2006)

This is a valuable and informative book, and I will only be focusing on protein extracts. If you don't already have your own copy, you will appreciate it when you do. The first 100 and some pages heavily reference animal studies (rats). So as you might imagine, I vehemently oppose this kind of research, irrespective of how much good, useful, significant, etc., information can be obtained by experimenting on and studying animals--IT'S NOT RIGHT, IT'S VERY WRONG TO TORTURE AND KILL SOMETHING ELSE BECAUSE WE AS  HUMANS MIGHT BENEFIT FROM THAT!

For ten years our primary goal in the Philippines was to improve childhood malnutrition among the poor. The aim of these efforts was to make sure children were getting as much protein as possible.

It was widely thought that much of the childhood malnutrition in the world was caused by a lack of protein, especially from animal-based foods.


Universities and governments around the world were working to alleviate the perceived "protein gap"  in the developing world.

In this project, however, I uncovered a dark secret. Children who ate the highest-protein diets were the ones most likely to get liver cancer!  They were the children of the wealthiest families.

I then noticed a research report from India, that had some very provocative, relevant findings. Indian researchers had studied two groups of rats. In one group they administered the cancer-causing aflatoxin, then fed a diet that was composed of 20% protein, a level near what many of us consume in the West. In the other group they administered the same amount of aflatoxin, but then fed a diet that was composed of only 5% protein. Incredibly, every single animal that consumed the 20% protein diet, had evidence of liver cancer, and every single animal that consumed a 5% protein diet avoided liver cancer. It was a 100 to 0 score, leaving no doubt that nutrition trumped chemical carcinogens, even very potent carcinogens, in controlling cancer.

This information countered everything I had been taught. It was heretical to say that protein wasn't healthy, let alone say it promoted cancer.I decided to start an in-depth laboratory program that would investigate the role of nutrition, especially protein, in the development of cancer.

Eventually this research became handsomley funded for 27 years by the best reviewed and most competitive funding sources.

What we found was shocking. Low protein diets inhibited the initiation of cancer by afflatoxin, regardless of how much of this carcinogen was administered to these animals.

In fact dietary protein proved to be so powerful in its effect that we could turn on and turn off cancer growth simply by changing the level consumed.

But that's not all. We found that not all protein had this effect. What protein consistently and strongly promoted cancer? Casein, which makes up 87% of cow's milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process.What kind of protein did not promote cancer, even at high levels of intake? The safe proteins were from plants, including wheat and soy. These experimental animal studies didn't end there.

The scientific basis for my views is largely empirical, obtained through observation and measurement. It comes from legitimate research findings.

Much of my evidence comes from human studies done by myself and by my students and colleagues in my research group. They included a study of dietary factors affecting bone density and osteoporosis in 800 women in China, a study of biomarkers that characterize the emergence of breast cancer, and a nationwide, comprehensive study of dietary and lifestyle factors associated with disease mortality in 170 villages in mainland China and Taiwan (widely known as the China Study).

This China Study, of which I was director, began in 1983 and is still ongoing. In addition to these human studies, I maintained a twenty-seven year laboratory research program in experimental animal studies.

Eating the right way not only prevents disease but also generates health and a sense of well-being, both physically and mentally. Some world -class athletes....have discovered that eating a plant-based diet gives them a significant edge in performance.

In the laboratory, we fed rats a diet rich in animal-based protein and compared them with other rats fed a diet low in animal-based protein.
Given the opportunity to voluntarily use exercise wheels, those fed the low animal-protein diet exercised substantially more, with less fatigue than the rats fed the high animal protein diet.

A century ago, a famous, well-established nutrition researcher at Yale University Medical School, Professor Russell Chittendon, investigated whether a plant-based diet affected students' physical capacities. He fed some students, fellow faculty, and himself a plant-based diet and measured their physical performance tests. He got the same results as our rats a century later--and they were equally spectacular.

My entire professional career in biomedical research has centered on protein. Protein, often regarded with unsurpassed awe, is the common thread tying together past and present knowledge about nutrition.

The dogma surrounding protein, censures, reproaches, and guides almost every thought we have in biomedical research. Ever since the discovery of this nitrogen-containing chemical in 1839 by the Dutch chemist Gerhard Mulder, protein has loomed as the most sacred of all nutrients. The word protein comes from the Greek word proteios, which means "of prime importance."

In the 19th century, protein was synonymous with meat, and this connection has stayed with us for well over a hundred years. Many people today still equate protein with animal-based food.

Confusion reigns on many of the most basic questions about protein:

• What is a good source of protein?
• How much protein should one consume?
• Is plant protein as good as animal protein?
• Is it necessary to combine certain plant foods in a meal to get complete proteins?
• Is it advisable to take protein powders or amino acid supplements, especially for someone who does vigorous exercise or plays sport?
• Should one take protein supplements to build muscle?
• Some protein is considered high quality, some low quality; what does this mean?
• Where do vegetarians get protein?
• Can vegetarian children grow properly without animal protein?

Fundamental to many of these common questions and concerns is the belief that meat is protein and protein is meat.

Protein, the most sacred of all nutrients, is a vital component of our bodies and there are hundreds of thousands of different kinds. They function as enzymes, hormones, structural tissue, and transport molecules, all of which make life possible.

Proteins are constructed as long chains of hundreds or thousands of amino acids of which there are 15 or twenty different kinds, depending on how they are counted. About 8 of the 22 amino acids
our body needs for making tissue protein must be provided by the food we eat. They are called essential because our bodies cannot make them.

Proteins wear out on a regular basis and must be replaced. Various food proteins are said to be of different quality, depending on how well they provide the needed amino acids used to replace our body proteins.

Food proteins of the highest quality are, very simply, those that provide, upon digestion, the right kinds and amounts of amino acids needed to efficiently synthesize our new tissue proteins.

This is what the word "quality" really means: it is the ability of food proteins to provide the right kinds and amounts of amino acids to make our new proteins.

The proteins of other animals are very similar to ours because they mostly have the right amounts of each of the needed amino acids. These proteins can be used very efficiently and therefore are called "high quality." Among animal foods the proteins of milk and eggs represent the best amino acid matches for our new proteins, and thus are considered the highest quality. While the "lower quality" plant proteins may be lacking in one or more of the essential amino acids, as a group they do contain all of them.

The concept of quality really means the efficiency with which food proteins are used to promote growth. The greatest efficiency, however, doesn't equal the greatest health, and that's why the terms efficiency and quality are misleading. In fact to give you a taste of what's to come, there is a mountain of compelling research showing that "low quality" plant protein, which allows for slow but steady synthesis of new proteins, is the healthiest type of protein.

The quality of protein found in a specific food is determined by seeing how fast animals would grow while consuming it. Some foods, namely those from animals, emerge with a very high protein efficiency and value. This focus on efficiency of body growth, as if it were good health, encourages the consumption of protein with the highest "quality."

As any marketer will tell you, a product that is defined as being high quality instantly earns the trust of consumers. For well over 100 years we have been captive to this misleading language, and have oftentimes made the unfortunate leap to thinking that more quality equals more health.

We now know that through enormously complex metabolic systems, the human body can derive all the essential amino acids from the natural variety of plant proteins that we encounter every day. It doesn't require eating higher quantities of plant protein or meticulously planning every meal. Unfortunately, the enduring concept of protein quality has greatly obscured this information.

Lengthy article on the differences between humans and herbivores on the one hand, and carnivores on the other:
http://www.celestialhealing.net/physicalveg3.htm?mid=54726

Video: Where do you get your protein if you don't eat meat? John McDougall talks about the small amount of protein needed for good health. (3 min.)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPD
7Wvi1OM&feature=player_embedded   

Video: Animal Protein -- Meat and Dairy -- Cause Cancer: Colin Campbell (45 min.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfsT-qYeqGM&feature=relmfu