What’s in YOUR Milk – Know the Facts

A big tall glass of milk.  If you drink milk, you probably have enjoyed it for as long as you can remember.  For many, it is good with just about everything.  This article is not to discourage you from drinking milk (as much as I would like for you to), but it is to educate you on what is being added to your milk so that you can make an informed and intelligent decision on what kind of milk you will choose to drink.

You see, companies like Monsanto and Eli Lilly have fought long and hard against consumers’ right to know about factory-farm dairy production, trying to conceal the use of their genetically engineered bovine growth hormone, a.k.a. rBGH or rBST, which forces cows to overproduce milk. They’ve lobbied and infiltrated the FDA, they’ve sued dairy farmers and they’ve pressed state governments to curtail farmers’ freedom of speech. One example of this sort of lobbying power and insider muscle-flexing by these companies was an administrative attempt to have the voluntary labels that tell us what we are drinking are “rBGH-free” and “produced without artificial growth hormones” removed from milk products so that the consumer (that would be YOU) would not know what they are ingesting when they drink milk. Here are some things you may want to know about these bio-hazards that the FDA is allowing big business to feed the masses, especially in your milk products:

•  Milk that is produced using rBGH (rbST) is compositionally different than milk from untreated cows and conventional milk.
• The use of rBGH (rbST) in milk production has been shown to elevate the levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), a naturally occurring hormone that in high levels is linked to several types of cancers, among other things. (Ever wonder why the United States leads the world in Cancer as a pandemic illness in its citizens?)
• rBGH (rbST) use induces an unnatural period of milk production during a cow’s “negative energy phase.” Milk produced during this stage is considered to be low quality due to its increased fat content and its decreased level of proteins.
• Milk from rBGH-injected cows contains higher somatic cell counts, which makes the milk turn sour more quickly and is another indicator of poor milk quality.

Something to think about…

European nations and Canada have banned rBGH to protect citizens from IGF-1 hazards.  Monsanto, the manufacturer of rBGH, has influenced U. S. product safety laws permitting the sale of unlabeled rBGH milk spending millions in lobbying efforts and the reality of campaign contributions and pay offs at the highest levels in government have been very influential in policy decisions concerning human health issus. The bottom line is that Monsanto would lose billions of dollars if rBGH were banned in America. As in every arena, no matter what political system is in place, it all boils down to money.

So, what are your choices? There are a few obvious choices that would benefit you and our society that has been blinded to the realities of what they are actually drinking and eating on a daily basis:

1. Stop drinking milk and replace the nutrients you have been told it has with whole food plant based nutrients that better for you. Consider almond milk as a replacement.
2. Buy ONLY organic milk and dairy products if feel you need a ‘dairy fix’.
3. Let your grocery store managers know you will no longer buy milk or products that are not rBGH, hormone, and steroid free.
4. Share this information with those you love and your friends, and ask them to do the same. Education is the key!