FROM AN OLD BOOK (1971) BY A WORLD-FAMOUS
NUTRITIONIST
Is Milk a Friend or a Fiend?
by
Paavo Airola, Ph.D., N.D.
The value of milk in human nutrition has been highly disputed in
the United States. Some health writers condemn milk completely,
most on the grounds that:
animal milk is intended by nature to nourish the suckling
animal; no animal ever uses milk after the period of lactation, or
after weaning; raw milk is dangerous because it is an excellent vehicle for
pathogenic bacteria; today's milk is loaded with chemicals, drugs, pesticide
residues, hormones, antibiotics, etc., and is unfit for human consumption.
There are others who claim that milk is an excellent and
indispensable food for man, one of the most complete, protective
foods. Who is right?
As often is the case, both sides are right to a certain extent,
while both sides exaggerate the validity of their claims.
Let's look at milk objectively and see if we can disperse some of
the confusion.
*Today's milk unfit for human consumption
Both sides agree that today's milk is unfit for human
consumption. It is loaded with toxic and dangerous chemicals.
Cows are treated with various antibiotics, notably penicillin and
aureomycin, to combat mastitis and other diseases.
Considerable residues of these drugs are found in milk. A daily
dose of penicillin in milk can build up a sensitivity to the
drug. If you are given a dose of penicillin later you may develop
a serious reaction against it. Today's milk is also contaminated
with DDT and other pesticides and herbicides, and with residues
of detergents that have been used in washing milking machines and
other utensils.
Pasteurization of milk was originated to protect the consumer
from disease-causing bacteria that may be transmitted with milk.
But pasteurization also destroys the nutritive value of the milk.
It kills not only the harmful bacteria, but also all the
beneficial enzymes and the beneficial bacteria present in milk.
It destroys some of the vitamins. It changes the chemical
structure of the protein and renders it, and the minerals, less
digestible and assimilable.
Therefore, if you can not get a high quality milk, raw and
un-pasteurized, guaranteed to be from organically raised
animals and 100 per cent free from chemical additives, drugs,
detergents, and insecticide and herbicide residues, then
you will be better off to omit milk and milk products from your
diet. Only the highest quality, uncontaminated, raw milk from
healthy animals can be considered as a healthful addition to your
diet.
*Milk - the ancient food
A review of man's recorded history reveals that man has been
using animal milk for his food as far back as records
go. The Aryans of Central Asia were using milk as food 4,000
years B.C. They were the first herdsmen and "milk and honey" was
their prized drink - long before it was praised in the Bible.
Ancient Greeks consumed goats' and mares' milk. The Bible re-
cords the use of milk throughout man's Biblical history. Milk was
looked upon as an ultimate in desirability. When God promised the
Land of Canaan to the children of Israel, he described it to
Moses as a land flowing with milk and honey.
In various parts of the world, different animals are employed as
milk suppliers, depending on climate and geographical location.
Camels' milk is always popular in the Middle East and North
Africa. Mares' milk is used widely in Russia and Asia. Sheeps'
milk is very commonly used in Bulgaria and other Balkan
countries. Goats' milk is used rather universally. But the cow
has been used as man's "milk factory" more universally than any
other animal.
It is noteworthy that the people we always associate with
remarkable health and long life -Swedes , Bulgarians,
Russians - have traditionally been heavy milk consumers. These
people, particularly the long-living Bulgarians, use very little
meat, but consume large quantities of milk and milk products.
*European nutrition research and milk
Virtually all European nutritionists and medical researchers, who
have done research on the value of milk in human nutrition,
recommend milk as a principle part of the diet.
One of the most famous European health systems is the Waerland
Health system. It is very popular in many European countries and
many natural healing clinics in Europe use the Waerland diet
program in the treatment of a multiplicity of diseases. Milk is
an important part of the Waerland diet.
Dr. Werner Zabel is one of the most famous European nutrition
oriented doctors. He is a cancer specialist and director of his
own famous clinic in Berchtesgaden. In his clinic all patients
are given what Dr. Zabel calls an optimum diet. Number one source
of protein in this diet is what Europeans call "kvark", a
homemade cottage cheese, made from low-fat, raw milk. Kvark is
made in the following manner. Lactobacillus acidophilus culture
is added to fresh raw milk. When the milk is coagulated by the
action of the bacteria, the cream that settles on the top is
removed and all the curds are separated from the milk by running
it through a fine sieve. The resulting low-fat cottage cheese is
a very natural, unheated product, a very easily digested protein
of the highest biological value. A pint of such cottage cheese
contains about 100 grams of protein.
Of course, in European clinics, they also use the whey, which is
the liquid that is left over after the curds are taken away. Whey
is an extremely important food. It contains the minerals of the
milk and the milk sugar, lactose. It also contains a very
important substance, orotic acid, known to help in the
regeneration of a damaged liver.
The latest European medical opinion is that milk, and
particularly soured acidophilus milk, is a most effective food
in regenerating the human intestinal tract and correcting
digestive disorders and constipation.
The importance of milk in human nutrition is stressed by the
International Society for Research on Nutrition and Diseases of
Civilization, of which I spoke before. This foremost authority on
nutrition in the world today considers high quality milk and
homemade cottage cheese as an essential part of the optimum diet
for people in our hemisphere.
*Is yogurt a "wonder-health" food?
Indeed it is. Yogurt is a true wonder food, if there ever has
been such a thing. Among its many wonderful properties,
here are a few most important ones:
It contains high quality proteins, minerals, vitamins and
enzymes. It contains all the known vitamins, including the
hard-to-get ones, D and B12.
It is a pre-digested food changed to this state by the action
of special bacteria that it contains, lactobacillus bulgaris.
Because of this, yogurt is digested and utilized in the body
twice as fast as ordinary milk.
It prevents putrefaction in the large intestine, a cause of
disease and premature aging. Lactobacillus bulgaris
destroys putrefactive bacteria and cultivates the growth of
"friendly" acidophilus bacteria that help in manufacturing
vitamins B and K in the intestines and also assist in the
assimilation of nutrients from the foods.
It effectively prevents constipation.
Yogurt is a natural antibiotic. It has been reported that an
8-oz. jar of yogurt, refrigerated for a week, provides an
antibiotic value equal to 14 units of penicillin. Yogurt kills
such virulent bacteria as amoeba, typhus, S. dysenteriae, E,
coli, streptococcus, staphylococcus, etc.
And the wonder of yogurt is that while it destroys the dangerous,
pathogenic bacteria, it is not harming the beneficial bacteria.
Quite to the contrary - it assists in their growth!
The latest news on yogurt from Europe is that the use of special
cultures of Lactobacillus bifidus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and
other human symbionts in preparing of yogurt improves the
therapeutic value of yogurt and makes it more effective in
restoring and keeping the intestinal tract in a healthy
condition.
Of course, also the other forms of cultured milks, such as
ordinary soured milk, acidophilus milk, or kefir, possess
similar health-promoting and disease-preventing properties.
*Colonic hygiene - the secret of perpetual health and eternal
youth
Of all the "secrets" which man has tried to find in his endless
search of means and ways of improving his health and prolonging
his life, none is more scientifically established than one which
is based on the premise that the colonic hygiene - or the clean
and efficiently functioning digestive, assimilative and
eliminative system - is the real secret of perpetual health and
eternal youth.
Ilja Metchnikoff, the eminent Russian bacteriologist, made a
revolutionary discovery at the turn of the century. He proved by
experiments as well as by statistics that auto-toxemia
(self-poisoning) through putrefaction of metabolic
wastes in the large intestine is the main cause of premature
aging as well as a direct or contributing cause of the
development of many diseases. Your intestines house billions of
bacteria which help your digestive system to break down the food
you eat and assist in the digestion and assimilation of
nutrients.
Some of these bacteria are called "the friendly bacteria", like
the acidophilus or bifidus; some are called "the unfriendly
bacteria", which are putrefactive bacteria. For optimum health it
is imperative to maintain a good balance between these bacteria.
When your diet is unbalanced, as in the case of too much animal
protein and over-refined, constipating foods, the balance in the
intestinal flora will be distorted. Harmful, unfriendly bacteria
will take over and the result will be sluggish bowels and
constipation. The toxins, or poisons, created by bacterial
metabolism and putrefaction, remain in the intestines and, as a
result of prolonged constipation, are absorbed by the blood
stream and consequently poison the whole organism.
Metchnikoff claimed that sour-milk or yogurt-eating peoples of
Bulgaria, Russia and East European and Balkan countries live
longer and enjoy better health throughout their long lives
because their intestinal tract is clean and healthy. Yogurt
supplies lactic acid which kills the putrefactive bacteria. It
also supplies the lactose which is a natural food of the
beneficial acidophilus bacteria, thus helping their growth.
*Whey - Swedish answer to yogurt
Whey possesses qualities very similar to yogurt in a somewhat
more concentrated form. It is the yellowish liquid left after
cottage cheese is made. It has been scientifically established
that using whey regularly will prevent internal sluggishness,
gas, bowel putrefaction and constipation. Whey has a similar
effect on the digestive tract to that of yogurt. It particularly
helps in retention of minerals in the system, especially calcium.
In addition to being an excellent internal cleanser, whey is an
excellent food.
In Sweden, whey is never thrown away; in fact, it is a national
food. It is dehydrated and made into whey cheese (mess-ost) and
whey butter (mess-smbr). Whey cheese and whey butter are sold in
every Swedish food store. Swedes eat these foods daily - you can
find them on every Swedish table. In the
United States you can buy imported whey cheese in some better
delicatessen stores. In one health food store in Santa Monica,
California, I found whey cheese made by American Swedes in the
state of Washington. Health food stores also sell whey powder or
whey tablets.
Here are a few nutritional data on Swedish whey cheese (I presume
American whey powder has a similar content):
77% of it is pure lactose - the active factor responsible for
its favorable influence on the intestinal tract.
It has only 3.6% of butterfat as compared with 25 to 40% for
ordinary cheese.
It has 6 times more iron than beef, twice as much as beans or
eggs and 50% more than liver.
It has 10 times more vitamin B1 than ordinary cheese, twice as
much as beef, and 5 times as much as milk. Whey contains
almost as much B1 as the richest natural source of the
B-vitamins - brewer's yeast. Yeast - 16mg. per 100gm.; whey -
15.5mg.
It has 7 times as much vitamin B2 as beef, 10 times as much as
milk, and 20 times as much as whole wheat flour. And, whey
cheese is one of the most delicious foods, too! Don't you
think it would be wise to incorporate this miracle milk
product - whey - into your daily diet.
*Lactose - natural food for intestinal flora
Dr. Boris Sokoloff has made extensive research on the intestinal
flora, and his conclusion is that the secret of remaining healthy
is to provide the beneficial bacteria in the intestines with the
proper food. "Drink plenty of acidophilus milk", is Dr.Sokoloff's
advice. Lactose is the natural food for the beneficial
acidophilus bacteria. And note this: lactose appears only in milk
There is no other way to obtain this form of sugar. Lactose is
not digested in the stomach or small intestines, but is
transported undigested into the large intestine where it is used
as food for the beneficial acidophilus bacteria. In addition to
helping establish healthful intestinal balance, lactose aids the
body in another way: it assists in the assimilation of several
important minerals - chiefly calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.
Experiments have demonstrated that giving lactose along with bone
meal has doubled the calcium retention from the bone meal.
*Milk versus meat as a protein source
I am often asked: "You are against animal proteins, yet you
recommend milk. Isn't milk an animal protein?"
First. I am not against animal proteins - I am against too much
animal protein. Chapter two of this book we have it under
"Protein and 7 Points of Health" - Keith Hunt) makes it clear
that the optimum diet with the greatest potential for good
health, prevention of disease and long life is a low animal
protein - high natural carbohydrate diet.
This is the diet all people known for their - good health and
long life traditionally exist on.
Of all animal proteins, milk is biologically much preferable to
others. First, milk pro-:n. casein. is the highest grade animal
protein known to man. Milk protein is more "complete" than other
kinds of animal protein - i.e. it has the highest biological
value, because it has the best combination of essential amino
acids and the right amounts of each amino acid in proportion to
the others. Because of this, milk protein is very easily digested
and more fully utilized than any other form of animal protein.
including eggs and meat.
The second advantage of milk, as compared to meat, is that it
does not add purines and uric acid to the body. Meat protein is a
burden to the body because it contains toxic waste materials and
also leaves a toxic residue in the body during the digestive
process.
*Is milk mucus-forming
The mucus-scare again! Yes, milk is mucus-forming. But the harm
of mucus-forming foods is over-emphasized and exaggerated.
Except in cases of allergy or extreme sensitivity to milk,
a healthy body will take care of any extra mucus that the milk
may possibly produce.
Besides, you need mucus! Mucus is an extremely beneficial and
absolutely necessary substance to keep your stomach and bowel
linings and all the internal membranes in good health. Your body
is equipped with special glands that produce mucus to lubricate
all the internal organs and membranes. Mucus is particularly
needed for protecting the lining of the stomach from the
corrosive effect of the strong acids secreted by the digestive
glands. Mucus is also needed in great quantities during all acute
conditions of infection, such as colds, for example. Mucus
protects all your internal membranes and tissues from bacterial
attack. Mucus also speeds the healing process in every condition
where the internal membranes and linings are damaged.
It is conceivable that nature provided special foods for man that
stimulate mucus production and thus keep all the internal linings
well lubricated. Grains and nuts are mucus-producing foods. And
so is milk. And so are the vitamins A, C and E. Thank goodness
for this! We would not live long without mucus-producing foods;
we would shrivel and dry out.
This is not to say that some people may not be extra sensitive to
mucus-producing foods. They should, of course, exercise caution.
Moderation is good advice in every phase of nutrition, including
the mucus-producing foods, of which cows' milk is one. Used in
moderation, however, milk can be enjoyed without any fear as far
as mucus is concerned by an average person who is not suffering
from milk allergy.
*Is goats' milk better than cows' milk?
Goats' milk is better than cows' milk as a human, and especially
as an infant food, because its protein and mineral ratio is more
similar to human mothers' milk. Goats' milk has more niacin and
thiamine, and better quality proteins than cows' milk. Also, the
fat in goats' milk is naturally homogenized, and is therefore
more easily digested and assimilated. Incidentally, goats' milk
is not mucus-forming.
Thomas Parr, the Englishman who reportedly lived to be 152 years
old, was examined after his death by the attending physicians.
The autopsy revealed that his internal organs, and particularly
his digestive tract, were in an extraordinarily healthy
condition, just like those of a man 100 years younger. Mr. Parr's
diet virtually throughout his life consisted almost entirely of
goats' milk, goats' milk cheese, whey and raw vegetables.
SUMMARY
After reviewing all the beneficial properties of milk,
particularly in the form of yogurt, whey and other soured milks,
it would appear that nature may very well have intended that man
should use these foods for his nutritional needs.
And why not, knowing, for example, how extremely beneficial
lactose is for the health of your digestive, assimilative
and eliminative tract, and that milk is the only food which
contains lactose!
Be it as it may, milk has been used as a basis of diet by
billions of people throughout man's history. Newest research
confirms the health-building and disease-preventing properties of
milk, and particularly yogurt and acidophilus milk.
It may be wise to include milk, yogurt, whey and homemade cottage
cheese as an essential part of your optimum diet for optimum
health.
But remember: only the highest quality milk can be considered as
suitable for human food. It must come from healthy animals,
raised on organic farms which use no chemical fertilizers; it
must be raw, unpasteurized; and it must be 100 percent free from
chemical additives and residues of drugs, hormones, antibiotics,
detergents and pesticides.
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