Stephanie Mah
Graphics Editor

Milk is exclusively made to nourish calves, so are humans really benefitting when we drink milk that is meant to nourish cattle?

As one of the most consumed beverages in the world, milk is prevalent in most people’s diets. The Canadian Food Guide suggests that we consume at least two servings of dairy products a day, preferably one cup of milk and an additional dairy product.

But humans are the only mammal that consistently consumes milk produced by a different species. The genetic makeup of a cow is nowhere close to that of a human; it only makes sense that nutrients in cow milk and human milk are vastly different.

Lower amounts of protein, calcium and sodium are found in human milk when compared to cow’s milk. Human milk also contains significantly higher levels of essential fatty acids, which regulate cellular development and blood pressure, among other health benefits. When children drink their mother’s milk, they are getting these nutrients and benefits, but when humans drink cow’s milk it does not have the same effect.

Not only does cow’s milk lack the adequate nutrients needed for optimal human growth, it also contains various other additives that are harmful and unnatural. Recombinant bovine growth hormone — better known as rBGH — is a synthetic growth hormone and also the most alarming unnatural ingredient that has been added to milk to keep production high and costs low. It is given to cows to increase milk production by 10 to 15 per cent. In 2000, rBGH was banned in Canada due to the unhealthy side effects it had on cows, but is still being used in the United States.

If the Canadian government banned rBGH for the health of the cows, what does this synesthetic additive do to our human bodies? In humans, rBGH also increases the production of another hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1. IGF-1 is not destroyed during pasteurization nor processed by the human body and is still active in our systems after digestion. Humans naturally have IGF-1, but high levels of this hormone are suspected to be a cancer accelerator as it correlates to the development of prostate, breast and colon cancers.

Although rBGH is not allowed for use in Canada, the Canadian government is changing dairy regulations allowing the U.S. to have access to our dairy market. This is a huge problem for Canadian consumers as rBGH is still prevalent in American dairy products that are being sold on our shelves, such as dehydrated milk products. Yogurt and other popular dairy alternatives often contain these ingredients, like milk protein concentrate and “milk ingredients.”

So if it’s really not that good for us, do we even need milk in our diets? Milk is marketed to be our main source of calcium and the only way to significantly lessen our chances of osteoporosis. In reality, it’s hard for human bodies to absorb all of the calcium present in milk meanwhile dairy products are high in saturated fats and vitamin A. A high intake level of saturated fats and vitamin A can actually weaken bones. It’s completely possible to cut out dairy as a food group and substitute legumes, spinach, bok choy, kale and almonds — among many other alternatives — to obtain your daily dose of calcium.

Interestingly, human breast milk also seems to be trickling into the food scene. The latest breast milk product is ice cream, sold at a London store called the Icecreamist. The milk was donated and screened the same way that blood is screened prior to donation. A fine dining restaurant in New York City, Klee Brasserie, has also served dishes featuring breast milk cheese from the chef’s lactating wife.

While it’s weird that humans consume a different mammal’s milk, it doesn’t seem that much more normal if humans were to drink their own milk past infancy. The concept of drinking cow’s milk might be ingrained in us — but that doesn’t necessarily mean we should keep it that way.