We begin this Bulletin with a startling new discovery that adds to our scientific understanding of the dangers of drinking milk. Researchers have shown that a glass a day of milk increases the risk of breast cancer.
Given our mounting knowledge of just how unhealthy cows' milk is, perhaps it's no surprise that another major milk producer, Borden Dairy Co., has filed for bankruptcy.
Finally, we'll look at an Australian study that found signs of frailty in 45 percent of people in their forties. Normally the same level of frailty isn't seen until people reach their seventies.
Breast Cancer Risk Increased By Drinking Milk
An eight-year study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology tracked the dietary intake of 53,000 initially cancer-free North American women, aged 30 and older. They compared the participants' dairy intake to whether or not they developed cancer.
Drinking milk was associated with breast cancer, and even a small amount of milk consumption was enough to establish a statistically meaningful link.1
Relevant Excerpt:
“Higher intakes of dairy milk were associated with greater risk of breast cancer, when adjusted for soy intake. Current guidelines for dairy milk consumption could be viewed with some caution.”1
For many decades the dairy industry has bombarded the public with advertising that insists that milk is healthy, and in particular that it's important for our bones. Most doctors even recommend milk to osteoporosis patients to get adequate calcium. At the Save Institute, we’ve warned about the detrimental effects of drinking milk from the get-go.. While milk does contain calcium, it iis highly acidifying, and studies have found that milk consumption actually increases the risk of fracture.2
There are better sources for the nutrients contained in milk. Nuts, cruciferous vegetables, and milk alternatives all provide more of what you need, without the increased risk of cancer. Almond milk is a particularly good alkalizing substitute for dairy milk.
Synopsis
An eight-year study found that drinking as little as a quarter cup of cow’s milk each day is associated with a 30% increase in breast cancer. Participants who drank two to three cups of milk per day saw a 70-80% increase in breast cancer risk. Milk has also been shown to harm bone health. Substitute cow’s milk with almond milk, or another dairy milk alternative of your choice.
Borden Dairy Co. Files For Bankruptcy
The growing public awareness of the dangers of dairy milk has naturally lead to reductions in milk consumption. This decreased demand has taken a toll on the dairy industry. The most recent indication of the hastening decline of milk is the bankruptcy declaration of Borden Dairy Co..
Relevant Excerpt:
“Borden Dairy Co., one of America's oldest and largest dairy companies, on Monday became the second major milk producer to file for bankruptcy in the last two months.
Tumbling milk consumption combined with the rising price of milk have crippled the dairy industry with debt. Dean Foods, America's largest milk producer, filed for bankruptcy on November 12.The company said it also has been hurt by broader industry trends, including a 6% drop in overall US milk consumption since 2015. Borden noted that more than 2,700 family dairy farms went out of business last year, and 94,000 have stopped producing milk since 1992. With the wholesale cost of milk rising due to fewer suppliers and retail milk prices weaker due to lower consumption, the margins for milk processors like Borden have suffered, the company said in its filing.”3
Borden Dairy Co. was founded in 1856 on the first successful commercial method of condensing milk. The company grew and expanded over the decades, introducing its advertising mascot “Elsie the Cow” in 1936.
Now that healthier alternatives are available, the substantial health risks of drinking milk make it undesirable and dangerous. As the dairy industry declines, other industries are growing to meet the rising demand for healthy non-dairy milk. As a result, many new businesses are being created, and we've never before had so many healthy alternatives on grocery store shelves.
Synopsis
One of the nation's oldest and largest dairy producers, Borden Dairy Co., has declared bankruptcy, citing steep declines in demand and the rising cost of raw milk. It’s the second major dairy producer to declare bankruptcy in the past two months, a clear indicator that people are turning to healthier milk alternatives.
45% Of People In Their Forties Are On The Path To Frailty
An Australian study has revealed that the signs of frailty are present much earlier and in far more people than experts could have predicted.
Researchers followed 656 healthy participants from age 40 to 75 living independently over 18 months. They assessed participants’ sleep quality, nutrition, hydration, and activity patterns, as well as the number of falls and ‘near misses’ they suffered. They also analyzed blood pressure, heart rate, balance, cognition, and memory and how they managed anxiety and depression. Taken together, all of this data allowed them to assess when and if each participant crossed the threshold into frailty, or “pre-frailty.”
Relevant Excerpt:
“Scientists highlighted poor balance, weak lower limb strength, poor nutrition and problems with pelvic floor muscles – those around the groin that help prevent incontinence – as ‘pre-frailty’ indicators.
Frailty factors include poor mental state from living alone, high psychological distress, poor lung function and poor sleep quality.
Results showed ‘pre-frailty’ occurred in 45 percent of people aged 40 to 49 – about the same percentage of people aged 70 to 75.”4
The findings show that age isn't as large of a factor as scientists previously thought. That's great news because it means that your actions are more impactful than your age. It also means that you must start taking action as early as possible to avoid frailty. Just because you're relatively young doesn't mean you can't become frail.
Start shedding bad habits now and start creating new ones: the study authors recommend that you increase physical activity, improve posture, build muscle and bone strength, improve nutrition, and boost mental health. Of course these are all strategies that the Save Institute has advocated for years, since they're proven ways to improve your well-being and protect your bones.
Synopsis
An Australian study found that just as many people in their 40s show signs of pre-frailty as do people in their 70s. The path to frailty and the health complications it brings (such as falls and fractures) starts earlier than many scinetists realized. It's imperative that you take action to prevent frailty as soon as possible– improve posture, increase physical activity, improve diet, and work to boost mental health.
What This Means To You
The easiest lesson of this month's bulletin is one Savers know well: stop drinking milk. Replace cow’s milk in your diet with a nutritious non-dairy alternative like almond milk. And that's one great step toward avoiding frailty. With a clear plan of action, you can grow stronger with age instead of weaker.
Perhaps the greatest wisdom of age is learning just how much power you have to improve your health and change your life. Start today!
References
2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8154473
3 https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/06/business/borden-dairy-bankruptcy/index.html
Hi dear Vivian,
I hope that it is okay for me to post here. I am deeply grateful for all the help that you provide. Thank you! I have been following you since 2014, and look forward to your informative emails. I was diagnosed with Osteopenia, and need to be taking calcium and vitamin D. You have mentioned in the past the type of calcium to take. Kindly repeat, also the brand if possible. At the moment, I supplement with 125mcg (5,000 IU) D3. Is this enough?
Thank you so much. Stay safe and healthy Vivian.
Souli, I thank you for being a loyal Saver! The most bioavailable calcium is algae-derived, and below is a link that will take you to an article that expands on this topic and to TrueOsteo, the brand we recommend:
https://saveourbones.com/three-seldom-mentioned-and-surprising-health-benefits-of-calcium/
And if you take the Vitamin D3 on a daily basis, you could reduce your dosage to 2000 IUs a day.
And I also wish you good health!
Does that includee goats or sheep
Produce?
Raw goat milk has an alkaline ash residue thanks to its rich l-glutamine content. However, once it’s pasteurized, it becomes acidifying. I’m not able to find conclusive studies on sheep’s milk.
You can read more about the amino acid glutamine and food sources for it here:
https://saveourbones.com/fountain-of-youth-the-anti-aging-bone-building-amino-acid-that-helps-maintain-your-ph-balance-and-much-more/
Hi Vivian,
Is Organic Milk good for you or not. Example Organic Meadow
Waiting for your reply.
While organic milk typically contains fewer toxins, it is still highly acidifying and detrimental to bone health.
I think the campaign against milk is very biased. Milk used to be full cream, raw and from grass fed cows ie unprocessed. The they started messing with it. Now it can be pasteurised, homogenised, skimmed, semi-skimmed, sterilised, powdered. The general populace does not have an option to drink the real stuff. The rise in breast cancer can be associated with bad diet, toxins ,messed up food which includes milk a fact which seems to be ignored . People who drink nut milks (processed)?ought to beware of the dangers associated with them which are never widely commented on. They have not been a staple for long and adverse effects on our systems might only become apparent in the generations to come. Actually I do not like milk and remember being made to drink it in a school playground shivering on a winter’s day in northern England but I believe in fair reporting.
Off topic for this article, but reading about spelt grains being alkaline, do you know if einkorn grains are alkaline as well? Thank you for your articles, I read through them each time.
Ginny, I was not able to find studies on the pH of einkorn wheat, unfortunately. So to err on the safe side, I would assume it is acidifying.
I have been drinking almond milk since I joined in saveourbones. Some time I use skim powder milk in baking purposes. Is it ok?
I suggest you switch to coconut milk powder, which is alkalizing and healthy. Here’s an article on how coconut prevents bone loss to get you started:
https://saveourbones.com/two-studies-show-that-coconut-oil-prevents-bone-loss/
Thank You for being you. I read your articles all the time. Stay Safe
I appreciate your kind words, Liz! Stay safe and healthy 🙂
What about butter, cheese, ice cream, those other milk products?
Fermented dairy, preferably organic and without added sugar, is fine, Judy. And you can make delicious and bone-healthy ice cream at home with simple, non-dairy ingredients. Here’s one recipe for a fruit sorbet I hope you’ll try:
https://saveourbones.com/make-this-delicious-bone-healthy-summer-treat-in-two-easy-steps/
Hi Vivian,
I’m getting your news letters for more then 5 years. I have a severe osteoporosis.
My doctor talked me to Prolia. I got one injection and started a severe hair lose.
My PCP denied this fact and said that he is not going to treat me in future if I don’t continue with Prolia. What is going on with this medication? Is it still in use or it’s recalled?
Thanks. Nataliya.
Thanks for being a part of the Saver community for all those years, Natalya! Prolia is still prescribed and heavily advertised on television and other media outlets. Here’s one of our more lighthearted articles on Prolia, in case you missed it:
https://saveourbones.com/prolia-the-commercial-all-lies-and-my-parody-the-truth/
Thanks for all the comments and answers. Almond milk is not one l particularly like, so l experimented and found that Cashew milk the best with small addition of coconut milk. I love it even in coffee.
I’m glad you found a plant-based alternative to milk you enjoy, Carol!
I am using almond milk for quite a while, but we can’t make cheese with it.
I make cheese with whole milk.
Do you think that is not good either?
Could you please email the answer to make sure I get my reply.
With best regards,
Parivash
Is making cheese with milk also unhealthy?
If you consume dairy cheese in moderation and balanced with alkalizing foods, it’s fine, Pari.
While on the subject of milk from cows or goats I would like to say that these animals have to be wormed regularly. I did have goats at one stage and after worming you have to withhold the milk for a certain period of time to get the worming ingredients out of the system. I cannot imagine big Dairy farms withholding milk at any stage and disposing of the infected milk, that would be a great loss to their industry. Money before the health of consumers once again.
After reading the paper that this brief and the Huffpost article was based on I would have to point out that the study is flawed. Salient data is disregarded and it is disturbing that this would occur in a “scientific study”. The writers of the paper fail to examine the changes in agricultural and animal husbandry practices over the last eighty years that have had deleterious effects on the foods reaching our tables. And as in all studies examining cancer it is disturbing that scientists and the medical profession never address causes such as the toxins in our air, water, and foods. Just as those who conducted this study are quiet about it. This paper should be referred to with trepidation and not treated as complete scientific fact. It is irresponsible to do so.
I drink a large cup of organic coffee/day. For quite a few years I have been using lite organic canned coconut milk to make a latte. It is getting harder to get this and it is getting expensive. In Dec I bought a large container of organic half & half at Costco. It lasts me for months, I don’t have to use as much, costs way less and is so much lighter to carry home than the cases of Coconut milk I was buying.
My question is this a bad thing to do for my bones and should I go back to the lite Org Coconut Milk?
Barbara, you might want to explore other coffee creamer options. Here’s a link to some you could try:
https://saveourbones.com/stop-using-this-in-your-coffee-and-use-this-instead/
I hope you’ll enjoy at least one of the recipes 🙂
Is Lite Organic Canned Coconut canned milk just as good bone wise as Almond Milk?
Barbara, so long as you make sure the can is BPA-free, it is a good alternative to almond milk.
Recently someone has stated that whipping cream is alkaline not acidic. Is this correct?
One thing about testing. Each person in the test may not have lived the same life style. There could have been many couch potatoes or smokers for all we know, or carried cell phones near their chest or lived in a place with unknown pollution. There are many variables to consider. While you could be unto something, I’ve tried to drink rice, almond or soy milk and always get a headache. I don’t drink much cow’s milk, but if a small amount makes me happy, I’m going to have some in moderation. It may be that some of the plant milks aren’t so good for people either. And goat milk really upsets my stomach!
If plant-based milk alternatives don’t agree with you, by all means, you should avoid, them. I suggest you try oat milk, even though it’s acidifying. It’s quite easy to make it yourself at home.
Doctor, you are so wonderful what you are providing to many people.
Thank you.
I’m glad you enjoy our articles and that you find them helpful, Julie!
P.S. I’m not a doctor 🙂
Is Yogurt a problem also?????? I gave up Milk years ago, but like Yogurt.
Plain, unsweetened yogurt is a bone-healthy food, and it’s listed in the ORP as a Foundation Food 🙂
While there is statistical and scientific proof according to this article, it is just very confusing what to drink and not drink. I’m 65 and have the history of bone problems. I’m not taking any prescriptions or even calcium supplements right now as I’m just not sure what to do. My last doctor visit a year ago, doctor gave me a list of about 15 drugs and recommended one that has a side affect of leg blood clots! So I’m continuing to drink regular low fat milk and try to get plenty of greens in my diet, broccoli, spinach. Who knows.
Thanks for sharing your story, Sue. Aside from all the detrimental health effects milk has been shown to cause, it is also acidifying. You can try making smoothies with plant-based milk instead. Take a look at these smoothie recipes:
https://saveourbones.com/6-amazing-things-that-happen-when-you-have-a-smoothie-every-day/
https://saveourbones.com/reduce-bone-harming-inflammation-with-these-3-smoothie-recipes/
https://saveourbones.com/digestive-troubles-try-these-3-smoothies-that-aid-digestion-alkalize-your-ph-and-boost-absorption-of-bone-building-nutrients/
I hope you’ll try them and that you’ll enjoy them!
I use organic whipping cream in my coffee…about 3-4 T a day. Will that give me breast cancer?
The study concluded that drinking milk increased breast cancer risk… that doesn’t mean everyone who drinks milk will get the disease. However, for the sake of your overall health and your bone health, why don’t you try replacing the whipping cream with almond milk creamers?
Here are three easy-to-make delicious recipes you can try:
https://saveourbones.com/stop-using-this-in-your-coffee-and-use-this-instead/
I hope you’ll enjoy them!
It is not the milk- it is what is being put into it-
Goat milk is more similar to cow milk and therefore less antigenic-
Grass fed cow milk from reputable sources good for certain people
Cheeses in moderation and especially fermented milk products are excellent for many people-
The above negative correlations refer to standard milk produced by grain fed massive overcrowded cow farms
Good points, Robin! At the Save Institute, however, we recommend avoiding milk and using almond milk or other plant-based milk substitutes.
Is Greek yogurt bad as drinking milk? You have recommended whey.
I appreciate your advice on yogurt. Thank you.
Plain, unsweetened yogurt is a bone-healthy addition to your diet, Julie. It also boosts your immune system, which is valuable during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here’s an article that contains three recipes for bone-healthy dips using yogurt:
https://saveourbones.com/boost-your-immunity-this-fall-with-these-3-bone-healthy-dips/
Enjoy!
Thank you, Ita.
You’re very welcome, Ita!
I have drank milk all my life and now turn 86 years of age.every. child in junior school in the U K got a small bottle of milk at break time every morning.that.never heard of any children ever having a problem with milk or any food, I never ever heard of a of any my school friends having cancer measle chicken pots the usual children ailments.We would have to go to in play ground no matter how cold it was has long it wasn’t raining.We had no supermarkets or big shops we would have a small dairy,You would go with you jug and they would fill it up,milk would be delivered In stainless steel erns strait from the farm.,theres nothing nicer than a glass of cold fresh milk,On the bottle said only keep 3 days unless it messed with you can keep a week.Milk today is full addictives and antibiotics you will notice t doesn’t go soured when you put in your tea has a bad test when are milk when sour we would make scones with it.I only use full fat milk and Raw Milk when I can get it.The problem to day children not drinking milk talking a can of Coco Cola to school .
Thanks for sharing your story, Colette. The study we discuss in today’s Bulletin does not conclude that everyone who drinks milk will get cancer, but that it increases the risk.
I understand about cow’s milk, I have been drinking almond milk for a few years once I read this in saveourbones. My question – how about cheese ? Isn’t that made from cow’s milk?
I look forward to your reply
Lory
Warren Rhode Island
Fermented dairy consumed in moderation offers some valuable nutrients. While plain, unsweetened yogurt is alkalizing, cheese is an acidifying food. So make sure you balance the pH.
I would also like to know if unhomogenised, organic milk has the same detrimental effect as homogenised milk.
Thank you,
Yes, Lee, the same applies to organic milk. The requirements to label milk as organic are the following:
1. Cows can’t be given hormones to stimulate milk production.
2. The feed must be grown without using synthetic pesticides.
3. Organic-milk farmers are required to graze their cows for at least 120 days out of a year and grazing must comprise at least 30 percent of the cow’s nutrition.
It is a question of chronic inflammation…
In fact, even for caucasian people, our biology has difficulties to deal with lactose : very rapidly, with small quantities of milk, our body develops intolerances and inflammation.
That is what a recent swedish study showed on 200.000 people followed durint 10-20 years.
But the same study, showed that people eating fermented milky products were in better (general and bone) health than people eating no milky products who where in better (general and bone) health than people drinking milk.
The same results where found by the american framingham study, and yoghourts were especially good for bones.
Take care of your bones !
Lactose intolerance is highly prevalent all around the world. And in those who are lactose intolerant, milk causes an even greater inflammatory response. On the other hand, fermented dairy, such as yogurt, contains beneficial nutrients.
I use whole milk Greek yogurt 2 spoonful daily with my oatmeal. 2% milk with dry cereal also.
Almond milk questionable what’s the story?
Thanx a bunch G
Would drinking ‘organic’ cows milk make a difference to it causing breast cancer? Does it have less hormones etc in it because it is organic?
Good question, Monica! While organic milk is obtained from cows that are not fed antibiotics, both conventional and organic milk contains naturally-occurring hormones produced by cows.