Milk – Facts, Figures and Beliefs

Science 52' 2017 HD

For decades, drinking milk has symbolized a healthy diet. Nutritionists around the world still advise regular consumption of dairy products. But is milk really as healthy as has been promoted? Is it an essential product at all? Or should we best avoid it completely?

What we call milk has long stopped being the natural product that many people imagine. Microbiologists, milk experts, and doctors explain the difference between traditional and industrial milk production. Today, each high-producing dairy cow gives more milk than their four great-grandmothers put together. Pesticides, hormones, antibiotics… We expose the absurd vicious circle: increased efficiency through concentrated feed leads to diseases, which are treated with antibiotics leaving drug residues in the milk. What we call ‘milk’ is not necessarily what we think it is.

There are increasing concerns that milk may be the reason for allergies, intolerances, and even cancer. Some scientists suspect that the processes of cooling, UHT, pasteurisation, and homogenization degenerate proteins. All in all, it is the dose that makes the poison. And there are many indications that our ‘dose’ of milk is an overdose.