0:42

Hello lovely people,

0:42

and welcome back to on fringed,

0:46

thank you so much yet again for

0:46

being here and for listening

0:50

about doing an episode on dairy

0:50

for a while. So. So here we go,

0:55

we're going to dive in, I have a

0:55

lot of ground to cover, mostly

0:59

what I'm going to do is I'm

0:59

going to break things down.

1:05

Because there are there kind of

1:05

three elements, I guess, to this

1:09

to this whole conversation. And

1:09

I'm going to skim the surface of

1:14

those three elements today. And

1:14

those elements are human health

1:19

and well being as it relates to

1:19

dairy, animal health, and well

1:23

being as it relates to dairy and

1:23

also planet and environment, and

1:28

how dairy contributes to

1:28

pollution. And things that you

1:34

may not know are going on are

1:34

going on with regard to that we

1:38

don't hear a whole lot about it.

1:38

So I'm going to bring it to your

1:41

attention today. As a health

1:41

coach and nutrition counselor, a

1:47

fitness professional I, over the

1:47

years have had this conversation

1:52

quite a few times with different

1:52

folks, I have been plant plant

1:56

based myself for a very long

1:56

time and have been dairy free

2:03

for many years. So one of the

2:03

most common actually two of the

2:09

most common responses I hear, or

2:09

I'll say arguments, for lack of

2:15

a better word that I hear when I

2:15

make the suggestion that someone

2:21

eliminate or reduce their dairy

2:21

intake. And the first one is the

2:25

first argument is, Well, how

2:25

else am I going to get calcium?

2:30

Right? We've we've gotten to a

2:30

point in our society in the

2:33

western world that we really,

2:33

truly rely on dairy products to

2:40

obtain our necessary amount of

2:40

calcium on a daily basis. And

2:46

the other argument I often hear,

2:46

but I could never live without

2:53

cheese or ice cream, or what

2:53

have you. Usually cheese that's

2:57

usually the culprit. And some of

2:57

you might be giggling right now,

3:00

because we've actually had this

3:00

conversation personally. So

3:06

quick note on that. Well, I will

3:06

get into that further.

3:10

Obviously, I will just let you

3:10

know that I love cheese too. I

3:15

do I love ice cream. I love

3:15

cheese. And I love all of the

3:18

things that dairy is as far as

3:18

flavor and texture and, and all

3:25

of that. So I get it. I

3:25

understand. I grew up in a house

3:31

that never didn't have cheese in

3:31

the fridge. I mean, we always

3:36

had cheese, and I love it. Now

3:36

still. But there are there are

3:42

other ways. So we're going to

3:42

talk about that. So in my book,

3:47

I actually dedicate a section of

3:47

the book to discussing myths and

3:55

misconceptions about diet

3:55

nutrition. And one of the main

4:02

culprits, we'll say, is lactose.

4:02

There's a lot of

4:07

misunderstanding around lactose

4:07

and lactose intolerance. So

4:13

because we're talking about

4:13

dairy today, I figured I would

4:16

kick things off with addressing that. And then

4:16

we'll talk about some other

4:20

things and we'll address the

4:20

calcium thing and in all of

4:24

that. So lactose intolerance is

4:24

actually not a disorder. It's

4:32

not unnatural. I think most

4:32

people believe you know, it's

4:36

been so heavily marketed and the

4:36

medicine to combat quote,

4:42

lactose intolerance has been so

4:42

heavily marketed that we have

4:45

been conditioned to believe that

4:45

we need this medicine so that

4:49

our bodies will tolerate dairy,

4:49

so that we obtain the calcium

4:55

that we need, right and we can

4:55

enjoy these these dairy products

4:59

like normal healthy person, but

4:59

you may not know is that only

5:04

about 30% of the human

5:04

population, tolerate dairy

5:10

fully. The other 70% are known

5:10

to us as being lactose

5:17

intolerant. Well, in order to

5:17

understand how that works, you

5:21

need to understand what lactose

5:21

is. So basically lactose is a

5:25

sugar. I think all mammal milk

5:25

including human and the human

5:29

body, and all mammals are born

5:29

with a substance called lactase

5:35

it's like an it's an enzyme

5:35

basically, that breaks down

5:39

these compound sugars that are

5:39

in lactose and enables us to be

5:43

able to digest it. Without

5:43

lactase, you cannot tolerate

5:48

lactose. You're born with the

5:48

highest amount of lactase you

5:52

will ever have in your body. As

5:52

you grow and be become a toddler

5:57

and a young child, your body

5:57

produces less and less and less

6:02

lactase because mammals are

6:02

designed to need mother's milk

6:08

in infancy, and then no longer

6:08

need it. And so your body no

6:11

longer needs to produce lactase.

6:11

So hopefully you're following me

6:15

so far. So lactose is in mammal

6:15

milk. Mammals produce lactase as

6:20

infants. And as mammals grow,

6:20

lactase is produced less and

6:26

less and less because lactose

6:26

naturally is not meant to be

6:32

consumed anymore. It's not

6:32

needed. So about 10,000 years

6:36

ago, or a little more humans

6:36

began dairying, animals.

6:42

Somewhere along the line, we

6:42

figured out that we could obtain

6:47

nutrition from drinking the milk

6:47

from certain other mammals kind

6:51

of weird when you think about

6:51

it, actually, I remember as a

6:54

kid saying to my mom and dad who

6:54

like who was the first person to

6:58

drink cow milk, because that's

6:58

kind of weird and gross and

7:01

creepy if you're think about it.

7:01

But at any rate, we did. And so

7:07

because of that, we developed a

7:07

tolerance, we began to to

7:13

genetically mutate to be able to

7:13

tolerate lactose for for a

7:20

longer period in our life. So we

7:20

began to this mutation gave us

7:24

the ability to produce lactase

7:24

for more of it for longer

7:30

periods of time. Okay. So only

7:30

about 30% of the human

7:36

population has this genetic

7:36

mutation. So the majority of us

7:42

have not mutated genetically to

7:42

be able to tolerate the lactose

7:47

in other mammals milk, like we

7:47

think we should. So right off

7:53

the bat, there's that. Right, so

7:53

drinking other mammals milk and

7:58

consuming lactose, after

7:58

infancy, is completely

8:05

unnatural. And the only reason

8:05

that 30% of us can do so is

8:11

because of a tiny little genetic

8:11

mutation because of dairy

8:17

animals. Some of us are mutants, you

8:21

didn't know that, did you? Okay,

8:24

so now that we have that little

8:24

tidbit of information out of the

8:27

way, some of us because we don't

8:27

tolerate lactose, well, we'll,

8:31

we'll one will take medicine, or

8:31

we will purchase lactose free

8:39

foods, milk, ice cream,

8:39

whatever, whatever dairy

8:42

products, it's not technically

8:42

lactose free. So what happens

8:46

with lactose free products is

8:46

lactase is inserted into the

8:52

product to break down the

8:52

lactose as though as just like

8:57

it would if you had the lactase

8:57

in your body makes it more

8:59

digestible for you. It's kind of

8:59

starting the digestion process

9:03

for you so that you can consume

9:03

it. Okay, so let's talk about

9:07

the calcium argument. We've been

9:07

led to believe that dairy is

9:12

essential to our obtaining

9:12

enough calcium on a daily basis

9:18

to meet our nutritional needs.

9:18

So there's a few things that you

9:22

have to ask yourself in order to

9:22

figure out really what that

9:27

means to you. Okay, so the first

9:27

question that I would ask is,

9:32

how much calcium do you actually

9:32

need? You have to know the

9:37

answer to that question in order

9:37

to know if you're getting enough

9:40

or not. And how much is too

9:40

much? I mean, there's that too.

9:45

And what are the repercussions

9:45

of either not getting enough? Or

9:50

have getting too much? Like,

9:50

what are the symptoms? What

9:52

would happen if you take in too

9:52

much calcium? Or if you don't

9:57

get enough? How would that feel?

9:57

What would that look like? So

10:00

how much do you need? Well, let

10:00

me give you some guidelines. So

10:04

the United States National

10:04

Institutes of Health, their

10:08

office of dietary supplements

10:08

says that the upper intake

10:13

levels meaning these are at the

10:13

very high end of the needs for

10:18

these age groups, that teenagers

10:18

require up to 1200 to 1300

10:26

milligrams per day, that people

10:26

between the ages of 20 and 50

10:31

require up to 1000 million grams

10:31

a day. And people over the age

10:36

of 50 can require up to 1000 to

10:36

1200 milligrams per day. So my

10:43

next question would be, well,

10:43

how much do you currently get?

10:47

So in order to figure out if

10:47

you're getting enough or not,

10:50

you need to figure out how much

10:50

you're getting. So you would

10:53

have to kind of pay attention to

10:53

that for a little bit. And see,

10:57

I'm guessing that you are

10:57

amongst the majority who get

11:02

more than enough calcium every

11:02

day, because you don't just get

11:06

calcium from dairy, you get

11:06

calcium from all lots of

11:09

different things. And we're

11:09

going to talk about that later.

11:12

The majority of people get more

11:12

than enough. So another question

11:17

to go along with that would be,

11:17

do you have habits or health

11:23

issues that might interfere with

11:23

your body's ability to absorb

11:28

calcium. So it's not just about

11:28

how much you take in, but it's

11:33

also about how well your body

11:33

utilizes the calcium that you do

11:38

take in. And there are a

11:38

gazillion variables that go

11:43

along with that. And some of

11:43

those things would include

11:47

medications you might be taking

11:47

how much exercise you get a

11:50

whole bunch of different things

11:50

can interfere with your body's

11:56

ability to absorb calcium. One

11:56

of the biggest things is your

12:01

levels of vitamin D. So the

12:01

reason why most of your milk is

12:06

fortified with vitamin D is

12:06

because the body needs it in

12:11

order to absorb the calcium that

12:11

is in the milk without enough

12:17

vitamin D your body cannot eat,

12:17

it cannot absorb calcium. The

12:22

good news is that you can

12:22

actually get lots of calcium

12:26

from many other sources besides

12:26

dairy products. Some of those

12:32

sources are leafy green

12:32

vegetables. So kale, spinach,

12:37

collard greens are all of those

12:37

are great sources of calcium,

12:42

peas, acorn and butternut squash

12:42

are wonderful. Parsley, sweet

12:49

potatoes, broccoli, Brussel,

12:49

sprouts, green beans, lots and

12:54

lots of yummy veggies have

12:54

plenty of calcium in them. And a

12:59

lot of that calcium is much more

12:59

readily bioavailable to your

13:05

body when you consume it than

13:05

the calcium that you find in

13:08

dairy. So some of the fruits, oranges,

13:10

tangerines, kiwis, blackberries,

13:16

mulberries, even guava fruit,

13:16

the fruits contain significantly

13:21

less than the veggies, but still

13:21

are, are definitely significant

13:26

sources of calcium for us.

13:26

Another interesting little

13:29

tidbit and I think I actually

13:29

mentioned this in the book too,

13:33

is mushrooms contain a good

13:33

amount of vitamin D. But if you

13:42

put mushrooms outside in the

13:42

sunlight for at least 20

13:47

minutes, you can nearly double

13:47

the amount of vitamin D in them

13:53

in specific types of mushrooms

13:53

will absorb more vitamin D from

14:00

sunlight than others. So you

14:00

portabellas my talkies and white

14:04

button mushrooms all will nearly

14:04

double the amount of vitamin D

14:09

that your body will will be able

14:09

to absorb by simply putting them

14:14

out for half an hour, 20 minutes

14:14

or whatever in the sunshine.

14:17

Other mushrooms will also

14:17

increase the vitamin D but just

14:20

not quite as much as those

14:20

particular types. So a little

14:24

interesting side factor for you.

14:24

Now, you can get calcium from

14:29

dairy Of course you can. It's

14:29

bloated with calcium, but it's

14:33

also loaded with fat. It's also

14:33

loaded with sugar. It's loaded

14:40

with sodium, and it's also

14:40

loaded with calories and

14:45

cholesterol. So you're kind of

14:45

trading off a lot of yucky

14:52

stuff. For lack of that's a

14:52

professional term, right? yucky

14:56

stuff, you're trading off for

14:56

this purpose of getting calcium,

15:02

you're also trading off all this

15:02

other stuff that you really kind

15:07

of don't want to take in that's

15:07

really not good for you. And

15:10

that contributes to a whole

15:10

plethora of other chronic

15:14

illnesses and diseases. So, just

15:14

a little bit of food for

15:20

thought. Pun very much intended.

15:20

Okay, so let me tell you a

15:26

little bit about some studies

15:26

that were done by the National

15:31

Institutes of Health So they've

15:31

looked at Dairy and calcium,

15:38

extensively. they've researched

15:38

weight management as it pertains

15:44

to dairy, preeclampsia and

15:44

pregnant women. Blood pressure,

15:51

hypertension, cardiovascular

15:51

disease, heart disease, prostate

15:56

cancer, colon and rectal cancer,

15:56

bone health, and the prevention

16:02

of osteoporosis. So these

16:02

particular studies that were

16:07

published by the NIH couldn't

16:07

affecting effectively establish

16:14

whether any benefits or risks

16:14

they found, were from calcium in

16:20

and of itself, or from other

16:20

factors in dairy products.

16:26

Something that was found was

16:26

that osteoporosis that the main

16:34

factors in developing or not

16:34

developing osteoporosis were

16:41

inactivity. So you are more

16:41

prone to developing osteoporosis

16:47

if you are inactive, if you

16:47

smoke cigarettes, if you drink

16:52

alcohol on a regular basis, and

16:52

if you are a female, who has

16:56

gone through menopause, all of

16:56

these things were far greater

17:02

factors in developing

17:02

osteoporosis than intake of

17:06

calcium. So if part of the reason why

17:07

someone chooses to consume dairy

17:15

is to ensure that they have

17:15

enough calcium to prevent bone

17:19

deterioration, osteoporosis,

17:19

then that argument is

17:24

essentially Nolan void, because

17:24

all of those things are far

17:28

greater factors in determining

17:28

the risk of osteoporosis. Now,

17:34

whether you consume dairy or you

17:34

don't, you may take supplements,

17:39

right to ensure that you're

17:39

getting enough calcium, I know a

17:42

lot of people who are over the

17:42

age of 50 do this, and this is

17:46

common, especially women are

17:46

told by their physicians to take

17:53

calcium supplements, especially

17:53

if they have gone through

17:57

menopause, there is a great deal

17:57

of risk, however, associated

18:01

with calcium supplements, in

18:01

particular, I believe that is

18:07

because the supplements are

18:07

giving you so much calcium on

18:13

the on a regular basis. It's

18:13

just too much. And we're gonna

18:17

get into that a little bit later

18:17

on, in part of the reason why

18:22

bringing all of this up now is

18:22

that we really don't need quite

18:26

as much calcium, as we're told

18:26

we do. And I think a lot of

18:30

people have that. Well, if I

18:30

just take too much, then at

18:34

least I know, I'm getting

18:34

enough, right? Too much is

18:37

better than not enough. Well,

18:37

that's not necessarily true when

18:41

it comes to certain nutrients.

18:41

And you know, not all

18:44

supplements are created equally,

18:44

and some supplements are not of

18:49

good quality. But the risks

18:49

involved with too much calcium,

18:54

generally from supplements are

18:54

kidney problems, including

18:58

kidney stones. So essentially

18:58

Kidney stones are a buildup of

19:03

calcium. Another issue from

19:03

calcium supplementation is

19:08

constipation. Never a fun

19:08

problem to have nutrient

19:12

malabsorption. So the inability

19:12

to absorb certain nutrients and

19:17

that is particularly the case

19:17

with iron and zinc. Again,

19:23

calcium and vitamin D are co

19:23

dependent nutrients and iron and

19:28

zinc are also dependent on your

19:28

calcium levels being within a

19:33

certain range. So you don't want

19:33

too much but you don't want not

19:38

enough. Your our bodies are very

19:38

delicate that way. And it's

19:43

important to maintain a balance.

19:43

And unfortunately, we often

19:47

think that, you know, like I

19:47

said, it's you know, as long as

19:51

I'm getting enough, it's too

19:51

much as Okay, I'll just pay it

19:54

out. That's what people think

19:54

I'll just whatever I'll just pay

19:56

it I'd rather have too much than

19:56

not enough. Well, when too much

20:00

can also increase significantly

20:00

increase your risk of prostate

20:04

cancer, which calcium

20:04

supplementation can do. That's

20:09

something else you want to think

20:09

about. Additionally, calcium

20:13

supplementation can also

20:13

interact with medicines. So if

20:16

you're taking prescription meds,

20:16

you need to really have a

20:20

conversation with your

20:20

pharmacist or your doctor and

20:24

find out if certain levels of

20:24

calcium are going to interfere

20:28

with that medication. So the

20:28

British Medical Journal

20:34

conducted an analysis of studies

20:34

a whole bunch of different

20:39

studies, which found that dairy

20:39

does not promote strong bones at

20:46

all. In fact, they found no

20:46

evidence whatsoever that dairy

20:51

supports bone health. And in

20:51

fact, in a massive study of

20:57

nearly 100,000 people, the

20:57

researchers that did did this,

21:02

this analysis, they concluded

21:02

that drinking more milk as a kid

21:08

makes you more susceptible to

21:08

bone fractures as an adult. And

21:14

that was particularly true in

21:14

men. studies also showed that

21:20

American women who consume the

21:20

most cheese have a 53% greater

21:28

risk of getting breast cancer.

21:28

And those consuming one or more

21:34

servings of dairy per day have a

21:34

49% higher mortality rate. Women

21:41

consuming a quarter to a third

21:41

of a cup of cow's milk per day

21:47

increase their chances of

21:47

getting breast cancer by 30%. If

21:52

you're a woman and you drink one

21:52

cup of cow's milk per day, you

21:56

increase your risk by 50%.

22:00

And your risk increases to 80%

22:00

Eight zero 80% greater risk of

22:08

getting pressed cancer. If you

22:08

drink two to three cups of dairy

22:13

milk a day, regular consumption

22:13

of milk is also associated with

22:17

prostate cancer. And with type

22:17

one diabetes, they found out the

22:23

American Journal of Epidemiology

22:23

published a study of over

22:28

140,000 participants. And they

22:28

found that people consume who

22:33

consumed the most milk and ate

22:33

the fewest fruits and vegetables

22:37

had a significantly higher

22:37

mortality rate than those who do

22:43

didn't drink as much milk and

22:43

ate more fruits and vegetables.

22:48

And that risk was three times

22:48

higher for women on a website

22:54

called lancet.com neurology.

22:54

They report that since 2006,

23:01

several longitudinal studies

23:01

assessing environmental and

23:04

behavioral factors that identify

23:04

the risk of developing

23:08

Parkinson's disease found that

23:08

two of the known factors that

23:14

most increase the risk of

23:14

developing Parkinson's, our

23:20

exposure to pesticides, and the

23:20

consumption of dairy products.

23:26

Now as a side note, I'm just

23:26

going to mention that there are

23:30

two as part of that there are

23:30

two fungicides that are used

23:37

heavily in the dairy industry.

23:37

One of those is classified by

23:44

the EPA, the Environmental

23:44

Protection Agency here in the US

23:49

as a cancer promoting substance.

23:49

And I find it very interesting

23:54

that in 2018, the European Food

23:54

Safety Authority which is like

24:02

their EPA or their FDA, probably

24:02

I should say the European Food

24:08

Safety Authority proposed that

24:08

the tolerance level published

24:15

tolerance level of that

24:15

particular chemical be

24:17

significantly reduced in the EU,

24:17

to 10 parts per billion. What I

24:25

find interesting about that is

24:25

that that would still be 1000

24:34

times lower than the reported

24:34

safe level in the United States.

24:41

The European Food Safety

24:41

Authority believes that this

24:45

this one particular fungus side,

24:45

camera chemical, safe levels

24:50

safe tolerance levels should be

24:50

10 parts per billion in the

24:55

United States. Our farmers are

24:55

allowed to have one 1000 times

25:02

more than what the EU believes

25:02

is safe. The other fungicide

25:10

that is mentioned has been found

25:10

to be very harmful to the immune

25:14

and nervous systems and to the

25:14

thyroid on humans. Just a little

25:20

bit of insight into the American

25:20

standards with regard to

25:28

pesticides, fungicides,

25:28

herbicides and other chemical

25:32

crop treatments. Okay, and one

25:32

last bit of information before I

25:39

move on, from the human health

25:39

aspect of the dairy industry and

25:46

in dairy in general, and move on

25:46

to animal welfare and some other

25:53

practices that you might not be

25:53

aware of and what they mean to

25:56

us. One last thing is heart

25:56

disease, I will remind you, m is

26:02

the number one cause of death.

26:02

In the United States, it has

26:06

been for over 21 years. Diet and

26:06

lifestyle are mostly responsible

26:15

for that fact. What we're

26:15

putting in our mouths, and what

26:19

we're doing with our time every

26:19

day, is making us sick. The

26:24

number one cause of heart

26:24

disease in our diet is saturated

26:31

fat. This is no secret. I think

26:31

most people know this, most

26:37

people are aware that there is a

26:37

correlation between eating a

26:43

high fat saturated fat diet, not

26:43

exercising and developing heart

26:49

disease, amongst other things. Dairy products are the highest

26:52

contributor of saturated fat in

26:59

the American diet, I will leave

26:59

that there for you to think

27:04

about. And for those of you who

27:04

are now going to say, Oh, but I

27:11

don't eat the full fat kind of

27:11

have fat free kind. Fat free

27:16

products are never just free of

27:16

fat. Something has to be put

27:23

into those products to maintain

27:23

the product consistency, flavor,

27:32

and numerous other things when

27:32

the fat is removed. And never

27:37

are those things natural, or

27:37

healthy. So I mentioned this in

27:44

my book, also, if you're going

27:44

to splurge like that, just go

27:49

for the full fat stuff, the more

27:49

natural stuff and just have a

27:55

little bit, don't overdo it,

27:55

don't go crazy, just have a

27:59

little bit in using the fat free

27:59

stuff. You're You're simply

28:04

trading one bad thing for

28:04

another. So just be aware, if

28:08

you're trying to be healthier,

28:08

that's something that you'll

28:10

want to be aware of. Okay, so

28:10

now that we've covered some of

28:15

the health concerns, and

28:15

misconceptions, I guess about

28:21

about dairy and calcium. Let's

28:21

talk about why we might have

28:26

some of those misconceptions. So

28:26

there exists a National Dairy

28:35

promotion and Research Board.

28:35

And I'm just going to read for

28:40

you a quote from their website.

28:40

And this is on their like their

28:48

mission statement kind of thing.

28:48

So their purpose is to carry out

28:56

research and promotion of the

28:56

dairy industry to build demand

29:02

and expand domestic and

29:02

international markets for dairy

29:05

products are read that one more

29:05

time. The National Dairy

29:09

promotion and research boards

29:09

purpose is to carry out research

29:14

and promotion of the dairy

29:14

industry for the purpose of

29:21

building demand, and expanding

29:21

their domestic and international

29:25

markets for dairy products.

29:25

Their sole purpose is to promote

29:32

and sell more dairy products. So

29:32

in 1983, I'm just going to put

29:39

that on the back burner for a

29:39

sec, just kind of keep that in

29:42

the back of your mind, the 1983

29:42

The National Dairy and tobacco

29:46

act of 1983 was put into law.

29:46

And what that meant and

29:56

continues to mean today is that

29:56

all dairy farmers must pay an

30:01

assessment what they call an

30:01

assessment of all milk produced

30:06

for commercial use. The funds

30:06

from those paid assessments are

30:13

used by the National Dairy

30:13

promotion and Research Board for

30:18

advertising research and what

30:18

they call nutritional education,

30:23

on dairy about dairy, they spent

30:23

nearly $123 million from 1984 to

30:30

1987. Those three years on me

30:30

national and regional TV and

30:36

radio commercial advertising for

30:36

fluid milk what they call fluid

30:40

milk that nearly tripled the

30:40

previous years, advertising

30:45

expenditures on an annual basis,

30:45

tripled 75% of that budget

30:53

focused advertising and

30:53

marketing on the benefits of

30:58

calcium and how milk pertains to

30:58

that and supports bone health,

31:04

they found also that national

31:04

campaigns were most effective as

31:10

compared to the regional ones.

31:10

So they did these massive, huge

31:13

national campaign touting milk

31:13

support of bone health and the

31:17

benefits of calcium and of, of

31:17

consuming dairy for such, and

31:22

they did a study that confirmed

31:22

quote, that statistically

31:26

significant relationship between

31:26

fluid milk consumption and

31:31

generic fluid milk advertising,

31:31

as found in previous studies,

31:37

what what does that mean,

31:37

statistically significant

31:41

relationship between fluid milk

31:41

consumption and generic fluid

31:44

milk advertising. It means, my friends, that when

31:46

they tell us to drink more milk,

31:52

we do. It means that their

31:52

marketing and advertising

31:57

efforts convinced us that we

31:57

need milk, to have strong bones,

32:04

and to be healthy, because milk

32:04

is our greatest source of

32:08

calcium. What you may not know

32:08

is that much of the data that

32:13

they are basing that on was

32:13

fudged. And dating as far back

32:18

as the 1950s. Studies proved and

32:18

continue to prove, like I

32:25

mentioned earlier in this

32:25

episode, inconclusive, or that

32:30

there were risks involved with

32:30

drinking milk, consuming too

32:35

much milk or taking in too much

32:35

calcium. But they left that part

32:39

out, right, it's advertising. So

32:39

they're focusing only on certain

32:42

things. So essentially, what

32:42

happened was, the dairy council

32:47

had this idea, someone thought

32:47

or group of people thought that

32:53

consuming more milk was going to

32:53

be a good thing. And so they

32:56

studied it. And they found that

32:56

they were wrong. But they

32:59

published their original

32:59

hypotheses anyway, because a lot

33:05

of people stood to lose a lot of

33:05

money, and the National Dairy

33:09

promotion and research board's

33:09

purpose to carry out research

33:14

and promotion of the dairy

33:14

industry to build demand and

33:17

expand domestic and

33:17

international markets for dairy

33:20

products. Interesting. Marketing

33:20

has completely overpowered the

33:26

critical scientific evaluations

33:26

and messages about dairy

33:31

consumption and practices. And

33:31

rarely do we ever hear this

33:36

important information that is so

33:36

clearly invalidating the pro

33:41

dairy agenda. Nowadays, you can

33:41

look online, you can listen to

33:46

podcasts like this one, and you

33:46

can find information, but you

33:50

have to really dig for it. It's

33:50

not out there. It's not like the

33:53

mainstream media is telling you

33:53

about this stuff. They can't,

33:57

because their advertisers that

33:57

pay for them to be on the air

34:01

are promoting milk. So there's

34:01

that. Here's another bit of

34:07

information. I lied earlier, I

34:07

said I was just gonna start

34:11

talking about the health risks

34:11

and information and stuff, but

34:16

I'm not I've got something else

34:16

to tell you. So you may have

34:19

heard about this book called The

34:19

China Study. It's his famous

34:23

book, written by Dr. T. Colin

34:23

Campbell. The China's study is a

34:28

very famous book based on the

34:28

single largest and most

34:32

comprehensive study of diet and

34:32

disease that has ever been

34:36

conducted in history. What Dr.

34:36

Campbell did, with his research

34:45

completely shattered the beliefs

34:45

that so many of us held about

34:49

dairy and other dietary

34:49

assumptions for that matter. And

34:53

he proved through his many

34:53

decades of research decades, he

34:59

spent that the main protein in

34:59

cow's milk is the single most

35:05

consistent promoter of cancer in

35:05

our diet. It's called casein. By

35:11

the way, he proved that our

35:11

increased dairy consumption over

35:15

the past century or so has been

35:15

directly linked to the increase

35:23

in our Western society in

35:23

cancer, heart disease, diabetes,

35:28

obesity, and asthma. It's scary, though.

35:29

In and of itself is enough for

35:35

me to not eat dairy. But but that's just me. So, so

35:37

there's that. So let's talk a

35:45

little bit about pollution and

35:45

how dairy farming and its

35:49

practices the effect that it has

35:49

on our planet. And then

35:54

obviously on us as a result,

35:54

about 10% of the crop land in

35:59

the United States is used for

35:59

dairy cow feed 10%. I'm going to

36:04

throw out a couple of statistics

36:04

here and then kind of tie some

36:07

things together for you. So it

36:07

takes 144 gallons of water

36:12

approximately, to produce just

36:12

one gallon of cow's milk, a

36:19

single gallon 144 gallons of

36:19

water to produce one single

36:25

gallon of cow's milk. 40% of the

36:25

world lives with water scarcity,

36:32

and were using 144 gallons of it

36:32

to produce one single gallon of

36:40

cow's milk. Three and a half

36:40

percent of all global co2

36:44

emissions are the result of

36:44

dairy practices. I believe that

36:48

adds up to more than aviation

36:48

and shipping combined. So three

36:52

and a half percent of all global

36:52

co2 emissions are the result of

36:58

dairy practices dairy farming,

36:58

and water pollution from slurry,

37:03

which is the commonly used term

37:03

to describe unmanaged wastes,

37:10

animal manure and other

37:10

excrements that occur as a

37:14

result of farming. Water

37:14

pollution from slurry is often

37:18

found in groundwater around

37:18

dairy farms, local waterways

37:23

around dairy farms, and it makes

37:23

its way to drinking water and

37:28

pollutes the water life in those

37:28

areas. And what happens is to

37:33

that it leads to the growth of

37:33

toxic algae, huge amounts of

37:38

pesticides and insecticides are

37:38

used in dairy farming, huge

37:43

amounts. And in fact, let's talk

37:43

about ice cream again, our

37:48

beloved Ben and Jerry's. 10 out

37:48

of 11 of the Ben and Jerry's ice

37:53

creams were tested in 2017,

37:53

tested positive for glyphosate,

38:01

which is Monsanto's Roundup

38:01

moving right along. So there's

38:07

three basic ways that water is

38:07

polluted through the practices

38:11

of dairy farming. One is

38:11

sediment. And what that means

38:15

is, because in order to farm

38:15

there, deforestation must

38:21

happen. Right? So deforestation

38:21

occurs on slopes near waterways,

38:28

for the farms to do what they

38:28

need to do. And that loosens up

38:32

the soil and disrupts the

38:32

ecosystems there. And it makes

38:37

it very easy for waste, and

38:37

other sediments to make its way

38:44

into the waterways. Another way

38:44

that water is polluted through

38:49

dairy practices is nutrients.

38:49

This is actually a huge concern,

38:54

and probably something well,

38:54

likely something you've never,

38:58

ever thought about high levels

38:58

of nitrates and phosphorus from

39:02

cow's waste to get into water.

39:02

And the reason that other than

39:08

just being sounding gross. What

39:08

happens is that stimulates

39:12

growth of highly toxic algae and

39:12

high levels of that can make

39:17

humans sick, and it can actually

39:17

even be fatal for infants. Now

39:23

in the European Union, 85% of

39:23

dairy farms have dangerously

39:28

high levels of nitrates and

39:28

phosphorus in their groundwater.

39:33

And numerous lawsuits here in

39:33

the United States have been

39:36

filed over water pollution

39:36

because of high levels of

39:41

nitrates and phosphorus in the

39:41

water and in the groundwater

39:44

specifically. The third thing

39:44

that is a concern and the way

39:50

that water gets polluted is

39:50

through bacteria. The first is

39:56

sediment just run off that makes

39:56

its way down into the waterways

40:00

and into the groundwater seeping

40:00

into the into the soils. The

40:04

second is nutrients, which are

40:04

much too high, the levels are

40:10

far too high to be safe for us.

40:10

And the third is bacteria. So

40:14

here's an interesting thing in

40:14

New Zealand. Ecoli is a huge

40:19

problem. There's a large number

40:19

of waterways in New Zealand In

40:23

New Zealand where they can't

40:23

even go in the water. And it's

40:27

all because of dairy farming.

40:27

Here in the United States, it's

40:31

a constant battle and with great

40:31

Rate expense and effort. We try

40:38

to prevent and reduce

40:38

groundwater and water way

40:42

contamination. But, but the

40:42

contamination happens a lot more

40:46

often than you probably realize.

40:46

So, to bring that point home,

40:53

there's an ongoing investigation

40:53

right now, as I'm speaking to

40:57

you right now in 2021, August of

40:57

2021. There's an ongoing

41:03

investigation in Washington

41:03

State. It started in,

41:07

I believe in March. The first

41:07

contamination started are first

41:12

illnesses started in March,

41:12

there is a breakout of ecoli.

41:17

And illness and 17 people so far

41:17

that I'm aware of have become

41:23

seriously ill. So far, nobody

41:23

has died. But several of those

41:27

people, those 17 people,

41:27

including children, have become

41:32

ill to the point that they need

41:32

to be hospitalized. So now that

41:35

the dairy that was involved,

41:35

that that all of this was traced

41:39

back to has been, I believe,

41:39

permanently shut down, I believe

41:43

in July, they were permanently

41:43

shut down. And by the way, the

41:47

brands that this dairy produced

41:47

were higher end organic and

41:53

grass fed labeled products, some

41:53

of which just contained a bit of

42:01

the dairy products that were

42:01

produced for them. And that's

42:03

just one single recent event.

42:03

Again, we're obviously not going

42:10

to see this stuff on the news as

42:10

often as it happens. If more of

42:15

us were aware that this was

42:15

happening on a regular basis,

42:20

people would be too afraid to

42:20

continue to consume the stuff

42:25

it's too risky. I mean, for

42:25

crying out loud, people won't

42:30

even go out of their houses

42:30

still in some areas of this

42:32

country because they're afraid

42:32

of the COVID because the media

42:39

talks about it all the time. If

42:39

the media covered what was

42:42

actually going on in the dairy

42:42

industry, people would be

42:44

freaking terrified to drink

42:44

milk. Okay, so I'm going to move

42:48

on and I'm going to address

42:48

something that is I'm not gonna

42:57

lie, it's difficult for me to

42:57

maintain my steady composure

43:07

when talking about this because

43:07

while it definitely upsets me,

43:15

that there is so much

43:15

misinformation out there, and so

43:19

much greed involved at the

43:19

expense of the general public's

43:27

health and well being so much

43:27

dishonesty for the sake of

43:30

making a buck. That it's

43:30

infuriating. But when I think

43:39

about and see videos, and fully

43:39

understand what happens, how the

43:49

animals are treated in the

43:49

dairies, the majority of them

43:55

it's, it's freakin heart

43:55

wrenching. It really is. And

44:00

I'll be honest with you, it's

44:00

one of the reasons why I chose

44:05

to up chose a plant based

44:05

lifestyle many, many, many years

44:10

ago. But I will do my very best

44:10

to provide you with facts and

44:20

information. Allow you it is

44:20

your right to make your own

44:26

choices. It is my goal and

44:26

purpose here to provide you with

44:31

information so that you can make

44:31

informed choices. So let's talk

44:36

about the animals. Cows, we're

44:36

going to focus on cows in

44:40

general, because that's the

44:40

majority of the dairy industry.

44:44

In this country. Cows only

44:44

produce milk to feed their

44:50

babies just like humans, right

44:50

most women unless they have some

44:53

sort of a disorder only lactate

44:53

when they have a baby. Every

45:02

mammal is like that. So, in

45:02

order for the dairy farms to

45:12

produce a high enough yield for

45:12

them to make a profit. They need

45:19

the cows to produce more milk.

45:19

Cows are artificially

45:25

impregnated typically once or

45:25

twice a year. To keep their milk

45:31

flowing. The cows gestation is

45:31

like nine, nine and a half

45:35

months, it's a little bit longer

45:35

than a human. So they would

45:39

typically stop producing milk

45:39

shortly after their calf is

45:43

born. impregnation is painful

45:43

for the animal.

45:50

And the way that the semen is

45:50

obtained from the males, is

45:56

nothing short of torture. And

45:56

I'm not going to go into the

45:59

methods used or describe that,

45:59

any of that here for you. I

46:03

mean, if you really want to know

46:03

you can Google it. I'm sure

46:08

there's lots of information out

46:08

there. But I will warn you that

46:11

if you do, if you are sensitive

46:11

to that kind of thing, it is

46:15

very difficult to watch. I have

46:15

and I kind of wish I hadn't.

46:22

It's it's hard to see the

46:22

animals are very clearly in

46:26

pain. Second thing I want to

46:26

tell you about is that most

46:31

calves are removed from their

46:31

mother within 24 hours. So the

46:36

day they're born, they are taken

46:36

away from their mom. They are

46:43

fed artificial formula. And that

46:43

is because of for two reasons.

46:51

The first is the mother's milk

46:51

needs to be reserved for

46:55

product. That's the whole point

46:55

right for them.

47:01

And the second reason is that

47:01

calves and their mothers form a

47:07

very deep bond over time. So

47:07

over the first few days of life,

47:13

a calf and its mother deeply

47:13

bond very similar to how a human

47:20

baby bonds with its mother. male

47:20

calves, who are born to dairy

47:25

cows are usually put into what

47:25

are known as veal crates. They

47:30

live there for about four

47:30

months, typically about 16

47:33

weeks, the crates are extremely

47:33

narrow, the the calves are not

47:39

able to turn around, they can

47:39

barely move, they are tethered

47:43

at the neck. And because this of

47:43

this restricted movement, it's

47:47

intentional. The muscle growth

47:47

and the calf is prevented and is

47:53

why veal meat is so tender veal

47:53

meat is known to have a

48:00

particular tenderness to it. And

48:00

now you know how they obtain

48:05

that veal crates are banned in

48:05

eight states in the United

48:09

States. Surprisingly, only eight

48:09

and there is absolutely no way

48:13

around it. These babies suffer

48:13

tremendously, what they call

48:17

surplus calves. calves that are

48:17

not used for veal are

48:21

slaughtered usually for cheap

48:21

ground beef. So something that

48:25

you might not know is that many

48:25

cheeses use the tongues and

48:30

stomachs of slaughtered cow and

48:30

goat calves in cheese

48:33

production. They are used as

48:33

coagulants for the cheese for

48:37

softer cheeses and to provide

48:37

flavor. So dairy cows produce up

48:43

to 12 times the amount of milk

48:43

that nature intended for them to

48:47

produce. And the physical strain

48:47

of that has been compared to a

48:53

human jogging six hours per day,

48:53

every single day. It's traumatic

49:00

for the animal. Because of the

49:00

strain and illness caused, cows

49:06

are often administered a massive

49:06

amounts of pharmaceuticals to

49:11

keep them in production. They

49:11

are also often fed very

49:15

unnatural diets to keep them

49:15

quote unquote healthy. This

49:19

frequently causes chronic

49:19

diarrhea. So these are all

49:24

lovely pictures, I'm sure for

49:24

all of you. But these are things

49:27

that are happening every day.

49:27

This is normal in the dairy

49:31

industry in this country,

49:31

perfectly. Normal cows naturally

49:35

live 20 to 30 years, but dairy

49:35

cows are typically slaughtered

49:39

after about five or six because

49:39

after about five or six years of

49:43

going through what they go

49:43

through and being impregnated

49:47

and lactating and all of the

49:47

things that they are put

49:50

through, they're considered

49:50

spent, they just can't do it

49:54

anymore. They exhaust them and

49:54

about half of those are lame by

50:00

the time they are slaughtered.

50:00

They have developed painful

50:03

lesions and diseases have their

50:03

hooves and their joints and they

50:08

don't stand up well, some of the

50:08

cows are milked and in

50:12

production, as they call it

50:12

until they quite literally

50:16

cannot stand up anymore. When

50:16

that occurs and when they are

50:19

spent. They are then slaughtered

50:19

for fast food hamburgers and

50:23

grocery store ground beef. Cows

50:23

are highly social animals.

50:29

They're very intelligent. They

50:29

form deep bonds with their

50:33

family. With other cows, they

50:33

display emotional awareness and

50:38

responses just like your family,

50:38

pets do, just like other

50:42

animals, just like humans, and

50:42

they suffer tremendously,

50:46

because we tell ourselves that

50:46

we can't live without our ice

50:50

cream and our cheese. And that

50:50

is deeply upsetting to me. It's

50:53

unnecessary. So not only do we

50:53

suffer as a result of consuming

50:58

dairy, some of our symptoms are

50:58

so common that people don't

51:03

realize that it's not normal to

51:03

feel the way that they feel. And

51:08

I've personally worked with

51:08

clients who have eliminated

51:12

dairy from their diet. And all

51:12

of the symptoms that they

51:16

thought were other things were

51:16

completely because of the dairy

51:20

that they were eating, bloating,

51:20

and gas and issues with their

51:25

gut, and all kinds of stuff,

51:25

high cholesterol, blood pressure

51:29

issues, it's amazing how much we

51:29

don't realize how bad we feel

51:33

until we feel good. Until we

51:33

don't feel bad anymore, you

51:37

know, for our own good for the

51:37

well being of the animals who

51:42

suffer so much because of this,

51:42

for the well being in health of

51:47

our planet, I am of the opinion

51:47

that we would all be better off

51:53

if more people choose not to

51:53

support the dairy industry, not

51:59

to consume dairy products, and

51:59

to look deeper into the

52:05

practices and decide if you're okay,

52:06

enjoying that bit of cheese,

52:11

knowing what you now know, there

52:11

are lots of alternatives to your

52:17

favorite dairy products. And

52:17

like I said earlier, I loved

52:21

cheese, loved it, missed it a

52:21

lot when I first gave it up,

52:25

actually, I love ice cream.

52:25

There are so many alternatives

52:29

and different things to enjoy so

52:29

many other things to enjoy that

52:35

don't entail harming the

52:35

environment and torturing

52:40

animals to get it. So please

52:40

don't shrug this off, you have a

52:45

choice. And Your choices matter.

52:45

At empowered humans, we use the

52:51

hashtag change starts here. And

52:51

that's what that means. Change

52:55

starts by each of us

52:55

individually, seeking out new

53:01

awareness and then making

53:01

choices that might be different

53:04

than what we've been doing based

53:04

on that new awareness that we

53:07

have, based on not only what's

53:07

good for us, but on what's good

53:13

for everybody. It's not just

53:13

about you, it's about the bigger

53:18

picture. You know, it's not just

53:18

about me, it's it's about all of

53:22

us, and the kind of world that

53:22

we want to create and live in

53:30

together. So all of that said, I

53:30

think next episode, we're going

53:36

to talk about that we're going

53:36

to talk about world peace and

53:40

what it takes to achieve it. So

53:40

I'll see you then take care. Hey

53:48

infringed is available on most

53:48

of your favorite podcast

53:50

platforms. And you can also

53:50

listen at Empower humans.org

53:54

Wherever you're listening, do me

53:54

a solid and give this episode a

53:56

like and share it with your

53:56

friends on social media. You can

53:59

also support the show at buy me

53:59

a coffee.com forward slash

54:03

unfinished. I also post links

54:03

and resources on my website at

54:07

empowered humans.org. So if

54:07

you'd like to dig a little

54:10

deeper into any of the topics I

54:10

cover, that's where you're going

54:12

to find those and I welcome you

54:12

to drop a comment on Facebook at

54:16

empowered humans Inc. Or you can

54:16

also send me an email directly

54:19

to Donna at empowered

54:19

humans.org. I appreciate your

54:23

support and I look forward to

54:23

hearing your feedback. Thanks

54:26

for listening