Often described as “Nature’s Perfect Food”, milk is the foundation of life for all newborn mammals (Velten 10). Milk has played a central role in the American cultural and industrial landscape over the last century, binding farms with urban consumers, placing regulators at odds with producers, and inspiring a constant dance between producers, consolidators, nutritionists and end-users about how it is marketed and sold (Smith-Howard 368). As I have become older I have gained a new yet expected intolerance to lactose. I never used to have a problem when I was little but as food economies are changing, so are our products. By the 1950s, consumers demanded standards for dairy products while also developing a growing concern about health issues caused by dairy fats (Smith-Howard 368). This puts all of us at risk for certain diseases including osteoporosis and heart disease. The females of all mammal species can produce milk but cow milk dominates commercial production. Cow’s milk was initially intended only for baby cows. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Humans are the only species that drink milk after infancy.
Throughout history there has been a need for alternative feeding methods for infants. Whether because of an issue with the mother’s milk supply or because of death of the mother, there have always been children that required the use of something other than their own mother’s milk. In more recent history, alternative feeding has also been used as a convenience. Prior to the development of infant formula in 1865, animal milk and wet nurses were used to accomplish the feeding of orphaned infants or others whose mothers could not, or chose not to, breast feed. Between 1950 and 1970 the breast feeding rate fell dramatically. Some studies suggest that more that 75 percent of American infants born during that time were formula fed. As the rates of diabetes, obesity and other health issues continue to increase researchers are looking at how individuals are feeding their infants and what effects the large amounts of high calorie “breast-milk substitute” may be having. Infant formula is being considered as one of the contributors to the growing health crisis in America. American mothers may be inadvertently predisposing their children to a lifetime of health issues by choosing not to breast feed.
Williams, Ward. “Comparison of Human Milk and Formula” A Trusted Resource for Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2009.
Even with all of the exercise in the world, there are still problems that can not be taken care of by the consumer. The only way to be sure that you are not going to have physical problems because of milk is to refrain from drinking regular, whole milk and to drink liquids that contain the healthier calcium and protein that milk in known for.
· Allergies - Milk is one of the most common causes of food allergy. Often the symptoms are subtle and may not be attributed to milk for some time.
substance contained in cow's milk can trigger an allergic reaction which can be life threatening" (Denmark 1). Some suspect this to be the cause of certain cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Denmark states that "for every eighty-seven artificially fed babies who die from SIDS, only three breast fed babies die from SIDS" (1).
Most argue that the formulas created in a lab just cannot imitate the nutrients that a mother herself can make. The Natural Resources Defense Council concluded that Breast-fed children are less likely to contract a number of diseases early on and also later in life these include but are not limited to juvenile diabetes, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and cancer. The infant brain also benefits vastly from breastfeeding. The babies are not the only one who benefit from this. Th...
Suppose we didn't slaughter cows for their meat but, instead, just drank their milk? We wouldn't be off the hook; there are anti-milk Nazis. Robert Cohen, a.k.a. "Notmilk Man", director of the Anti-Dairy Coalition, says that there is "no nutritional value to drinking milk.
Lactose intolerance is an inherited condition as indicated by a recently distributed survey, as well as complied research that has been collected. The survey results had only a small fraction of people who were lactose intolerant, 10%. However, almost 50% of survey takers family members had intolerance toward lactose. This proves several people are not born with the lactose intolerance activated but eventually with age the trait will activate since it has been inherited. Also majority of the survey takers are North American or European and in high school. Ethnicity, culture and age all have a large impact on whether or not the lactase enzyme is being produce, specifically in mammals.
“Commercially prepared infant formulas are a nourishing alternative to breast milk, and even contains vitamins and nutrients that breastfed infants need to get from supplements (Pearl, E., 2015). Breastfeeding is proven to strengthen the immune system for children of all ages. While a mother nurses the infant, the mother passes down nutrients and antibodies from the milk the babies drink while nursing. Like immunizations building invulnerabilities for people destructive illnesses, breast milk gives additional antibodies to infants to help them. Nursing sessions are less demanding to retain and process the formula since it contains living development elements, hormones, and chemicals which help an infant to effectively process all healthy intake from each feeding (The Office on Women’s Health, 2012). Further, in creating nations, scientists found that for newborn children who were not breastfed have danger of dying from irresistible infections, in the primary month is six times more prominent than babies who were breastfed (Chen and Rogan, 2004). Children that are breastfed have less problems with digestive systems due to the breast milk, a standout amongst the most essential advantages of breast milk is the containing living parts, for example, contamination battling antibodies, white platelets, red platelets, and hostile to viral components (Taylor, 2013). All which are essential to the growth of a newborn's digestive system that formula does not