What Kind of Milk Do You Drink?

Updated on July 06, 2009
J.P. asks from Skokie, IL
11 answers

Hi,
I am curious as to what type of milk you and your family drink, and why. I am trying to educate myself about the pros and cons of different types of milk such as cow's milk, soy milk, rice milk, and almond milk. I have Googled this subject and every article seems to be geared to what the author wants you to believe. My cousin told me something about a connection between soy milk and high levels of estrogen, but when I called the soy milk co. called Silk, the man explained everything to me. I feel he eased my worries and I think I will continue to drink it since I now like it. I switched from cow's milk because I read how really it is unnatural for us as humans to consume it and I've heard that there is pus/mucous in it! Is that really true? Well.... I'd love to learn more about this topic. If you have facts.... please share. FYI... I've been weaning my kids from cow's milk by doing 50% cow's milk and 50% soy milk. (They don't drink just soy, yet.)

Thanks in advance!

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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

Question: How is cow's milk unnatural for us to drink? We drank cows milk for how many centuries before we had soy, rice or almond milk?

Not trying to be confrontational, but I think nature planned on us drinking milk from other animals, not from the byproducts of things grown in the field.

3 moms found this helpful
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E.S.

answers from Chicago on

We drink skim cow's milk without the growth hormones. Really, I don't get all crazy about these things either. If you continue to read all this stuff about how bad everything is for us you can go crazy and end up only eating stuff you grow in your own garden (and you'd probably have to move because I'm sure "our" soil here has something "wrong" with it too). We all want to do what's best for our kids, but I also figured that they will get cow's milk at school anyway and I don't want to turn my kids into a bunch of fanatics or outcasts! I made the choice for cow's milk because that's what I grew up on and that's what we like and I turned out just fine. Besides that, I say stick with what you know worked for you since you will hear something bad about every type of milk. I do not like the growth hormones that are now added in some because it is shown to be related to early puberty. But other than that, the kids don't need the fat so we go with the skim. Mostly we drink water anyway, and they may drink a glass here and there, but it's mostly used for cereal and cooking.

2 moms found this helpful

P.L.

answers from Chicago on

We all drink skim milk.At first I thought disgusting,but now I'm used to it.I use milk in my cereal,I love hot chocolate.Not to big of a milk drinker.
I really don't see any harm in drinking cow's milk.
Everybody should do, with what they feel comfotable with.
I think people are to overthinking to many things.

2 moms found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

Of course the Silk man is going to ease your mind! He sells Silk milk and his company needs to profit! If he told you, "Yeah our product could have estrogen and could lead to adverse affects later in life" do you think he'd be working for Silk much longer? Of course not! To be fair and balanced...I'm sure, however, if you contacted the FDA and asked them about cow's milk you'd get the same reassurance.

You're absolutely right about your search with googling milk. Every author has an agenda so you need to make sure you are consulting with reputable sources.

When I drink milk, it is cow's milk. I have never really liked milk except with cereal or the occasional baked good - I probably drink one glass of milk per week - I'm not concerned at all about cow's milk.

Please remember that the water we drink is 'tainted', the air we breathe is 'contaminated', and if you drink cola products or eat chocolate then you are consuming caffeine which is a *stimulant drug*! Oh no! I could go on and on...

I think it all depends on how hyped up you want to get about every little product under the sun. Certainly there is no way to avoid every bad thing out there. You have to decide what is best for your family - good luck!

2 moms found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

We drink Whole Milk. I buy it for my children because that is what was given to me. I've tried other cow milks but that one tastes the best to me.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Chicago on

Regarding another post, and not to be confrontational, but cow's milk is unnatural for humans to drink because it was meant for cow. It is full of nasty stuff like pus and antibiotics.

We drink rice milk because soy doesn't agree with us. There also may be a connection between the rampant use of soy in, well everything, and peanut allergies. Peanuts and soy are close relatives. Anyway, Trader Joes has the cheapest and best tasting rice milk. It doesn't have protein like other milks, but we get plenty of that elsewhere. Really, I only use it on my cereal, but my boys drink it.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

Hi J.,

I am a nutritionist and my daughter and I drink rice or almond milk, my hubby drinks 1% without any treated hormones. He grew up near farms and won't drink treated cows milk. However, we do disagree with the health benefits, rice milk and almond milk is all fortified to get the same nutrients as cow's milk, however, the only benefit of drinking cow's milk comes from drinking ORGANIC cow's milk, the other stuff, all of the calcium and vitamin d is all killed in the pasteurization process...humans do not digest soy very well, it is a bean...soy in its fermented state such as miso or tempeh is benefical (that is what the Asians eat, not silk), however, soy protein, soy milk, tofu are not great options b/c there are better ones out there (and yes, I have read valid research about soy and the estrogen link)

As far as the pus and mucous, yes it is true. When the cow's are treated with hormones, it forces them to produce more milk, but it also increase their risks for other diseases such as mastitis, hoof disease, joint pain, etc...when they get mastitis (as do humans) they get treated with antibiotics, however the pus and all the junk goes into the milk, but is killed again during the pasteurization process. Fox News in Tampa did a detailed story on this, you can find it on You Tube or google it, you'll see the nasty videos (and it is very sad). Fox also got sued for publishing this story b/c it hurt the industry...you can also google Monsanto who makes the drugs for the cows to produce more milk, it is bascially crack for cows. I did a seminar on this for our industry back in October.

Eliminating dairy can ease symptoms such as eczema, chronic congestion, asthma, IBS, allergies, hayfever, arthritis and many other ailments. www.drrapp.com is a great resource

Keep doing your research!

J. W. MPH
Wellness Educator in Maternal and Child Health

1 mom found this helpful
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E.F.

answers from Chicago on

There is pus/mucous in regular cow milk. Organic milk does not because they don't do what those companies do to their cows. We drink organic valley 1%. Yes soy milk has natural estrogen in it. That alone is no big deal but put it together with all the other things we come in contact with and we get on estrogen overload. Plastic wear give off estrogen. There are other things that I've read but can't remember right now. Anyway, my daughter was sensitive to regular milk so I gave her soy milk for a few years. Now she has out grown it so she drinks organic cow milk. I myself am a bit lactose intolerant and I drink soy milk or rice milk. I switch between the two because I get a little crazy when I drink too much soy because of the estrogen it contains, but I love that it has a more protein than the rice hence I also seem to go back to soy for a little while. My friend's daughter drinks the lacto free milk because of her sensitive stomach. I have not tried that however. I don't know if there is an organic brand of it.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.G.

answers from Chicago on

My 18 month old son and I drink goat milk. I have heard that it is more like human milk and easier to digest. I also drink goat milk because I have sensitivity/allergy to cow milk.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.

answers from Chicago on

we drink organic cows milk: 1% for us, whole for my 2 year old. it is a good source of calcium, healthy fat, and vit D. While i agree people weren't designed to drink cow milk, you could make the same argument about soy, rice, or almond milk. i do like the plain Silk too, but most days it is cow milk here. it is an easy and convenient way to boost calcium and vit D intake, IMHO.

1 mom found this helpful
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N.S.

answers from Chicago on

As of the beginning of the year I switched to USDA certified organic dairy products. I madethe switch after reading numerous books on nutrition and what they do to cows. The Unhealthy Truth by O'Brien is one of my favorites. All of the responses on this question regarding the mucous, pus, sick cows, estrogen in Soy, and Monsanto is consistent with all of the readings I have been doing as well. My kids do not drink a lot of milk (i really don't push the issue) so a half gallon lasts me about a week. I know families who go through agallon a day and financially they can't do the organic milk. So it kinda depends on priorities. I will cut costs in other areas so we can have the money for organic foods. I just can't go back now!

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