Is Drinking Cow’s Milk Healthy for Humans?

Is drinking cow’s milk healthy for humans?
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Is drinking cow’s milk healthy for humans?
Is drinking cow’s milk healthy for humans?
Cow’s milk was typically considered good for health, but nowadays, people’s view regarding it
are changing. Debates have been going on for taking the product off the shelves from the stores
owing to some of its adverse effects on human health. Milk is an important dairy product
obtained from various animals including cows, goats, camels, llamas, sheep, buffalos, horses,
and reindeer. It is one of the most consumed beverages throughout the world as it provides
various vital nutrients such as vitamins (A, D, E, K, B1, B6, and B12), fat, calcium, magnesium,
selenium, riboflavin, potassium, and inorganic phosphorus. The gross composition of ingredients
present in different types of milk vary and depend on different factors such as the species, breed,
age, health, and lactation stage of the particular animal. Also, the food intake, surroundings, and
the ways of owner or caretaker to keep animals play important roles in the milk structure. Some
of its negative effects include allergies, digestive issues, and more (Milk 101: Nutrition Facts
And Health Effects).
Milk is a very popular dairy product owing to its presence in the refrigerators or kitchens of
almost all the people living in different regions. It is defined as the white fluid or liquid
composed of water, fat, minerals, vitamins, lactose, and proteins with trace amounts of pigments,
enzymes, and phospholipids. Milk is present in mammary glands of female mammals to serve
the main purpose of nourishing their young ones. As the first food of the newly-born, it
facilitates growth by providing building materials and body functions by providing energy. Milk
consists of small globules of fat suspended in a casein solution, milk sugar, albumin, and
inorganic salts. The three prominent proteins present in milk are casein, lactalbumin, and

Is drinking cow’s milk healthy for humans?
lactoglobulin. Among these casein is not precipitated from acidic solution hence, whey or whey
cheeses consist of lactalbumin and lactoglobulin, which can be precipitated by applying heat.
People usually prefer to consume cow milk owing to ease of availability, comparatively lower
fats, and rich protein content over the other types().
Apart from the abovementioned information, that is the source animals, milk can also be
categorized based on the fat content. Generally, the different types of product available in the
market include whole milk with fat content above 3%, milk with reduced fat content of around
2%, milk with low fat content of nearly 1%, and nonfat or skim milk. The fat is accompanied by
eight grams of high quality protein and other essential nutrients. Obviously the quantity of milk
fat increases or decreases the number of calories in each serving, but, overall, every kind of milk
is a simple and wholesome food ranging from fat free or low fat to organic or lactose free milk.
Organic milk is produced in organic dairy farms following the stringent rules or standards set up
by the United States Department of Agriculture or USDA( Kocián et al.). The farmers of organic
dairy are restricted to use specially approved practices or rules by USDA on crops and animals,
such as, they do not use synthetic fertilizers, growth hormones, or antibiotics and they are not
allowed to feed their animals with genetically modified or GMO crops. Lactose free milk is the
milk obtained from real cow, in which lactose or natural sugar may be broken down into glucose
and galactose or sometimes filtered out by different dairy firms to facilitate its digestion for
lactose intolerant people. The information regarding the components are mentioned on the
package as well as represented by different colors of cap or packaging coding the fat content in
milk for the understanding and convenience of customers (Waage et. al.).

Is drinking cow’s milk healthy for humans?
As the world is becoming health and diet conscious, the main point of discussion is that whether
the consumption of cow’s milk by human is healthy or not. Milk consumption is increasingly
being criticized due to the issue of lactose intolerance and other problems in certain people
leading to its comparatively lesser utilization in different parts of the world specially the
developed nations. According to an article published in “The guardian”, milk consumption
among Americans has fallen by 37% compared to 1970s and dairy consumption in UK has
decreased by one third in last 20 years ( Sahni ).
To enlist the problems related with milk consumption, let us consider one of the essential facts
related to milk, that is, its calcium content, one of the most reckoned milk qualities. According to
a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC in 2007, a cup of calcium
strengthened orange juice owns the same quantity of calcium as a cup of milk. Also, a study
conducted by USDA in 2005 proved that a taco had more calcium content than milk as well as
breakfast cereals have four times more amount of calcium than same quantity of milk. In
addition, a statement by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in 2007, said that green
leafy vegetables own calcium absorption rates of more than fifty percent while milk have the
calcium absorption rate of around thirty two percent. For example, broccoli, collards, and kale
are rich in readily absorbable calcium.
Lactose intolerance is one of the most common issues related to milk consumption and people
suffering from it experience difficulty in digesting dairy products. In this condition, the people’s
ability to digest lactose is impaired due to lack of the lactose digesting enzyme called lactase in
the body. According to National Institutes of Health (NIH), around 65% of the population have