Whitewash: The Disturbing Truth about Cow's Milk and Your Health [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Wow, simply amazing book and a life changing book for me. I have always been a daily milk drinker throughout my childhood and adult life. Being a "good parent" I encourage my children to drink milk everyday. So when I heard there was a book against milk I was very intrigued but hesitant thinking this is some vegan, "tree hugging" rant.

Isn't milk supposed to be good for us and doesn't it make our bones healthy? Even into the third chapter I was still thinking this can't be right...milk is good for us. I have been throughly brainwashed or "whitewashed" to think this by all the "Got Milk" ads and the multi-billion dollar milk industry. The author, Joseph Keon sites a multitude of articles and peer-reviewed medical journals and certain points of the book it is daunting to see the risks of milk. The sheer amount of research and overwhelming documentation against the benefits of milk and the risks and complications with drinking milk is disturbing. It's a milk fallacy that we have all grown up believing that we need to drink milk to be healthy. We are the only animals that drink milk after infancy. Even though we drink more milk than most countries we have a higher incidence of hip fractures. Milk increases the risks of obesity, diabetes and many other conditions. This book has not only changed my health but the health of my family. This book is a must read for everyone who drinks milk.

I was tempted to ask my doc for an antidepressant after receiving this depressing jolt to my beliefs about milk (as well as about all that we ingest). For sure, I am a non-dairy person henceforth.

I think the best way to share the horror of this book is by mostly quoting it. So here goes:

Page 66: "Those who drank three or more glasses of whole milk a day faced a risk [of getting prostate cancer] 2.49 times higher than men who reported drinking no milk at all."

Page 78: "The responsibility for protecting our health falls on nobody but ourselves. It has become abundantly clear that the manufacturers of chemical contaminants will not protect us, and the federal government has chosen not to devote the necessary resources to protect us either." And you can partly thank George Bush for that.

Page 83: "Animal products are the primary sources of pesticide residues in our diet."

Page 84: "When an American consumer puts milk [products] in the market basket, he or she now has roughly a one-in-two chance of bringing home a product tainted with a pesticide."

Page 93: "An estimated twelve thousand tons of antibiotics are used non-therapeutically every year in the United States. That is, they are administered to healthy animals."

Page 94: "As far back as 1983, three hundred scientists saw the disaster on the horizon. By petition, they urged the FDA to take control of the abuse of antibiotics in farm animals, which they felt was a chief cause of the enormous surge in antibiotic-resistant infections. Yet, as we can see, the warning was not heeded."

Page 148: There's an interesting chart on this page that shows that the Japanese drink the least cow's milk and have the lowest incidence of diabetes; whereas, Finland consumes the most and has the highest diabetes rate.

Page 160: "In this matter of milk and human health, our collective common sense [and science] has been put out to pasture."

Page 173: "...High-protein diets cause a negative calcium balance to occur even in the presence of more than adequate dietary calcium. Osteoporosis would seem to be an inevitable outcome of continued consumption of a high-protein diet."

Page 184: "Fifty-five percent of Americans don't get the minimum weekly exercise for disease prevention and 26 percent get no exercise at all."

Page 193: In quoting John Robbin's DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA, the author shocks us with this: "Old Bessie would live 20-25 years...under natural conditions. In the unbelievably stressful world of today's dairy factories, however, she is so severely exploited (as a four-legged milk pump) that she will be lucky if she sees her fourth birthday."

Finally, the author relieves some of the tension of his book in the last chapter where he tells us how to enjoy our nutrients unpolluted--as best we can.

UPDATE: I sort of made myself a guinea pig based on the reading this book. Now, I am beginning to wonder about my former conclusions. The author mentions all kinds of negative chemicals in milk, but fails to include that milk is a good source of natural L-Tryptophan, an amino acid that turns to serotonin in the brain and gives one better sleep and a feeling of well being (a natural antidepressant/mood enhancer), even relaxation in the muscles. (Why would he leave that information out?)

Of course, some people are allergic to regular milk and many people in India and Asia drink little or none of it, getting calcium and L-tryptophan from other sources. Buying L-tryptophan or 5-HTP supplements at drug and health stores is still iffy/dangerous according to some scientists because of health-altering traces of contaminants still found in the product.

In a couple weeks--it will be six months into this experiment--I will have a PSA and Lipid Panel blood test, again, to see if this experiment lowered my PSA count and affected the ratio of my cholesterol numbers. Regardless of a higher PSA count before--4.0-6.4--three biopsies showed no cancer, just enlargement; thus getting up once at night. So, stay tuned: I will report on the results after May 23, 2011.

UPDATE ON MAY 23, 2011: As a result--maybe of my non-dairy program above mentioned, my LDL dropped 33 points to 109. (I was non-dairy 90-plus percent of the time.) This would normally be considered near optimal (100-129), but the urological profession moved the goal posts in 2011--like they did the (mostly discredited) PSA count several years ago from 4.0 to 3.0. Now, near optimal LDL is 70-80! My urologist was impressed, but not elated because my HDL did not improve, thus the ratio is still unacceptable to him. Nevertheless, I will continue on this program for another 6 months (in lieu of taking a statin, which also doesn't appeciably increase HDL)--maybe the LDL will drop another 30 points, making the HDL and LDL ratio more acceptable. My PSA actually went up 0.58 to 4.59, which is low for ME; so, less milk didn't win out on that count. Next progress check: November 21, 2011.

LAST UPDATE (MAYBE) on Nov. 21, 2011: I was not elated with the second six months of "research". My LDL actually went up 6 points and my HDL only improved 4 points. My doc said these are statistically insignificant, but they're not...emotionally. He thinks I may have done the best I can do to lower my LDL and raise my HDL via diet. What he is actually saying is that I may need some additional help: That help being a statin. I said, "No way." Also, my PSA count went up slightly, but within a range that seems to be "me".

I have to comment about one more-recent reviewer. The person states that the problem isn't pasturized or regular milk, but that we don't drink raw milk. Problem solved? Well..., I have had been drinking raw/organic milk for several years (and grew up on it on the farm) and my LDL and prostate count kept rising. When I stopped drinking three-a-day (plus other dairy), my LDL dropped that 33 points. I am going to continue on this diet for another six months (though I'm not crazy about drinking water), but may not post. (I DO miss that vanilla ice cream with chocolate on top, but....)

UPDATE ON MAY 19, 2012: This is the end of the third six months going dairy free. All my reduction was in the first six months. No improvement (lowering) in LDLs beyond the initial 30 points. So, now I am told that red rice yeast extract is a natural statin and the way to go to dramatically lower LDLs AND raise HDLs. This will be a three-month trial, which is all that's called for to see appreciable results. Regardless, my LDL was "only" 114.4 (down from 142) and my HDL was up 10 points from a 1.5 years ago to 51; both respectable, but not optimal. In addition, most people don't die (have a stroke or heart attack) because of their cholesterol anyhow.

Reading "Whitewash" was like being kicked in the head, but in a good way. It never occurred to me that milk wasn't the perfect food, that milk wasn't the basis for health and happiness and the American way.
Mr. Keon's book is thorough, methodical, and just plain makes sense. I was initially concerned when a friend suggested it me, thinking it was just another one of those perennial crazy diet scares. But this is lucid, not hysterical, and indisputable. It is told in the calm, commonsense fashion of someone who has the facts and, to borrow a word from the subtitle, the truth behind them.

Why, indeed, are we brought up to believe that we need to suckle from the teat of another species? This revelation was like a slap, like I'd looked at a glass of milk and saw it for the first time. I mean, if I was in a diner, ordered apple pie, and was given a glass of orangutan milk, I'd be outraged. But why? Orangutans are at least closer to us--genetically speaking--than a cow. That simple test shows how ludicrous the very founding myth of the dairy industry is. And that's all it is: "Milk is good for you" is a myth.

If you still need more convincing let "Whitewash" show you what's in milk--antibiotics, bovine growth hormones, rocket fuel, and (this was the clincher for me, if I needed one by this time, if I hadn't already been clinched) pus. And that's not even delving into the treatment of cows in the dairy industry, the forced impregnations to keep the cows lactating, the disgusting living conditions, and the horrifying brutality.

This book is indeed essential reading for every cow-suckling human on planet. But be warned--it will change your life.