- Why some people get addicted to cheese.
- How milk can lead to prostate cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
- Why breakfast cereal is horrible for you.
Let’s start with CHEESE! Cheese consumption in the U.S. went from 4 lbs per person in 1909 to 33 lbs per person in 2013. Part of this dramatic shift is because the government helped the milk manufacturers get into the restaurant and fast food industry. This is the reason for the heightened supply of products like the “Cheddar Lover’s Bacon Cheeseburger”, the “Chicken Cordon Bleu” from Subway, or Pizza Hut’s “Ultimate Cheese Pizza”. We now have cheese all around us on every meal, everywhere we go.
Now, what is cheese? Cheese is made from cow’s milk plus bacteria from fermentation as well as “rennet” (which is a little too disgusting to be described.) When milk is fermented, it solidifies into cheese. Since there is the presence of bacteria, it has to be removed with a generous amount of salt in order to avoid it from becoming soft and mushy. This then leads to cheese being 70% fat. Consider this; a cup of brown rice is 20 mg of salt whereas one serving of cheese (which is about 2 oz of cheddar cheese) is roughly 350 mg of salt. Velveeta, an extremely popular cheese product has 800 MILLIGRAMS OF SALT! It’s crazy!
Just like you, and every other American, I grew up eating cheese constantly. But then one day, after going out, my friends and I got a BIG New York slice of cheese pizza before we headed home, and the next morning was not a pretty picture. The point is that if you are consuming cheese on a regular basis, it will eventually catch up with you. Cheese can be addictive because it is the perfect combination of things that…well, can addict you. It has a ton of fat, salt and something called “casomorphin.”
Casomorphin is an opioid peptide derived from the digestion of milk protein casein. It is like any addictive drug because your brain has receptors for casomorphin so it mimics that pattern of being addicted. The reason for this is pretty simple; It’s Mother Nature’s way of having infants survive by coming back to the mother’s milk. But of course, nature expects you to be weaned off of your mother’s milk at a certain point. But then we figured out that we can continue getting milk from cows!
Next, let’s talk about dairy! Dairy started in Northern Europe 7,500 years ago. It has been in use 4% of the 200,000 years humans have existed. That is why 65-75% of humans are lactose intolerant. In different parts of China and Africa, up to 95% of people’s bodies cannot absorb milk properly. There are also risks that come with drinking milk including weight gain, cancer risk, fracture risk, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating and allergies. For people who are lactose intolerant, you can be prone to acne, feeling gassy and constipation.
Also, there is a lot of sugar in dairy! We are talking about up to 13 grams of sugar in a serving when the recommended intake of sugar is only 22 grams per day. It is for this reason I say some morning breakfasts are not good for you. You are already consuming the sugar in the milk while adding the sugar from the cereal. Plus, we must also consider the fact that milk is a form of estrogen. This means that while your testosterone is going up in the morning, it comes to a halt as soon as you eat breakfast.
Here are some results on the daily consumption of milk; if you are trying to have a baby, drinking milk makes it even more difficult because it lowers your sperm count. If you have diabetes, the fat from the cheese fills your muscle cells and stops insulin from allowing glucose to enter the cell, causing glucose to stay in the bloodstream. It has also been shown that milk causes prostate issues. Countries with the highest milk consumption also have the highest rate of prostate cancer. Milk consumption is also linked to Alzheimer’s. There is also no evidence that milk makes your bones stronger. Harvard researchers looked for any possible evidence of this but found absolutely nothing. Lastly, the average cup of milk has up to 60 anabolic hormones which make you gain weight.
We have identified the problems, but here are some solutions! First of all, you ABSOLUTELY do not have to drink milk to have a healthy body. You can get calcium, protein, and B12 from green, leafy vegetables as well as getting vitamin D just from being outside in the sun. There are also plenty of plant-based milk substitute products made from almonds, cashews, oats and much more! There are also plenty of plant-based cheese alternatives like my personal favorite, Go Veggie.
In conclusion, cheese is 70% fat and is addictive because of its other ingredients such as salt and casomorphin, and milk has estrogen and is a sugar-packed hormone drink. Daily consumption of dairy can lead to type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s and low sperm count. There are plenty of plant-based alternatives that you can start using today!