Resource Blast (Dairy & Cancer, Microbiome & Depression, Environmental, Nutritional, Lifestyle Medicine)
If folks seemed entrenched in the cultural comfort of eating the flesh of another species, I’m not sure my word-loving brain has a way to properly name the zeal they have for the processed breastmilk of cow. The sensitive hackles that rise in full salute as soon as you point to Dairy’s Dangers are as predictable as they are understandable.
I empathize, because it was my most loved animal-product (<—I was a vegetarian for 2 years before switching plant-based, I used to sing the Liz Lemon “Working on my Night Cheese” like it was cute, my first job was slinging frozen custard <—I basically tithed back to the place in the amount of custard I ate), but the more I learned about how those cow-lactations were harming our bodies, the earth, and causing suffering to the cows needlessly giving it to us, I HAD to grow forward because there were far too many environmental/nutritional/compassionate reasons to step away from dairy, and to continue on purely for “But it tastes good!” was the epitome of selfishness.
If your hackles are raising as mine once did: there’s yet another new study out (published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition) about how this tasty cow-breastmilk leads to cancer, so I will share that study below, share the environmental impacts of cow-breastmilk again, and share some resources I howled in March. It was a helpful wallop then, and it remains so: it includes an interview with 2 of my favorite neurologists explaining how our cheese/milk/animal-flesh dense American diets lead to cardiovascular disease which leads to strokes, and the thought that we could DO SOMETHING to prevent that path rattled my brain right open then, and I hope it rattles yours to wakefulness too.
Continue for: even more research pointing toward cheese/milk/ice-cream and cancer (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic disease); a slew of articles and research I’ve been meaning to post (<—environmental, nutritional, microbiome+depression, etc) but keeps getting back-burnered in Your Kind Kitchen launch-prep (<—reminder that the deadline is December 18th); and a family trying to live by Lifestyle Medicine example in the hope it wakes as many souls as possible so we can fix the environment our children (and every other species) are going to inherit…and we better our own health in the process.
What a positive path forward, eh? We can do it: it just involves you waking up and stepping forward.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.
Here is the study in mention, and here’s some language found within:
Objective: The objective was to study the associations between total and added sugar intake and cancer risk (overall, breast, and prostate), taking into account sugar types and sources.
Methods: In total, 101,279 participants aged >18 y (median age, 40.8 y) from the French NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort study (2009–2019) were included (median follow-up time, 5.9 y). Sugar intake was assessed using repeated and validated 24-h dietary records, designed to register participants’ usual consumption for >3500 food and beverage items. Associations between sugar intake and cancer risk were assessed by Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for known risk factors (sociodemographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, medical history, and nutritional factors).
Results
Total sugar intake was associated with higher overall cancer risk (n = 2503 cases; HR for quartile 4 compared with quartile 1: 1.17; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.37; Ptrend = 0.02). Breast cancer risks were increased (n = 783 cases; HRQ4vs.Q1 = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.00; Ptrend = 0.0007). Results remained significant when weight gain during follow-up was adjusted for. In addition, significant associations with cancer risk were also observed for added sugars, free sugars, sucrose, sugars from milk-based desserts, dairy products, and sugary drinks (Ptrend ≤ 0.01). [<— LACTOSE IS A SUGAR]
Conclusions: These results suggest that sugars may represent a modifiable risk factor for cancer prevention (breast in particular), contributing to the current debate on the implementation of sugar taxation, marketing regulation, and other sugar-related policies. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03335644.
Despite the growing amplification of the harms (<—and I have covered dairy a LOT), I notice with a wailing heart that society keeps stumbling backward with bellows of “but it tastes good” and/or it’s “how we’ve been doing it for years!”
We also had toxic lead in our pipes for centuries, & doctors also used to smoke and promote it as healthy.
We have the ability to grow forward with new information, it’s just understandably hard to do so…especially when you’re addicted. If you don’t want to hear these facts and still believe the myth that another species’ breast milk is a health food, here is some information to consider:
Humans are supposed to be weened around 2 years of age, yet we persist with drinking the breastmilk of another animal. We’re the only species that does this, and we aren’t even choosing a mammal that has anywhere near our same body composition or lifestyle. —> The protein in cow’s breastmilk is meant to double the size of a calf in about 60 days. Humans babies are supposed to double their weight in about 5 months (and not end up the size of a cow), so by continuously feeding yourself an unneeded mammalian growth slurry you are setting yourself up for a feast of diseases.
Wait, why would it give us diseases?
First, you should know that all animal products (muscle, breastmilk, embryo) contain choline. “As bacteria in your gut feast on the choline, they produce a substance called trimethylamine (TMA). Your liver takes that TMA and converts it to TMAO. “
Why’s that an issue / What’s the matter with TMAO?
“The trouble with TMAO is that data show high levels contribute to a heightened risk for clot-related events such as heart attack and stroke—even after researchers take into account the presence of conventional risk factors and markers of inflammation that might skew the results. In their most recent analysis, scientists showed that high blood levels of TMAO were associated with higher rates of premature death in a group of 2235 patients with stable coronary artery disease. Those found to have higher blood levels of TMAO had a four-fold greater risk of dying from any cause over the subsequent five years.”
You can also take a look into mTOR research so you can understand that the enzyme within that breastmilk causes cancer cells to grow (because again, breastmilk is meant to GROW OUR BABIES, adults are not supposed to be drinking it through life, and especially not some other species’ breastmilk), and when you consume animal products (whose proteins are flush with mTOR) it begins to perpetuate the growth of cancer.
In the same vein, you should look into the research surrounding IGF-1 (insulin growth factor) and how it perpetuates cancer. How? Why?
“When we consume too much animal protein, the body increases its production of a hormone called IGF-1, (insulin-like growth factor 1). IGF-1 is one of the body’s important growth promoters during fetal and childhood growth, but later in life IGF-1 promotes the aging process. Reduced IGF-1 signaling in adulthood is associated with reduced oxidative stress, decreased inflammation, enhanced insulin sensitivity and longer lifespan.4 In contrast, IGF-1 has been shown to promote the growth, proliferation and spread of cancer cells, and elevated IGF-1 levels are linked to increased risk of several cancers. Several observational studies have suggested that high circulating IGF-1 may translate into promotion of tumor growth in colon, prostate and breast tissue.5-13”
Additionally, there’s metabolic acidosis. What’s that? It’s a negative chemical reaction that happens within your body when you try to consume another species’ protein. Why? Because those animal proteins are not meant for you, your body knows this and recognizes them as a harmful, it is trying to neutralize the threat, but by doing so the stress of this back-and-forth can cause osteoporosis.
Here’s a video that explains it perfectly and how it is causing osteoporosis and cancer. Countries with the highest milk consumption have the highest levels of osteoporosis.
If videos or the research articles highlighted above aren’t your thing, let me explain:
When animal products enter your system, they cause an acid reaction (your body is trying to kill them, because it DOESN’T WANT THEM IN IT) and this reaction is metabolic acidosis. To neutralize the acid, your body utilizes its most readily available acid buffer (calcium) and pulls it from your bones which leads to osteoporosis. You flush this all out in your urine, which leads to a direct correlation between prostate cancer and casein (cow breastmilk protein) consumption.
These animal proteins also linked to other cancers, asthma, hormonal diseases, kidney failure, and diabetes.
Hormonal diseases? But I get the kind of milk that is RGH free, so I’m good…right?
This is a great interview with Dr. Neal Barnard explaining it all in depth, but in short: estrogen is a handy little hormone that we naturally produce, and it likes to signal cells to multiply and divide. When we add high-in-estrogen-cow-breastmilk into our systems it throws our body out of balance leading to: early menstruation, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, and the prostate cancer mentioned above.
Wait! How do they cause diabetes? Your body can’t process those animal fats, so they build-up and create toxic fatty breakdown products and free radicals that block the insulin-signaling process, close the 'glucose gate,' and make blood sugar levels rise.
What do our kidneys have to do with this? Again (and again, and AGAIN), your body isn’t meant to process those animal fats, so your kidneys go into overdrive trying to filter out the contaminants. Just like your endothelial cells are affected moments after you consume animal products (harming your whole cardiovascular system and leading to heart disease and dementia), your kidneys are put in the same lurch. Animal products cause “an impairment of kidney blood flow, inflammation, subsequent leakage of protein in the urine, and a rapid decrease in kidney function.”
Did you know of the environmental impacts tied to cow-breastmilk consumption? It’s right up there with the affects of raising animals to consume their flesh:
Did you know that even Canada removed dairy from its food pyramid and we have doctors here in the United States trying to do the same thing, or to at least post warnings that it is linked to cancer? Did you know that 70% of humans are lactose intolerant and that the numbers are higher in those of Asian and African descent? Did you know there are doctors out there —like Dr. Milton Mills— sounding the alarm that the American Dietary guidelines pushing milk are institutionalized racism?
So given what we have above, we have the following klaxon howls warning you away from dairy:
Most importantly: it has a vast environmental impact (as in participating in the extinction of millions of species) and is driving us over a climate cliff that will affect every bit of our kin and every other species on this planet.
Second: you don’t need it nutritionally, in fact it is harming you.
Third: it isn’t compassionate. You are cruelly taking the milk away from another species’ baby, and unless you’re getting it from some kind-and-regeneratively raised farm (and that’s more pricey than most folks can afford) you’re getting it from an animal who suffered all its life to breastfeed you through adulthood, and regardless of where you bought it from it is still filling you with disease and ruining the environment.
If you like the taste of cow breastmilk so much you don’t care about any of the above damage and could care less about how dairy production is harming the earth (and the animals suffering to give it to you), that is your choice to make.
It is my empathetic choice to keep verbally shaking you awake to the realities; because (again): ignorance is bliss until you have been informed, and then it is just willful disregard.
If you’re like us and the above information slapped you right up side the head: here is a great pediatrician podcast describing in light-hearted/yet-earnest mechanistic detail the many ailments kids have that tie back to dairy (<—have a constipated kiddo? Constipated yourself? Speckled with acne and/or eczema? You may want to give her a listen), here are a feast of plant-based calcium sources that are as kind as they are healthy; and here are the simple directions to make a cashew cream, spicy/tasty cashew queso, cashew cream cake, chocolate mint nice cream, fudgy brownies, a simple oatmilk recipe (great and SO CHEAP for baking), and how we make creamy tasting mashed potatoes.
Ok, so maybe you’ve been piqued to think about the health harms, but you’re still skeptical about the environmental impact of shifting away from animal products. Could changing what we consume truly help the environment?
“In the US, where per capita meat consumption is three times the global average, shifting away from an animal-based diet would reduce agricultural emissions by up to 73% (<—!!!!!!!), and save ***one million liters of water per person, per year.*** Globally, this would free up 3.1 billion hectares, an area the size of all of Africa, taking pressure off the world's most endangered ecosystems and species.”
Please go watch David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet” and absorb the wisdom of a 94 year old sage who has been to every nook and cranny of our planet and is imploring you with eyes-worn-weary from the changes he’s witnessed to PLEASE start shifting toward sustainability (<—he includes Plant-Based diets) before it’s too late. What I love most about this documentary is the hopeful last third which focuses on the myriad ways we can try to right what we’ve destroyed.
Want some more reading and listening?
If you’d like to save your vascular system and blow your mind right open, I highly recommend this podcast interview with Drs Dean and Ayesha Sherzai. They are both neurologists (she has a particular focus in vascular neurology) and they explain what is going on within our brains in beautifully engaging, illuminating, down-to-earth language.
“We knew that heart disease is the #1 killer in America (and that it is caused by diet and reversed by diet), but did you know that every 3.5 minutes someone dies of a stroke? (I had no idea!) Did you know that strokes are caused by blockages in your arteries that have built up from years of the saturated fats from animal products? The same diet leading you to heart disease, is the same diet that is leading you toward a stroke, and is the same diet killing this earth. Cut out the animal products and you have a healthier you and a kinder planet!”
Want to be healthy and keen of mind as you age? Step away from animal products, go buy as many plant-based whole-foods as you can, and then hunker down and gobble up this beautiful book “Power Foods for the Brain” by Dr. Neal Barnard. This book discusses how memory issues are caused, what to avoid if you want to keep your memory, what to eat instead (it’s the same as those healthy Blue Zones we hear so much about), how to strengthen your memory before it slips away, and why exercise is beneficial for your gray matter. Dr. Barnard’s parents and grandparents all wasted away with dementia, and his medical movement has been about finding ways to solve American health calamities, showing us that our diets are the leading cause of most of our issues, and he’s working tirelessly to make us the healthiest/kindest versions of ourselves. His writing is a joy to read and easy to absorb.
“By analyzing the fecal samples of 311 people, scientists discovered evidence linking gut microbiome disturbances to major depressive disorder. The findings highlight fascinating links between gut health and mental health — and charts a path toward a potential tool capable of diagnosing and treating depression.”
There’s also a lot of gut-health/mental-health links in this post I previously did on that powerful connection.
“How Climate Change Is Ushering in a New Pandemic Era”
A warming world is expanding the range of deadly diseases and risking an explosion of new zoonotic pathogens from the likes of bats, mosquitoes, and ticks
“Greenhouse gas emissions transforming the Arctic into 'an entirely different climate’”
“We’re starting to see more of these feedbacks,” Perovich told Reuters. Research on the Arctic now “is more than an intellectual exercise in understanding nature. These changes are having consequences for people living today.”
The warmer waters were also connected to warmer air over Arctic lands, triggering glacial melt along the fringes of the Arctic Ocean. A record-hot summer in Siberia, linked to climate change, led to massive wildfires in the area as well as delaying the refreezing of the Arctic Ocean.
“California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity”
“Water joined gold, oil and other commodities traded on Wall Street, highlighting worries that the life-sustaining natural resource may become scarce across more of the world.”
UN REPORT: PLANT-BASED DIETS PROVIDE “MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES” TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CRISIS
Land has historically been a powerful carbon sink, absorbing and storing excess carbon dioxide and buffering the effects of climate change. Currently, land absorbs 29 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions. If we’re not careful, however, land may shift from a carbon sink to a carbon source, fueling our climate crisis rather than defending us against it.
If that happens, we put increasingly vulnerable communities at risk. If we hit 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming by 2050, habitat degradation is expected to affect 178 million, the report stated. If we hit 2 degrees, 220 million people will be threatened by water stress and drought. The people most affected will be the elderly, the very young, women and low-income populations.
“Balanced diets, featuring plant-based foods, such as those based on coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and animal-sourced food produced in resilient, sustainable and low-[greenhouse gas] emission systems, present major opportunities for adaptation and mitigation while generating significant co-benefits in terms of human health,” the report said.
Animal agriculture puts a lot of stress on the environment, using many natural resources and producing large amounts of methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas. The U.N. report stated that “a shift toward plant-based diets” is one of the most significant ways to reduce greenhouse gases from the agriculture sector.
That last one is there to remind you again and again that we could sit back and lament about how our actions are causing our environment/health to crumble, or we could start doing something about it.
“Nearly 1.7 million New Yorkers have diabetes, and heart disease accounts for 40 percent of all deaths in New York State, according to the New York State Department of Health. Research shows that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans can help fight heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer.”
How are we pushing back on climate change and bettering our health? One bowl of oatmeal at a time. :-)
Here seen: sweet oats, peaches (they’d been frozen and were thawed), peanut butter, and flax.
Ethiopian Style Lentils, Roasted Squash, Greens from Stone’s Throw Farm CSA, and Toasted/Seasoned Pepitas.
It’s also bok choy season via the CSA, so we’ve been quick-braising them in a little coconut aminos, lemon juice, ginger, and garlic.
Quinoa, CSA Greens, Bok Choy, Ruby Kraut, and Beyond Sausages that had been seared with mushrooms then deglazed with sesame dressing.
Peanut Sauce Bowl with black rice, quick-pickled cabbage, garlicky kale, bok choy, and roasted/crispy chickpeas.
Fun test with that leftover aquafaba from those chickpeas: chocolate oatmilk shakes with aqua faba, frozen banana, cocoa powder, and a little peanut butter.
Tasted like one heck of a deliciously decadent chocolate “milk” shake.
And we wrapped up the last of the delicious Parsley Pest-faux (<—made up a creamy sauce wish cashews, garlic, nutritional yeast, almonds, and a handful from the parsley we received from the CSA <— it was a winner! <3)
What’s that parm-looking stuff flaked on top? Selenium rich Brazil Nut. You grate it on and you’re getting health and deliciousness in one beautiful bow.
Here’s how happy this kiddo was to get the last bowl of it. <3
How’s that better-for-the earth and better-for-your-health feasting leave us feeling? More energetic than ever.
Homeschooling Recess :-)
Come rain, sun, or snow (<—which can come all within the same hour in Central New York :-) )
When you’re trying to show your son how to do it, but your own knee is too far forward. :-)
Q’s now keen enough on yoga that he’ll choose it as a way to fill time between drawing/schooling.
Q: What is ACLM and what does it do?
A: The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, health care executives, medical students, medical residents and others on the health care team devoted to treating, reversing and preventing chronic disease through lifestyle behaviors as a first-treatment option. ACLM fills the existing void in medical education by equipping and empowering its members to practice evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine through live and online CME-accredited events and educational offerings, certification opportunities, clinical practice and reimbursement tools, patient education resources, networking opportunities and advocacy.
Q: Why is this important and why now?
A: Chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Rates of chronic disease have never been higher, with cost of chronic conditions eating up 86% of all healthcare dollars spent. Chronic disease is so common that more than half of U.S. adults have at least one condition, accounting for 90% of healthcare spending.
According to the World Health Organization, 80% of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer could be prevented, primarily with improvements to diet and lifestyle.
The U.S. spends at least 18% of its GDP ($3.35 trillion) on health expenditures. If costs continue to rise, by 2050 Medicare and Medicaid alone will account for 20% of the GDP. All projections point to continued rises in chronic disease. If we don’t reverse this trend, we are headed for bankruptcy as a country. The solvency of our nation is at state.
Q: What can be done about this?
A: Lifestyle Medicine is an evidence-based approach shown to prevent and treat disease. It treats the underlying cause of disease rather than its symptoms that are too often addressed with ever increasing quantities of pills and procedures. Because it treats cause and not just symptoms, only through Lifestyle Medicine can we alter the course of spiraling health care costs.
Q: Do you believe that people benefit from only vegan or vegetarian lifestyles?
A: ACLM believes in the adoption of a predominantly whole food, plant-based dietary lifestyle. That stance recognizes that a range of dietary practices have evidence showing healthy benefits. The common thread appears to be the intake of a large proportion of whole plant foods.
“Maintaining Relationships” = when you can’t hug your grandmother because of COVID precautions, so you send her drawings of you two locked arm-in-arm and staring into eachtother’s eyes like the lovebirds you are. <3
When putting on socks for a hike turns into a hug huddle.
Heart-Lift and Brain-Fun: he’s teaching himself how to play “Wishing on a Star”
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
