That was the title of Mark Bittman’s latest column (See link below)
The first sentence that grabbed my attention was this one—appearing about halfway through the article:
“Three months ago, I decided to give up dairy products as a test.”
Taylor Swift earning a few bucks selling the nasty stuff. Rare is the celebrity who hasn’t participated in the ubiquitous “Got Milk” campaign.
A test? As you probably know, Mark Bittman probably knows more than any other prominent news writer about the perils of the Standard American Diet with meat and dairy three meals a day. And like me, he grew up with a cold glass of milk accompanying every single meal. Also like me, he went on to learn a great deal about the crucial importance of what we eat.
But, unlike me, he treats this powerful knowledge as somewhat of a hobby or a game of trivial pursuit. While he knows how our toxic diet is the primary driver of our out-of-control cost of healthcare and that it is destroying our environment, he never seems to take that knowledge seriously. Is that about to change?
Maybe his latest “test” of how life will be without dairy products will influence him to get more serious about sharing that wealth of knowledge. Maybe then he will be the first to deliver what is desperately needed—a hefty dose of CLARITY about food from the mainstream press. From the article:
Three months ago, I decided to give up dairy products as a test.
Twenty-four hours later, my heartburn was gone. Never, it seems, to return. In fact, I can devour linguine puttanesca (with anchovies) and go to bed an hour later; fellow heartburn sufferers will be impressed. Perhaps equally impressive is that I mentioned this to a friend who had the same problem, tried the same approach, and had the same results. Presto! No dairy, no heartburn! (A third had no success. Hey, it’s not a controlled double-blind experiment, but there is no downside to trying it.) Conditions like mine are barely on the radar. Although treating heartburn is a business worth more than $10 billion a year, the solution may be as simple as laying off dairy. (Which, need I point out, is free.)
What’s clear is that the widespread existence of lactose intolerance, says Dr. Baker, is “a pretty good sign that we’ve evolved to drink human milk when we’re babies but have no need for the milk of any animals. And no matter what you call a chronic dairy problem — milk allergy, milk intolerance, lactose intolerance — the action is the same: avoid all foods derived from milk for at least five days and see what happens.”
How many billions of dollars of advertising does it take to convince the entire human race that drinking the milk of another species is good for them? Ask Dr. Phil; he knows everything.
What about cancer Mark? Why not tell everyone what Dr. T. Colin Campbell discovered many decades ago? “The protein in cow’s milk (casein) is one of the most powerful carcinogens ever discovered.” As you probably know, animal protein in our diet creates just the right chemical environment for cancers of all types to flourish in our bodies.
Eliminate the dairy, eggs, & meat (including fish). Replace those calories with whole plants. Presto! Within a few years, we’ll see the rates of cancer begin to plummet in the western world. After providing more valuable information about the dangers of milk as it relates to osteoporosis, calcium and Vitamin D, Mark wraps up his article with some staggering information about government subsidies of milk in our school lunch program.
Most humans never tasted fresh milk from any source other than their mother for almost all of human history, and fresh cow’s milk could not be routinely available to urbanites without industrial production. The federal government not only supports the milk industry by spending more money on dairy than any other item in the school lunch program, but by contributing free propaganda as well as subsidies amounting to well over $4 billion in the last 10 years. There’s nothing un-American about re-evaluating those commitments with an eye toward sensibility. Meanwhile, pass the water.
Mark Bittman is clear about what he enjoys eating. But he is consistently confusing when it comes to helping his readers learn about healthy eating.
Now, what about that test? Does his “pass the water” closing mean that he’s giving up milk forever? What about cheese? What about all of his recipes out there that contain both? Will he now step forward, take a bold stand and tell his millions of column readers and cookbook fans the complete, unadulterated, horrible truth about dairy?
They deserve to hear clarity from someone they trust. The entire world needs clarity from the mainstream media.
The Bottom Line. Mark Bittman has a wealth of knowledge and influences millions of people with everything he publishes. But he rarely gets real clear about EXACTLY what we should be doing to promote health.
This recent article was a step in the right direction —but we need more clarity Mark—Much More!
I encourage everyone who sees this blog to read Mr. Bittman’s entire article and then take the time to send him a note. I plan to post a comment on his “Got Milk” article and also send him yet another personal note. Source article: Got Milk? You Don’t Need It – NYTimes.com.
More about Mr. Bittman. Since beginning this blog 521 days ago, at least a dozen of my blogs have been inspired by Mark Bittman. I have a great deal of respect for him and know what a tremendous impact he could have if he got real serious about delivering clarity to the people. Here are a handful of my earlier blogs that he inspired; also listed next to last is my favorite Bittman article ever—his famous “Meat Guzzler” piece.
- Twelve “not-so-healthy” ways to eat spinach
- Mark Bittman. Does he ever take a stand on anything?
- Bittman’s “Junk Food” Article: Confusion or Clarity?
- NY Times Columnist Mark Bittman “gets it” about food
- “Good News” re food from Mark Bittman; may breed complacency
- My favorite Mark Bittman article (1-27-08) Rethinking the Meat Guzzler
- Clarity on milk. No cow’s milk for humans at any age…even Dr. Spock agrees
Footnote: I did an internet search for a picture of Mark Bittman with a milk mustache and didn’t find one. After this article, he probably won’t get any more invitations from the dairy folks. But he will probably hear from them.
While waiting for Mark and others in the mainstream to consistently deliver clarity about what we should be eating, you shouldn’t sacrifice your health. “Confusion over clarity” will probably be the norm for a few more decades, but more and more people are demanding the truth about our food choices now. Got Clarity?
Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com
- The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD
- Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
- An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
- Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.
Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com
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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.
Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.
Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.
—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation
From the claims made by Pfizer, it would seem like their Centrum brand of vitamins works like a wonder drug and will take care of all of your problems. That’s because Centrum supports: “energy and immunity,” “heart health”, “eye health,” “breast health, “bone health” and “colon health.” According to the Reuters article (link below)
So, Pfizer gets off with a slap on the wrist—claiming that they were innocent. Glaxo, on the other hand, was not so lucky. They ended up pleading guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges and will pay a $3 billion fine. Of course, they rationalized that fine as just one of the costs of doing business. The Glaxo transgression got a lot more press during the past few weeks; including the Reuters article that stated:
J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 