Lacto Ovo Vegetarian: An Innocent Cup of Milk or a Death Trap?

Dairy, like eggs, have been consumed for thousands of years. However the dairy industry has been only around for a little less than a century and has quickly garnered a reputation that is about as bad as that of the meat industry. In fact, without the dairy industry there would be no veal industry.

As Americans, and people in general, moved from rural settings to urban cities a need grew for mass-produced dairy. In the American lexicon, dairy and meat are associated with high status. People generally think that animal protein leads to bigger stronger progeny and therefore animal protein is a trademark of a healthy high status diet. While there are some advantages of dairy (as evidenced by the fact that most people that shun meat are lacto ovo vegetarians), there are many disadvantages that we have examined below. As always, make your own choices.

Pros:

(1) Packed with Nutrients: A cup of milk has biotin, pantothenic acid, iodine, potassium, magnesium, selenium, thiamine, vitamin A, vitamin B12, riboflavin, vitamin D, and vitamin K. In addition a cup of milk has 8 grams of protein which is more than 10% of what the average 150 lb American needs.

(2) Milk Helps Produce Muscles: Some studies show that the body knows how to process milk's proteins to generate human muscles more easily than with non-dairy proteins. I personally have a ripped friend that drinks over 4 glasses of 2% each day.

(3) A Cup of Milk Has 60 Calories: Considering the active healthy vegetarian man needs nearly 2,000 calories (maybe more) on a daily basis, milk can be a good option.

(4) Milk, Cheese, and Yogurt is Cheap: You can buy a quart for less than $2 at your local grocery store. Yogurt is even cheaper...and unless you shop at Whole Foods, cheese is also cheap.

(5) Dairy is Tasty: If you want to make something taste better....smother it in cheese. Hamburgers are instantly upgraded to cheeseburgers. Potatoes too plain...upgrade to cheese fries. Pizza is essentially primordial foods (bread and veggies) drenched in cheese. Kids won't eat their asparagus...add some melted cheddar. Remember the 70's...fondue was huge then. Americans love two things, meat and cheese...any combination of those things is an instant classic...cordon blue anyone?

Cons:

(1) Digestibility: Fact is that as we age we lose the ability to breakdown dairy. When we are young our bodies produce the enzyme lactase that allows us to digest dairy properly. However as we get older we lose that ability. In fact, the older we get the more lactose intolerant we become. This leads us to the existential question...were we as human beings meant to consume dairy as adults?

(2) Dairy Has Lots of Fat: One cup contains nearly 2 grams of saturated far. That fat isn' t the good saturated fat that you find in coconut oil or chocolate.

(3) Cheese Causes Nightmares: I am completely serious. If you do not believe me Google it.

(4) Dairy Causes Food Poisoning: Most bovine are force fed hormones to get them to produce more milk. You, as a milk drinker, are consuming those hormones...kinda scary. In addition, pregnant women are encouraged not to eat some ripe cheeses.

(5) Dairy Has Been Linked to Disease: Dairy has been linked to everything from autism to Parkinson's and Crohn's Disease. Cornell Prof Colin Campbell states that casein, the main protein in milk, causes the pH of the body to become more acidic. To compensate, the body leaches calcium out of the bones causing osteoperosis.

For purposes of full disclosure I am a lacto ovo vegetarian. I occasionally consume small amounts of dairy with my coffee (and ice cream), if there is no soy milk option. I try to avoid it because of the adverse effects of casein. In addition, we are the only mammals that still drink milk into adulthood...seems fishy to me.

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