Americans consume on average 1.8 cups of dairy products a day, a number that has been growing over the years. In general humans (like all mammals) are not meant to consume milk long after birth. However, because it is so nutrient-high, milk began to be used more widely in our diets as a food source for adults. While, our diets have adjusted to the dairy intake over centuries, the dairy-rich diet of Americans can still have serious health implications in some cases.

Furthermore, modern cows and milking techniques use hormones to ensure production levels. The use of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), a genetically engineered potent variant of the natural growth hormone produced by cows, increases cow milk production and can have serious potential health effects for those drinking the milk.

ChicagoHealers.com Dr. Peter Glidden N.D. shows the potential side effects of Americans dairy-rich diets and offers the challenge to go dairy free to compare the results.

Diets high in dairy can lead to serious health issues such as:

* Testicular Germ Cell Cancer - Results of a November 2006 case control study suggest that milk fat and/or galactose (a milk sugar) may explain the association between milk and dairy product consumption and seminomatous testicular cancer. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention Vol. 15, 2189-2195, November  2006
* Dairy: Colon Cancer Risk Triples - High childhood total dairy intake was associated with a near-tripling in the odds of colorectal cancer in adulthood. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 86, No. 6, 1722-1729, December 2007
* Ovarian Cancer -  Women who consume dairy products on a regular basis have triple the risk of ovarian cancer than other women. The Lancet 1989; 2 In an evaluation of 80,326 women; women who consumed 1+ servings of dairy per day had a 44% greater risk for all types of invasive ovarian cancer compared with those who ate the lowest amount (3 or fewer servings monthly). American Journal of Epidemiology, 1999;150
* Lymphoma - In Norway, 1422 individuals were followed for 11 1/2 years. Those drinking 2 or more glasses of milk per day had 3.5 times the incidence of cancer of the lymphatic organs. British Med. Journal 61:456-9, March 1990.
* Prostate Cancer - At least 16 research studies now link milk consumption to prostate cancer, and milk fat is also linked to heart disease," - Neal D. Barnard, M.D. High consumption of dairy products was associated with a 50% increased risk of prostate cancer. Cancer Causes Control 1998 Dec;9(6):559-66
* Dairy Increases Risk of Squamous Cell Carcinoma in those with History of Skin Cancer  International Journal of Cancer. 2006 Oct 15;119(8):1953-60
* Dairy product consumption was positively associated with risk of Parkinson's disease - American Journal of Epidemiology 2007 165(9):998-1006

Think that Dairy doesn't affect you? Take the challenge: avoid it for 2 weeks and then the next day have all you want. For more information, please visit www.ChicagoHealers.com.