* My Milk Hero - Robert Cohen

On my quest to find the connections between a milky diet and disease, I found my new hero – Robert Cohen the author of MILK A-Z. He’s also the executive director of the Dairy Education Board, a group of doctors, scientists and just plain folks who as one voice want all consumers to know that MILK from cows is NOT nature’s perfect food for humans. Dairy Education Board publishes the website www.notmilk.com.

Cohen's research is amazing. He provides the WHOLE truth about cow’s milk and dairy from the history of the dairy industry propaganda to scientific reasons why American’s should stop drinking milk. This goes double for cheese, ice cream and butter, each is a more concentrated form of milk.

He explains that milk products contain 59 cow hormones, scores of allergens, 49% calories from fat, loads of cholesterol, herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, up to 52 antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, viruses, bacteria… and more! These substances are key factors for obesity, heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes, osteoporosis, behavioral problems and many other health related issues that are preventable through a healthy diet that doesn’t include milk products.

Cohen provides a list from A – Z of health issues related to milk consumption. One item caught my eye – Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - becuase my son's elementary teachers tried to label him with the disorder, suggesting we look into medications for a solution. I resisted the offer and focused on diet.Today, one out of five American children take Ritalin, that’s a staggering number!

Cohen presented scientific proof that milk can be linked to autism and ADD. Florida researcher, Dr. Robert Cade (the inventor of Gatorade) spoke before the United States Department of Agriculture in 2000. He's credited with identifing casein, a milk protein (which turns into the opiate, casomorphine, during digestion) as the possible cause of ADD and autism. Casein represents 80% of cow’s milk protein which is found in blood and urine of autistic and schizophrenic patients (AUTISM, 1999, 3). Other research from “Trends in Neuroscience” and “Aspects of Autism: Biological Research” confirm the links with ADD and autism. This validated my feelings and my son will be moving to a milk-free diet this school year.

Dr. Jeffrey Hubbard the time has come where we respond to these behavioral probelsm by making milk alternatives readily available. Too many kids in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) are taking drugs like Ritalin, when we could help by leading the way to a healthy lifestyle without pharmaceuticals, by providing safe lunches for our students.