Is it good to drink milk? The text is too long but worthwhile read....?

"MILK" Just the word itself sounds comforting! "How about a

nice cup of hot milk?" The last time you heard that question

it was from someone who cared for you--and you appreciated

their effort.

The entire matter of food and especially that of milk is

surrounded with emotional and cultural importance. Milk was

our very first food. If we were fortunate it was our

mother's milk. A loving link, given and taken. It was the

only path to survival. If not mother's milk it was cow's

milk or soy milk "formula"--rarely it was goat, camel or

water buffalo milk.

Now, we are a nation of milk drinkers. Nearly all of us.

Infants, the young, adolescents, adults and even the aged.

We drink dozens or even several hundred gallons a year and

add to that many pounds of "dairy products" such as cheese,

butter, and yogurt.

Can there be anything wrong with this? We see reassuring

images of healthy, beautiful people on our television

screens and hear messages that assure us that, "Milk is good

for your body." Our dieticians insist that: "You've got to

have milk, or where will you get your calcium?" School

lunches always include milk and nearly every hospital meal

will have milk added. And if that isn't enough, our

nutritionists told us for years that dairy products make up