How Plant-Based to Lower IGF-1?

 Most epidemiological studies are not funded by the industry.

 I never tried to count the number of industry funded   epidemiological studies. If this interest you, you can count how many of the 18 studies appearing in the meta-analysis below were industry funded.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/b6103055j6051k60/

The Cartoon reference from above.  See image.

I wouldn’t normally reply or waste my time with such an ignorant reply.  But in defense of the people who spend countless hours, days, weeks, years and lives dedicated to credible research I must speak up.

“Not credible sources” you say.  Their sources are from journals such as JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, British Medical Journal, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Epidemiology etc.

In Whitewash there are nearly 1000 references supporting the evidence that milk is crap, Literally and anecdotally.

Quotes in Whitewash:

Nathan Pritikin: “The most damaging foods are dairy product.”

John McDougall, MD: “There is one thing dairy products have more than any other food I can think of: contamination.

T. Colin Campbell, PhD: “Dairy has been considered a health food, and that’s an unfortunate myth.”

Benjamin Spock, MD: “Cow’s milk in the past has always been oversold as the perfect food, but we are now seeing that it isn’t the perfect food at all and the government really shouldn’t be behind any efforts to promote it as such.”

Walter Willett, MD, MPH, DrPH: “Dairy products shouldn’t occupy a prominent place in our diet, nor should they be the centerpiece of the national strategy to prevent osteoporosis.”

Oh and Joseph Keon, PhD has his doctorate in Nutrition.

Here is a quote by Neal Barnard, MD as you know one of great leaders in the medical nutrition arena:
“Most of us grew up with the idea that mild is healthful, if not essential. And Yet research has shown a surprisingly different side to dairy products, linking it to a broad range of serious health problems.  Whitewash takes a comprehensive look at the problems associated with drinking milk and the industry that promotes it.  This book has the potential to dramatically change your health.”

Regarding No Happy Cows I will leave that research up to you to discover but here is a wonderful forward from T. Colin Campbell, PhD:
“John Robbins connects the dots that need connecting–environmental, personal health, societal economics, and personal meaning. Scientific researchers also would do well to read what Robbins says.”

I’m not sure what you think is credible but these sources surely are, and have the information to change the world for the better.  I hope everyone takes the time to read these books and dispell the myths and hype that commenters such as yourself perpetuate.

Your definition of ‘credible’ is your own so I do not understand why you waste your time commenting on a “non-credible” site such as NutritionFacts.org. 

Please, for your own sake, keep drinking milk.  It obviously serves you well.

“All truth goes through three stages.
First it is ridiculed.
Then it is violently opposed.
Finally, it is accepted as self-evident”
Arthur Schoepenhauer, German philosopher

 Thank you. Much appreciated.

A review published in the Journal of Pediatrics focused on the benefits of dairy “the findings of epidemiologic and prospective studies have raised questions about the efficacy of the use of dairy products for the promotion of bone health. ” after a review of the existing literature and finding “A positive relationship between dairy product consumption and measures of bone health in children or young adults was reported in 1 of 4 cross-sectional studies; in 0 of 3 retrospective studies; in 0 of 1 prospective study; and in 2 of 3 randomized, controlled trials. Only 1 of these randomized clinical trials adequately controlled for vitamin D intake, and it showed no significant effect of dairy products on BMD [bone mineral density]” , they concluded, “Scant evidence supports nutrition guidelines focused specifically on increasing milk or other dairy product intake for promoting child and adolescent bone mineralization.”
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/3/736.long

A meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal found, “The small effect of calcium supplementation on bone mineral density in the upper limb is unlikely to reduce the risk of fracture, either in childhood or later life, to a degree of major public health importance.”and “The authors concluded that the literature did not support recommendations for consumption of dairy products for bone health end points in children and young adults…Our quantitative systematic review confirms this conclusion” The authors also state, “Our results also do not support the premise that any type of calcium supplementation is more effective than another.” Even studies that used intakes of 1400 mg per day of calcium showed no benefit.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1602024/?tool=pubmed

An editorial accompanying this meta-analysis pointed out, “Populations that consume the most cow’s milk and other dairy products have among the highest rates of osteoporosis and hip fracture in later life. Given this fact, it is important to ask whether sufficient evidence exists to continue assuming that consumption of these foods is part of the solution.” They concluded “It is time to revise our calcium recommendations for young people and change our assumptions about the role of calcium, milk, and other dairy products in the bone health of children and adolescents. While the policy experts work on revising recommendations, doctors and other health professionals should encourage children to spend time in active play or sports, and to consume a nutritious diet built from whole foods from plant sources to achieve and maintain a healthy weight and provide an environment conducive to building strong bones.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1602030/

A review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition of the research on the effects of dairy products on bone health found 57 studies, and of these, 21 studies were considered to have stronger-evidence, worthy of inclusion in this review. “Of 21 stronger-evidence studies, 57% were not significant, 29% were favorable, and 14% were unfavorable.” Keep in mind that the majority of these studies were funded by the dairy industry, and even with this natural bias and influence to produce positive outcomes, no better than 29% of the studies were favorable to bone health. One of the studies that showed unfavorable results that was funded by the dairy industry showed some shocking outcomes. The findings showed post menopause subjects who received the extra milk (three 8 ounce glasses of skimmed milk daily) for a year lost more bone than those who didn’t drink the extra milk. The authors wrote, “The protein content of the milk supplement may have a negative effect on calcium balance, possibly through an increase in kidney losses of calcium or through a direct effect on bone resorption…this may have been due to the average 30 percent increase in protein intake during milk supplementation.” Skim milk is very high in protein so this is unavoidable unless one is to consume the very fatty whole milk in which 2-5% of the fat content is trans fat and is very high in saturated fat.
http://www.ajcn.org/content/72/3/681.long
http://www.ajcn.org/content/41/2/254.long

Its evidence such as this that I am unconvinced calcium should be from cows milk. Long term studies on vegan bone density comparing the omnivores diet showed the same bone density “…although vegans have much lower intakes of dietary calcium and protein than omnivores, veganism does not have an adverse effect on bone mineral density and does not alter body composition.” The vegan participants had been on a vegan diet an average of 33 years.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19350341

I find it interesting that modern society believes that the human species is dependent on the milk of another animal species. The primary biologic purpose of cow’s milk is to grow a 60 pound calf to a 600 pound cow in less than 8 months. This is no way natural to humans as cow’s milk has high concentrations of protein, potassium, sodium, calcium, and other nutrients to sustain rapid growth. In comparison, these nutrients are at a three to four times lower concentration in human milk than cow’s milk. Milk is used to promote growth, so how is this natural as human adults to be consuming milk, let alone another species of animals milk? Dairy is a heavy promoter of insulin like growth factor in adults. This spike in IGF-1 is the most likely source of positive bone growth in the studies showing favorable outcomes of dairy on bones, not necessarily the calcium. Elevated IGF-1 does more harm than good in adults, it heavily promotes tumor growth in breast, prostate, lung, and colon cells and accelerates the aging process.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12417786
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16168602

The consumption of dairy in children has resulted in earlier puberty. “The effect of animal protein intake, which was associated with an earlier puberty onset, might mainly be due to dairy. “An earlier puberty onset has been related to an increased risk for hormone-related cancers in adulthood. For example, a meta-analysis of 26 epidemiological studies reported a 9% risk reduction for breast cancer with every additional year at menarche. Additionally, recent study results demonstrated that a 1-y delay in menarche was associated with a 2.4 to 4.5% lower total mortality.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/140/3/565.long

The concern with dairy and hormone dependent cancer is something to think about as well. It has been shown that consuming dairy significantly increases circulating steroid hormones in woman and that vegetarians have far less of this hormone. “In conclusion, greater consumption of red meat and dairy products might influence circulating concentrations of SHBG and estradiol, respectively. Given the well-established role of steroid hormones in breast cancer etiology for postmenopausal women, these findings may have important health implications” Tumor growth from these hormone imbalances is also evident “A dramatic increase in estrogen-dependent malignant diseases, such as ovarian, corpus uteri, breast, testicular and prostate cancers has been recognized. Ganmaa et al. investigated the incidence and mortality of testicular and prostate cancers in relation to dietary practices. Among various food items, cow’s milk and cheese had the highest correlation with incidence and mortality rate of these cancers” Children are at high risk “Among the exposure of humans, especially prepubertal children, to exogenous estrogens, we are particularly concerned with” These xenoestrogens from lactating preganant cattle (the majority of commercial cattle used for milk) significantly raised estrogen levels in male adults and reduced testosterone levels and did even more so in children. This is significant since these estrogens have mutagenic affects “Toxicological and epidemiological studies have indicated that E2 could be categorized as a carcinogen. Milk is considered to be a rich source of estrogens. Indeed, E2 concentration is higher in mammary drainage than in the peripheral circulation in high yielding cows.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20211044
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19904296
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19496976

 DT, what your claiming is complete nonsense.

You can be vegan for a month and participate in a study; long term vegans have a 50% lower levels of IGF1! These results are astonishing, nothing less. Most meat would have to fast 3-4 for days a week to achieve anything similar.