Milk - It Does a Brain Good?

A recent study by University of Maine researchers backs our parents' insistence that we drink our milk. More than 900 men and women ages 23 to 98 were put through a series of brain and cognitive challenges that tested their visual-spatial, verbal, and working memory tests to find that those who consumed more dairy products scored "significantly" higher on the tests than those who drank little to no milk. They also found that milk drinkers tended to maintain healthier diets overall compared to their non-drinking counterparts.

In spite of this outcome, however, not everyone's beliefs align with the American Dairy Association. Many believe that human drinking of cows milk is unnatural.  Its antibodies are optimized for calves, not human babies.  At a young age, our bodies lose the ability to digest milk sugar and protein.   Scientists have identified a protein in milk that triggers an unusual immune response which may explain an observed correlation between early consumption of cows milk by infants and later development of Type 1 diabetes.  Dr. Kevin McGrady, a medical researcher is quoted as saying "Milk has something for everybody all right -- higher blood cholesterol, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke."

I guess the bottom line is that we need to drink our milk so that we become smart enough to determine whether or not we should continue drinking it.