T. Colin Campbell grew up on a small dairy farm of 210 acres, nestled among glorious green pastures near the Shenandoah Valley in northern Virginia. Almost from the moment he learned to walk, he dogged the footsteps of his father, Tom Campbell, as he tended the farm’s 20 to 30 milk cows. Eventually, young Colin was given the chore of “stripping” by hand any milk from the cows’ udders that the milking machine left behind. He also learned how to operate the family butter churn and, on special weekends, helped man the hand-crank bucket used to make ice cream. The Campbells were a simple family, without much money, but considered themselves blessed to have milk straight from the cow. “We had the nectar of life,” Campbell says. “I was proud of the fact that somehow, every day, I could drink a gallon of milk, or more.”
Campbell went on to become one of the world’s leading experts on nutrition. Two decades ago he contributed to the first federally funded report on the relationship of diet to cancer, an influential study that helped establish the nutritional importance of grains, fruits, and vegetables. At age 66, he is nearing retirement as a nutritional biochemist at Cornell University, in the heart of upstate New York’s dairy country. He lives on a quiet residential street near the campus, by all appearances like most of his neighbors. But these days not one drop of milk touches the lips of anyone in Campbell’s household and his refrigerator is stocked with soy cheeses, sorbet, and rice milk. “People might think we’re nuts,” he says. “But nondairy beverages and foods are pretty good once you adjust to the taste.”
Like most Americans, Campbell once assumed that dairy products were not only wholesome but also an essential part of the daily diet for anyone desiring good teeth and strong bones. After years of scientific research, however, he’s now convinced that cow’s milk is responsible for a share of our nation’s medical woes. The fact that fats in dairy products can contribute to hardening of the arteries and heart disease has long been common knowledge. But Campbell worries that stocking up on skim milk and low-fat yogurt—or going organic because of concerns about cows exposed to pesticides, antibiotics, and bovine growth hormones—may offer only limited protection against the potential health hazards of milk.
The bottom line for Campbell is simple: “It’s unnatural to drink milk.” In fact, the majority of people worldwide literally can’t stomach milk by the time they reach age 10. Most adults in Asia and Africa, along with many in southern Europe and Latin America, can’t digest lactose, the main sugar in the milk of both humans and cows. They suffer from bloating, cramps, or diarrhea if they try. It was only because of a genetic aberration that milk became a food staple in northern Europe and North America. Nature normally programs the young for weaning before they reach adulthood by turning down production in early childhood of the enzyme that breaks down lactose. But a gene mutation inherited by people of northern European descent prevents the production of this enzyme from being turned down. As a result, most Americans can drink milk all their lives.
Campbell argues that the ultimate problem with cow’s milk is that nature concocts different formulas of mother’s milk for different species. What’s good for baby calves isn’t necessarily good for human babies or adults. “Isn’t it strange that we’re the only species that suckles from another species?” he says. Campbell theorizes that cow’s milk unnaturally stimulates enzymes and growth hormones in the human body that increase the risk of various diseases. Moreover, he has come to the conclusion that cow’s milk may not even do what it is supposed to do best—build strong bones. And recent studies suggest that humans may need less calcium for strong bones than was once believed and that other foods, including various vegetables and legumes, may be better sources than cow’s milk.
