The Milk-Industrial Complex: Why You Don't Need to Drink Milk

Readers of Aaron's blog know of his beef with the milk industrial complex. Why does milk, of all beverages, get a pass in our efforts to reduce everyone's caloric intake? Why is it encouraged, when all others are shunned? Is it because you need the calcium? Is it because it makes your bones stronger? Watch, and learn why the milk emperor has no clothes.

Make sure you subscribe above so you don't miss any upcoming episodes!

John Green -- Executive Producer
Stan Muller -- Director, Producer
Aaron Carroll -- Writer
Mark Olsen - Graphics

[electroshakyeee]

ok but if i stopped drinking milk will i start teleporting randomly around the room like you?

[thescowlingschnauzer]

Having grown up in Europe and moved to the US for college, it's amazing to me how people here in the US obsessively delineate between bad foods to shut out at all costs and good foods to be ingested militantly. Of course they end up out of balance. Then they feel this huge sense of betrayal when it turns out a good food is a bad food. But other than poison, nutrition is never about good and bad. It's about balance.

[jasonforbes]

Looks like the milk companies were really....milking I'll leave

[anne-mareegray]

I lived in an Asian country for 11 years. They ate almost no dairy and had rates of osteoporosis much lower than that of Western countries. Dairy is supposed to prevent that, too.

[Teaj]

THANK YOU. I was talking to my coworkers the other day about how they don't need milk and they remained unconvinced. Now I can show them this video and the studies to show them.

[NwahWAttitude]

This is the first time one of these videos has straight up busted one of my preconceptions.  I like it.

[michaelcook]

im becoming masochistic for having life long delusions debunked

[ellinorhansson]

I live in Sweden, a place where a lot of people drink milk with basically every meal. As long as the milk is 100% organically produced, with the health of nature, the cows and humans in mind, I feel like it's a great compliment to a healthy diet! As a vegetarian I often end up eating less calories than recommended for me, so milk is a fantastic way for me to get the nutrients that I need and keep my diet varied! 

[Pandaluver]

Became a vegetarian and stopped drinking milk a few months ago, now I'm trying to cut out all dairy out of my diet completely, for all the reasons you stated. There are other ways to get "calcium" in your diet, although many studies say that too much can be harmful.

[SunnyTheGentleFox]

The moral of the story? Everything in moderation. Don't feed your two-year-old child a third of a gallon of milk every day.

[Gigaheart]

"An Oreo without Milk is close to a SIN."

Best line.

[aevenstar]

Guys, calm down, he's not saving milk is bad. He's just saying it isn't some miracle health-food and parents shouldn't be pumping gallons of it into their kids.

Like he said, everything in moderation is fine. And yeah, for an adult a glass of milk is still probably more 'healthy' overall than a glass of coke. It's just not going to give you Wolverine bones, ok?

He's a smart guy, he's just pointing out the oddity of the slight obsession we seem to have with milk. He noted that people keep saying 'eat less calories', but it doesn't apply to milk. Note he didn't say that calories were BAD or that milk was BAD or anything like that. He's also not one of those idiots who think that stuff like milk/dairy/cheese will give you cancer or autism something (yes, those people are real, I have talked to some of them). He's just pointing out a breakpoint between cultural appropriation and scientific fact.

[thesmething]

I've been allergic to milk protein my whole life and when I was a toddler, my mum got told by a bunch of doctors that to stop giving me milk would be outright dangerous (because it's so natural to drink baby cow food). Luckily my mum called bullshit and decided to quit giving me milk despite the "danger". My stormage would have been seriously messed up.

[malvo]

Thanks, you have rid me of the guilt of lying to my mom that I have been taking my calcium supplements. I always had a feeling they didn't do much, since I have read that regular exercise does more to strengthen bones than calcium does. I'll just stick to running.

[moonlitfractal]

I don't think that "no other mammals drink milk as adults" is a valid argument.  No other mammals wear shoes, either.  Humans aren't other mammals.  Many groups of humans have evolved to metabolize dairy, and that's fine. 

This said, I agree with the basic premise of the video.  Milk is a caloric beverage that should be limited like anything else.  However, the feeding habits of "other mammals" are completely irrelevant to the discussion. 

[cravenlunatic]

When i was a teenager, i developed (what i interpreted to be) a slight intolerance to dairy. I switched most of my dairy intake to soy substitutes, which took some getting used to. After a while, i found i was still able to eat dairy based cheese, yogurt, and even milk in small amounts, but by then dairy milk had lost its appeal for me. I started drinking almond milk instead, which has a better taste, and works great in tea and cereal. I still eat cheese (in large amounts, because i love it), but i don't miss milk at all.

[Asrahn]

Amid the heaviest training during my hockey days, I averaged some 1.3 gallons of milk per day. Taking average care of my dental hygiene, I've had no issues what so ever with my teeth, my nails are still strangely well-kept in spite of me not using (or ever having used) any kind of cosmetics for it, I still have healthy hair, and have seemed rather resistant to bone fractures and breakage. I've never suffered any deficiency of iron, but that could perhaps be explained through my regular consumption of blood-based dishes, such as swedish blood pudding. Nor have I had any stomach issues with my milk intake, but then again, I can basically eat spoiled food and get away with a bit of an upset stomach the next day.

Conversely, my girlfriend's mother suffered from calcium deficiency, and is now stuck with some manner of bone brittleness. I'm well aware that anecdotal evidence requires statistical backing to be of any use (and that my consumption was, to say the least, excessive), making my above story virtually worthless in an actual, formal argument, but I just wanted to establish that I come from a very... milky background. My issue with this video is that I can't help but feel that Aaron makes it sound like we basically don't need the milk's calcium at all, as adults; but for many up here in the north, milk is the prime intake of calcium, and for some it's the only one. Equaling it to a beverage like soda, or some manner of garnish to add a "tasty" factor to other foods, is in my eyes potentially detrimental for those who require calcium through their milk intake. And hip fractures be damned, what about all the other benefits of calcium?


I'm not saying "drink like me, you bastards", I'm just concerned that dissing excessively on milk in terms of its actual benefits and downplaying calcium's functions of the body can make some people swing the other way entirely, and think you don't need it at all.

[princesskatie]

Aww.... but milk is my favorite.  Though this would make Edward Elric really happy.

[VulcanTrekkie]

I drink a moderate amount of milk. Not because of any facts that the milk industry has told me, but simply because I like milk.

[DaScribbler]

Through the whole video I was just thinking, "but, but, it's so delicious, and what will I drink with cake and chocolate
>Oreo without milk is close to a sin
I agree completely.