[In response to “Teething on other animals’ teets” in the Oct. 6 issue.]

I am writing in response to Kaitlyn Turner’s recent article entitled “Teething on other animals’ teets.”  Where do I begin?

First let me say I have no association with the Dairy Industry.  My interest is solely on the responsibility of journalists and their integrity.

Did you do your research, Ms. Turner, other than going to Dr. Google and Professor Bing?  I know this topic of milk and its heinous effects on ‘one’s body’ is all the rage on the internet these days.  Is there not one nutritionist here at Pierce that you could have run your facts through?  Perhaps a biochemist?

It is true that children and infants can derive the most benefit from their mother’s milk, but to say that human bodies (past this developmental point) are not meant to drink the milk of another animal is false. To say that a human body cannot break down dairy products is also false.   Milk, and other dairy products, have many nutrient components (minerals, protein, fat, etc.) that benefit a human body regardless of what species it comes from.  The human (or animal) body will break a protein down to its base components (amino acids) and utilize them as building blocks or energy depending on what the body needs.  A good quality protein is a protein is a protein; the body doesn’t discriminate.  There are many documented cases of the orphaned young of one species nursing the milk of another species in the animal kingdom.

A 20 year study from the Harvard School of Public Health (I don’t think Dr. Google went there) on an amino acid found in dairy products(trans-palmitoleic acid) found that , due to this amino acid, humans had a 60% decreased risk of developing diabetes.  Another amino acid in milk Linoleic acid helped in the prevention of atherosclerosis.  Yet another study showed a decrease in hypertension and certain cancers and an improved immune function in those who consume dairy products.  Milk has shown that it promotes muscle growth and improved post exercise muscle recovery.  And finally, in a study of women: those who consumed full fat dairy products have slightly increased fertility as compared to women who consume low fat products.  And so on and so forth.  Where did I do my research?  I only had a few minutes for research so I just went to Wikipedia.  The research is documented there and can be fact checked.  You can also go to any university and have access to past research.

Now, if you want to talk about additives to dairy products, that’s another topic.  Purchasing products from an appropriately designated organic farm can help alleviate these problems.

If the point of your article was to illicit a response, then, well done.  If it was to spread false statements, then shame on you.