That's actually a very interesting question, but I suppose if you wanted to drink a glass of milk, it would be hard to extract that from a person on a regular basis. It's harder for women to lactate when they don't have their own child (usually a problem when adopting babies or younger children.)
Also there's a question of ethics; there can't be a factory of women producing milk for cartons to be sold, but there can be a dairy for cows and goats that naturally produce large amounts of milk.
And I guess different milks taste different? I know the taste between goat milk and cow milk has a very distinct difference. So maybe breastmilk doesnt go well in recipes for cooking...
This is all just assumption, but very interesting question, OP.
EDIT: On your question of WHY we drink milk, it's very nutritious and stimulates growth, which is vital in young children.
I guess as time goes on, we don't really need that boost anymore. But it still is good for reinforcing bones to help prevent Osteogenesis imperfecta and other such disorders.
Yeah, but young children don't really need to drink cow or goat milk if they have breast milk for long enough in infancy.
I'ts interested me for a long time that societies without milk producing animals - eg the Australian Aboriginals - lived long healthy lives before white invasion - maybe because kids had breastmilk for quite a few years and they also walked around the country a lot.
Many Asian societies which have only recently begun to use dairy products also survived ok without animal milk.
A lot of the information given out about dairy products emanates from the dairy producers - not that I have anything against farmers, some of my best friends etc - but it's in their interests to have us believe we need dairy products to be healthy
Any communicable diseases that are person has will almost always be present in breast milk, and while this is true of animal milk as well, there are only a handful of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, where as human to human transmission is a given.
Also, any substances (nicotine, alcohol, drugs, medications) ingested will be present in breast milk as well. Compared to animals, which are usually administered antibiotics and possibly hormones, humans, on average, ingest exponentially more medications...not to mention, cows don't chain smoke Marlboros and drink beers.
Also, in most countries, animal milk is treated with antibiotics and/or homogenized, and there are procedures to adjust that fat content to make milk more healthy. This can't be said for human milk. Not to mention that fact that it's unethical to put humans on antibiotics, just cause.
I guess the good thing about breastmilk for infants are the antibodies that are transmitted via feeding as well. This is called passive immunity. I never thought about it the other way round, with the mother being ill/ has bad habits that are detrimental to the child's health, and so that can be transferred via breastmilk. Very interesting!
I wasn't lobbying for anything. I was just stating simple scientific facts about why drinking human milk from an unknown source is dangerous. I am neither for or against animal milk; I'm perfectly happy with soy or almond milk...although...if you want to get nit picky, soy farming has done a great deal of irreparable damage to the environment in certain parts of the world.
Not true that cows and goats "naturally produce large amounts of milk": naturally they produce the right amount for their own progeny, but are bred and medically dosed to produce huge amounts of milk and in the process their lives are shortened.
I don't know much about the commercial goat milk industry, but I forgot to mention that in the dairy cow industry calves are taken away from their mothers soon after birth so that none of that wonderful milk gets "wasted" on calves, and it all can go to feed humans. The cows bellow and bellow for their calves for days, it's dreadful to hear. The calves are fed on artificially boosted formula and are then either killed for meat or if female, grown up to lead the same existence as their mothers. Some are raised in very confined conditions to produce veal.
Did any other Australians on this site, or maybe even people in other countries if any of our news gets there, notice that last week our very own Gina Reinhart, the richest woman in the world, is about to use her personal "charity", the Hope Foundation, to establish large dairy organisations to supply dairy based baby formula to China? Not very charitable to the cows and their calves or to the babies of China, whose mothers are presumably able to produce what is really "natural" for babies ........
Sometimes the mind just boggles and boggles and boggles ......
Why do we drink milk?
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That's actually a very interesting question, but I suppose if you wanted to drink a glass of milk, it would be hard to extract that from a person on a regular basis. It's harder for women to lactate when they don't have their own child (usually a problem when adopting babies or younger children.)
Also there's a question of ethics; there can't be a factory of women producing milk for cartons to be sold, but there can be a dairy for cows and goats that naturally produce large amounts of milk.
And I guess different milks taste different? I know the taste between goat milk and cow milk has a very distinct difference. So maybe breastmilk doesnt go well in recipes for cooking...
This is all just assumption, but very interesting question, OP.
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ez-riding
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CountessDouche
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EDIT: On your question of WHY we drink milk, it's very nutritious and stimulates growth, which is vital in young children.
I guess as time goes on, we don't really need that boost anymore. But it still is good for reinforcing bones to help prevent Osteogenesis imperfecta and other such disorders.
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reminiscent
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Yeah, but young children don't really need to drink cow or goat milk if they have breast milk for long enough in infancy.
I'ts interested me for a long time that societies without milk producing animals - eg the Australian Aboriginals - lived long healthy lives before white invasion - maybe because kids had breastmilk for quite a few years and they also walked around the country a lot.
Many Asian societies which have only recently begun to use dairy products also survived ok without animal milk.
A lot of the information given out about dairy products emanates from the dairy producers - not that I have anything against farmers, some of my best friends etc - but it's in their interests to have us believe we need dairy products to be healthy
This both if your posts are perfect lol.
I agree with this comment, but to add to it.
Drinking human milk can be incredibly dangerous.
Any communicable diseases that are person has will almost always be present in breast milk, and while this is true of animal milk as well, there are only a handful of diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, where as human to human transmission is a given.
Also, any substances (nicotine, alcohol, drugs, medications) ingested will be present in breast milk as well. Compared to animals, which are usually administered antibiotics and possibly hormones, humans, on average, ingest exponentially more medications...not to mention, cows don't chain smoke Marlboros and drink beers.
Also, in most countries, animal milk is treated with antibiotics and/or homogenized, and there are procedures to adjust that fat content to make milk more healthy. This can't be said for human milk. Not to mention that fact that it's unethical to put humans on antibiotics, just cause.
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Ellenna
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That's very true. Thanks for adding!
I guess the good thing about breastmilk for infants are the antibodies that are transmitted via feeding as well. This is called passive immunity. I never thought about it the other way round, with the mother being ill/ has bad habits that are detrimental to the child's health, and so that can be transferred via breastmilk. Very interesting!
Working for the dairy lobby eh?
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I wasn't lobbying for anything. I was just stating simple scientific facts about why drinking human milk from an unknown source is dangerous. I am neither for or against animal milk; I'm perfectly happy with soy or almond milk...although...if you want to get nit picky, soy farming has done a great deal of irreparable damage to the environment in certain parts of the world.
Apparently you can induce lactation in a woman who hasn't had kids.
Not true that cows and goats "naturally produce large amounts of milk": naturally they produce the right amount for their own progeny, but are bred and medically dosed to produce huge amounts of milk and in the process their lives are shortened.
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Wow, didn't know about that o.o
Poor animals... thanks for the info :)
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Glad to be able to inform you and others!
I don't know much about the commercial goat milk industry, but I forgot to mention that in the dairy cow industry calves are taken away from their mothers soon after birth so that none of that wonderful milk gets "wasted" on calves, and it all can go to feed humans. The cows bellow and bellow for their calves for days, it's dreadful to hear. The calves are fed on artificially boosted formula and are then either killed for meat or if female, grown up to lead the same existence as their mothers. Some are raised in very confined conditions to produce veal.
Did any other Australians on this site, or maybe even people in other countries if any of our news gets there, notice that last week our very own Gina Reinhart, the richest woman in the world, is about to use her personal "charity", the Hope Foundation, to establish large dairy organisations to supply dairy based baby formula to China? Not very charitable to the cows and their calves or to the babies of China, whose mothers are presumably able to produce what is really "natural" for babies ........
Sometimes the mind just boggles and boggles and boggles ......