Cow Milk vs Buffalo Milk – Why Both are BAD For You?

A diet in which milk or milk products are excluded is almost impossible to imagine. Be it cow milk or buffalo milk, whatever you prefer, milk has found its way into the most favorite of our foods. It is even used as a staple food because of the fact that it has 18 out of 22 essential nutrients, making it a balanced diet. But, are you really sure that among cow milk vs buffalo milk, which one is good for your body?

In this article, we will uncover the lesser-known truths about cow milk or buffalo milk, the truth about milk and milk disadvantages. So, keep on reading till the end.

The Truth About Cow Milk or Buffalo Milk

No matter what you have been told about the several beneficial effects of milk, you will be really surprised when I tell you this. Animal milk does more bad than good to us. Primarily I am sure your parents told that you should drink milk because it makes your bones stronger by providing calcium to your body. But, in truth, it actually makes your bones weaker with time! Didn’t expect that coming I suppose.

You might be even tempted to drink more milk to eat healthily and lose weight because of the general idea that it is mainly protein and also a balanced diet. But in reality, milk and especially buffalo milk is high in calories and might actually make you gain weight. So, be careful.
Milk may be a staple diet especially in developing countries like India but it is actually poorly tolerated by many people.
Not only these, cow or buffalo milk has many other disadvantages as well. We will discuss them in detail in the upcoming section.

Buffalo Milk vs Cow Milk – Both have Disadvantages

Given below are the disadvantages that arise from consumption of animal milk:

1. It causes Acne: Consumption of high amounts of milk forces your skin to break out. Researchers are repeatedly confirming that people with acne drink more milk. This might be due to the fact that milk affects the hormone insulin.
2. Other Skin conditions: Milk leads to the worsening of eczema, rosacea and other skin diseases as well. This can be treated with probiotics.
3. Cow or buffalo milk can cause allergies: Milk can trigger hypersensitivity reactions and cause mild to severe allergic manifestations as given below:

• • Eczema
  • Anaphylactic reaction
  • Wheezing
  • Blood in stool

4. Lactose intolerance: This is a condition referring to the inability to digest lactose and surprisingly about 70% of the people suffer from it worldwide. Cow milk has more lactose content. So consumption of milk in people with lactose intolerance results in bloating, gas, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
5. It increases your risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures: It might seem unbelievable but trust me animal milk actually weakens your bones over time. This is due to the calcium-leaching effect of the animal protein present in cow and buffalo milk. Contrary to the general idea that milk actually strengthens the bones, animal milk actually makes women more prone to osteoporosis. So, it is better to obtain calcium from plant sources.
6. Prostate cancer, Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer: Several studies conducted on both men and women have proved that consuming a higher amount of milk actually increased the incidence of prostate cancer in men and breast or ovarian cancer in women. So if you have a family history of cancer you might want to avoid excess cow milk and animal milk in your diet.
7. Cholesterol: Animal milk especially buffalo milk has a high amount of cholesterol in it. So if you have issues with your heart or cholesterol, please watch the amount of milk you consume.
8. Parkinson’s disease: It may sound unreal but studies confirm that consumption of excess cow or buffalo milk increases the chances of Parkinson’s disease in men.
9. Cow or Buffalo milk has a lot of dioxins: Dioxin refers to poisonous substances added to food in the manufacturing process. Surprisingly, animal milk contributes to about half of your daily intake of dioxins. Sometimes melamine is also present in the milk and this is really harmful to your kidneys and urinary tract.
10. Cow or Buffalo milk has a lot of hormones in it: This is because of the fact that handlers inject cows and buffaloes with sex hormones at regular intervals to keep them pregnant and lactating. Consequently, there is an increased level of female hormones in the milk like estrogen and progesterone which is responsible for an increase in breast size in some men.

Try These Plant-based Milk Instead

You cannot absolutely exclude milk from your diet but of course, you can substitute cow or buffalo milk with healthier plant and nut-based milk as follows:

1. Soy milk: This is one of the most popular plants’ milk options. It has the same amount of protein but half the carbs as animal milk.
2. Almond milk: It is rich in calcium and vitamin E.
3. Coconut milk: It is another popular plant milk. It has half the amount of carbs and fats.
4. Oat milk: It is rich in fibers.
5. Cashew milk: It has low calorie and fat content.
6. Hemp milk: It is rich in essential fatty acids.
7. Rice milk: It has a low-fat content.
8. Quinoa milk: Fat content is lower.
9. Pea milk: It is low in carbs.
10. Hazelnut milk: It has really low-calorie content.

Final Words

So, we can see how cow milk vs buffalo milk, ends in one conclusion. They are both bad for our health. Not only that, but the dairy industry has also done a great job at popularising false benefits of cow or buffalo milk for its profit.
It is high time we become aware and substitute our dairy milk with healthier options.