Bubble asked me to post this.........................We are trying to decide whether Heather Mills......................

[LadySherlockofLGJ]

has totally lost the plot.

She has more mad ideas than any woman I have ever known.

\link{http://www.news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=HXOHW2BQRVVLDQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2006/03/26/nmills26.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/03/26/ixhome.html\Mad I tell you, she is Mad}

but if you have no problem digesting cows milk (like probably the majority of people in this country) then what is the problem with using it as a cheap, easy to buy source of calcium?

or is this, gasp, food snobbery, because cows milk is cheap and easy to buy?

quanglewangle, well said:)

Enid, quite.

Let's ban water because it's wet.

enid I agree
as a person who cant tolerate milk since a baby i would recommend anyone to get their calcium from whatever way they can

enid, read my last post... I said Cows milk should be one option, not the only option!

Mum2ela you should be aware that Patrick Holford, the author of the book you linked, is not a doctor or state-registered dietitian. He is someone with a point of view. Who recommends that people spend an awful lot of money on vitamin supplements. His advice is no more expert than Gilliam McKeith's.

I happen to know about one occasion on which he gave dangerous advice than is the exact opposite of what is recommended by authoritative, formally qualified sources. He recommended that smokers should take betacarotene supplements despite scientifically acceptable evidence that actually this may increase your risk of lung cancer. It's one of those things about science that testing sometimes shows results that you wouldn't expect. The study that showed the link between betacarotene (which the body turns into Vitamin A) was an example of this.

Patrick Holford refused to back down when the fact that his advice was dangerous and contrary to the views of respectable, expert charities which conduct real medical research like Cancer Research UK was pointed out. For my money, that tells you everything you need to know about the quality of his advice.

The image problem milk has comes from self-appointed nutritional 'experts' who do not necessarily understand science or how to interpret the evidence. The Food Standards Agency, which is the official, independent body that considers the safety and nutritional value of food, says milk is an important source of nutrients. Personally I'd rather take my nutritional advice from them, knowing they have reviewed all the evidence carefully : \link{http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/milkanddairy\here}

I think we should ban wet water - I got b%^*$y soaked this morning!

edam, I agree with most of your post about dodgy so-called experts, but the Food Standards Agency is working with a framework which is set up around cows milk. They aren't going to rock the boat by challenging its status in favour of any alternative. This isnt for health reasons, it is economic. So I dont think the FSA is truly independent on this one.

Well said, Edam.

One of the problems is the limited range of foods available - things that are everyday eating in Spain, France and Italy etc. Sheeps milk cheese, which I just love, is still not widely available and still has a snob value attached to it. And some people still go yuck to the thought of goats or sheeps milk cheese. If we ate a more diverse diet this argument wouldn't matter.

And lets ban knives while we are at it, I am told they have sharp edges.

The other thing to remember is that small children need fats. Full fat milk products are a good way to get those into them.

(I had a small amount of cheese on my lunchtime toast and it was delicious ).

surely if people are worried about the hormone levels of cow's milk they should get theorganic stuff? that;s what I do and it isn't much more expensive, I get organic cheese and yog too since both dds eat it.
As for Heather Mills - she striked me as one of those people who is always becoming an 'expert' on yet another subject and this seems to be her latest little bandwagon.
Also, didn't she invent loads of stuff about her youth, like pretending she lived as a homeless waif under London Bridge for a year when in fact it was a load of bollocks? correct me if I'm wrong.

oops, strikes...

my god is this still going?She is certainly not what I would call a gold digger that is such a horrible expression.She had a life before him and has always been fairly outspoken No sisterhood here!

She is officially cuckoo!!!

Cuckoo!! Cuckoo!!

Spot on, edam.

notasheep (from a long way down), she IS a slapper. Larry King was about to grill her on her unsavoury past and she removed her leg on telly to distract him. This is more than rumour ... but I cannot go into it here.

calling other women slappers is awful sorry

Slapper - no. Shameless, attention seeking, self publicist - yes. I guess the problem is that she's fabricated so much in her past that it's really hard to take her seriously.

And that article doesn't just say cow's milk. It says dairy. Do you think that includes human breast milk??? Okay, probably not.

I think she has engaged mouth before thought on this one.

Why dont we all just stop eating?

We all say things and exaggerate when it is something we are passionate about and it doesn't deserve a complete character assassination.

Or perhaps we should all give up the dairy as she suggests, but start buying the Linda McCartney range in bulk instead .

Oh no, is milk chocolate considered dairy?

Nightynight, interested in what you say about FSA and economics - that's not something that's ever crossed my radar (but I come at this from a health point of view, not an industry one). I used to employ some of the independent experts who sat on FSA panels (ie they didn't work for FSA and neither did I)and AFAIK the economic needs of the food industry were never a reason for a cover-up or anything of that nature. It did slow them down on traffic-light nutritional labelling, but that's as far as I thought it went.