Cook'n is the best selling recipe organizer

The American Dairy Association & Dairy Council is a powerful organization with a well- run marketing and advertising campaign. Its ad men unceasingly push the message that consuming dairy somehow fortifies our very lives, and that without dairy in our diets our health would suffer. Yet scientific research continues to prove milk and dairy products are not the health foods we've been told they are. Here are 11 reasons to stop consuming them (as found on Dr. Mercola's website, Mercola.com):

1. Hormones. Not only are the naturally-present hormones in cow's milk stronger than human hormones, the animals are routinely given steroids and other hormones to plump them up and increase milk production. These hormones can negatively impact humans' delicate hormonal balance.

2. Most cows are fed inappropriate food. Commercial feed for cows contains all sorts of ingredients that include: genetically-modified (GM) corn, GM soy, animal products, chicken manure, cottonseed, pesticides, and antibiotics. This common dairy ad ought to include fine print that discloses we get much more than milk when we drink the stuff!

3. Pesticides in cow feed find their way into milk and dairy products that we consume.

4. Dairy products, when metabolized, are acid-forming. Our bodies are constantly striving for biochemical balance to keep our blood at 7.365 pH. Eating excessive acid-forming products can cause our bodies to overuse some of its acid-balancing mechanisms, one of which is the bones. Alkaline calcium is stored in the bones and released to combat excessive acidity in the body. Over time, bones can become fragile, NOT stronger.

5. Scientific research shows that the countries whose citizens consume the most dairy products have the HIGHEST incidence of osteoporosis. The ads that tell us dairy builds strong bones are lying. Dairy calcium is extremely difficult for the human body to access and use properly.

6. Most dairy products are pasteurized to kill potentially-harmful bacteria. During the pasteurization process, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes are destroyed. Enzymes assist with the digestion process. When they are destroyed through pasteurization, milk becomes harder to digest, therefore putting a strain on our bodies' enzyme systems.

7. Dairy products are mucous-forming. They can contribute to respiratory disorders. When Dr. Mercola removes dairy and sugar from his clients' diets, they stop experiencing hay fever and seasonal allergies.

8. Research links dairy products with arthritis. Scientist Richard Panush was able to PRODUCE inflamed joints in rabbits by switching their water to milk. In other studies, scientists observed more than a 50% reduction in the pain and swelling of arthritis when participants eliminated milk and dairy products from their diet.

9. Most milk is homogenized, which denatures the milk's proteins, making it harder to digest. The incidence of lacto-intolerance is growing steadily. Also, many peoples' bodies react to dairy proteins as though they are "foreign invaders" causing their immune systems to overreact. Finally, research also links homogenized milk to heart disease. The only thing "real" about the idea of consuming dairy products is the harm this does to the body.

10. Cow's milk is intended for baby cows. We're the only species (other than those we are domesticating), that drinks milk after infancy. And, we're definitely the only ones drinking the milk of a different species.

11. Finally, most dairy cows live in confined, inhumane conditions, never seeing the light of day or pastures of green grass they were intended to eat. There is much research to show that human beings "hurt" somehow when made aware of injustice and any sort of inhumanity, even if it's inflicted on just animals.