The incidence of diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions, particularly in developed countries. Poor diet and obesity are major contributors. Diabetes is a terrible disease that affects every aspect of daily living. It is caused by the body's inability to control blood sugar levels. This is medically referred to as 'insulin resistance'.

According to a 2007 study by the University of Cardiff in the UK, drinking a pint of milk a day may protect men against diabetes and heart disease. But upon closer examination of the research, the study has turned out to be flawed and without merit.

Jon Barron (of The Baseline of Health Foundation) analyzed the data from the study and his comments are summarized in the five points below:

1. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. It looked at how insulin resistance was affected by dairy milk consumption. A total 2,375 men were tracked between the ages of 45 and 59 over a 20-year period to see whether eating dairy products reduces the risk of insulin resistance. According to the study, the more milk they consumed, the lower the risk.

2. In fact, although the study tracked a decreased risk of insulin resistance with increased dairy consumption, it found little actual correlation between dairy consumption and the incidence of diabetes itself. There were only 7 more cases of diabetes among the lowest consumers of dairy versus the highest. The incidence of heart disease was not tracked.

3. Unfortunately, people who had diabetes at the start of the study were not included in the results. We therefore don't know if their condition improved or deteriorated as a result of milk consumption. Such information would have been significant in determining the overall health value of dairy milk in relation to insulin resistance.

4. Furthermore, the study only references the amount of milk and dairy products people were consuming, nothing else. If they're drinking more milk, they're drinking less of something else. Conversely, if they're drinking less milk, they're drinking more of something else. If that something else is soda pop, sugared energy drinks or coffee with sugar, that can be a major factor in the onset of insulin resistance.

5. It seems that the so-called health benefits attributed to milk in the study may have nothing to do with milk at all. They may instead be a reflection of a better diet. It is likely that the men drinking milk were consuming less sugary foods, but the study doesn't tell us either way. Clearly, without the data, the study is meaningless and misleading.

An examination of the numerous studies into diabetes (too many to mention here) clearly show that milk consumption contributes to a higher incidence of diabetes. There are virtually no studies to counter this.

In the book 'Nurturing Traditions' (1999), the author Sally Fallon makes the following comment:

'There is some evidence that pasteurization alters milk lactase (a form of sugar), making it more readily absorbable. This and the fact that pasteurized milk puts an unnecessary strain on the pancreas to produce digestive enzymes, may explain why milk consumption has been linked to diabetes'.

Other research confirms this. Lactose undergoes condensation and molecular changes as a result of heat treatment. Lactose in milk converts to glucose and galactose in the bloodstream. Over time, the constant drip feed of glucose into the bloodstream (from daily milk consumption) can create insulin resistance.

The risk of diabetes is even greater for organic milk consumers. This is so because most organic milk (over 80 percent) is sold as UHT milk. In the USA virtually all organic milk is UHT! The ultra high pasteurization temperature of UHT is double that of regular milk. This means that organic UHT milk is more likely to overburden the bloodstream with glucose, increasing the risk of diabetes.

See below for details of a new book 'Organic Milk Myth' which explains this in more detail with supporting evidence.