Several recent studies have continued to support the link between Vitamin D and positive health issues ranging from lung health and new asthma treatments to the prevention of breast and colon cancer. For example, the research shows that daily intake of 1,000 units of Vitamin D cuts the odds of getting colon cancer by about half, and the chances of breast and ovarian cancer by about one third.

It is well known that sensible, regular exposure to ultraviolet sunlight helps the body produce Vitamin D. You cannot “overdose” on Vitamin D that is produced through UV exposure (but of course you might get badly sunburn so never over-expose your body to sunlight!). What is less well known is that vitamin D supplements can be very harmful in certain circumstances.

Among the many important functions of vitamin D is absorption of calcium. Vitamin D greatly increases absorption of calcium into the blood stream (from the food you eat), and hence into the body generally.

The danger here is that if vitamin D supplements are taken on the same day that dairy milk is consumed, the bloodstream becomes overwhelmed with calcium. This can cause harmful calcification in many parts of the body. Harmful calcification is at the root of a whole variety of diseases such as stroke, cancer and heart disease.

Milk is full of casein protein. This quickly makes the bloodstream go too acidic when milk is consumed. The body responds by pulling calcium from the bones into the bloodstream (calcium is very alkaline and this helps to lower the acidity in the blood).

As the milk is gradually digested, calcium from the milk enters the bloodstream. As this happens, calcium levels in the blood become too high. In a kind of “knee-jerk” reaction hormones in the body get rid of the excess calcium in the bloodstream by ’storing it’ it in different parts of the body, leading to harmful calcification and illness.

Problems are made worse if vitamin D supplements are taken on days that dairy milk is consumed. This will increase further the amount of excess calcium that accumulates in the bloodstream. Doctors call this ‘hypercalcemia’, a known medical condition that can result in a variety of health problems. It is important, therefore, to avoid consuming dairy milk and vitamin D on the same day.

The solution is simple: never take vitamin D supplements on days that dairy milk is consumed. Better still, switch to non-dairy milk which is far more nutritious and delicious than cow’s milk. If non-dairy milk is not available from your local store, you can easily make your own milk at home from ingredients that can be stored almost indefinitely.

Dioxins are caused by incineration, traffic pollution, industrial waste emissions, fires, and many other chemical and industrial processes. Dioxins are known to be the most potent carcinogen ever tested.

Studies show that dioxins cause many serious diseases in humans, such as a range of cancers, kidney disease, birth defects, illness and premature death.

Unfortunately, dioxins are just about everywhere in nature because they get carried by weather patterns, rain, ocean currents, and wind to all parts of the globe. Dioxins settle on pastures, and on plants and grains that form part of the food chain for animals and humans.

Although there is little we can do to escape dioxins altogether, we can minimize the amount that goes into our body by avoiding certain foods. Dioxins are found in equal measure in both organic and non-organic food. Dioxins do not come from pesticides or fertilizers - they come from the environment at large and even from the water supply.

Normally, our bodies cope with a low level of dioxins. Some dioxins get excreted instead of being absorbed into the body to cause illness. We can, to some extent reduce the amount of dioxins we get by avoiding foods high in dioxins.

The question is: which food is highest in dioxins? Weight for weight, dairy milk has by far the highest amount of dioxins than any other food or drink. All mammals produce milk for feeding to their babies (including humans). The dioxins in the mother’s body get concentrated in her breast milk. This occurs, because all nutrients (including dioxins) get concentrated in breast milk as a way of providing good rich nourishment to the new born.

This means babies get concentrated dioxins from their mother’s milk. Fortunately, a baby stops breastfeeding after a few months or a year so the level of dioxins received by the baby goes down. Also, human milk is known to have a lower concentration of dioxins compared to dairy milk.

For a milk consumer it’s a different story. The daily consumption of dairy milk will result in a dangerous build up of dioxins in the body, causing below-par health, serious disease, and premature death.

There is plenty of research (too much to list here) showing that dairy milk has the highest concentration of dioxins compared to just about any other food product.

‘Dioxins penetrate the environment via air, water and soil and are then incorporated in food chains. The major source of human exposure to dioxins (90%) is consumption of .dairy products.’ (Professor Rocz Panstw, Zakl Hig, 1999, 50:3).

‘The primary source of dioxins is food, especially .dairy products.’ (Chemosphere, 1998 Oct, 37:9).

‘The lipophilic nature of dioxins.may result in relatively high concentrations of dioxin contamination in dairy products.’ (Journal of Animal Science, 1998 Jan, 76:1).

‘Cows’ milk is ideal for assessing levels because these compounds adhere to fat and are transferred to and eliminated in the milk of the lactating animal.’ (Linda Fitzpatrick, Cork Harbour Alliance for a Safe Environment, 2005).

All types of dairy milk contain dioxins in varying amounts, including organic milk. But over eighty percent of organic milk sold in the world is UHT milk (Long Life milk). In the Americas and most of Europe just about all organic milk is UHT milk.

With UHT milk you get far more dioxins than regular pasteurized milk because more dioxins gets digested instead of being excreted. This happens because the micronized fat globules in UHT milk are much smaller than in non-UHT milk. As a consequence, more dioxins from the milk get into the bloodstream. See below to find out more.