Is yogurt an animal protein?

by Laurie Morton
(Phoenix, AZ)

Question: Based on the information I read in The China Study, I want to know if yogurt is an exception to the animal-protein rule? Does the benefit of yogurt make it acceptable if I am trying to eliminate all animal-based foods?

Answer:
Hi Laurie,
I think you are referring to the fact that at the beginning of the Dr. Campbell's, he allowed a small amount of yogurt to be eaten each day. By the time he found that animal protein doesn't add to our health, that part of the diet was dropped.

Yogurt is made with cow's milk, and the animal protein in that milk is casein. Though cow's milk is high in calcium, casein actually leaches calcium from the bones, reversing the benefit.

Yogurt has gotten a reputation for being healthy somehow, and it must be due to the clever Dairy Association's commercials about people losing weight while eating yogurt, and hyping Greek yogurt. Some people like to eat yogurt for the healthy probiotics. Unfortunately, almost all yogurt produce and eaten today no longer has those healthy probiotics in it. I read a study that showed that those yogurts touting healthy probiotics have simply made up their own names for the bacteria in their yogurt and call it a probiotic without any basis in reality.

Any cow's milk product is going to be full of hormones and antibiotics which are not good for you.

So, in short, you definitely do not need yogurt to have a healthy diet. You can get everything you need from plant products. If you really enjoy the flavor of yogurt, there are luckily a few really good soy, almond, and coconut milk alternatives in stores today, some unsweetened, vanilla, plain, and with fruit.

Hope that helps!

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