Need Milk? Get Yourself A Supercow.

GM OOOO writes "Sydney Morning Herald is reporting the birth of three 'supercows.' Interesting thing here, besides the potential for milk, is the fact this was done via selctive breeding and genetic selection via embryonic implantation -- not adding the gene of a sea cucumber of something to modify it to produce as it does now. Supercows - kinda reminds me of the Mootrix movie now (FEAR)."

Comments

A cow-fridge hybrid would be better

[mnmn]

You would just open the door, stick in a glass and get milk. I wonder if they can make miniature supercows as pets. A portable milk container where the milk doesnt go bad.

Re:A cow-fridge hybrid would be better

[norweigiantroll]

Yeah, and the methane the cow produces would be used to power the refrigerator.

(Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along

[Anonymous Coward]

As the article says, all they did was ship embryos from champion Canadian milk cows to New Zealand and implant them in host mother cows there. A fancy way to save on air freight over shipping the calves.

Actually, there is one more detail that's probably relevant. New Zealand is free of a number of livestock diseases that bother the rest of the world (honeybees, particularly) and has extremely stringent animal quarantine regulations.

It is possible that frozen embryos were considered to be less likely to be hiding any diseases than a full-grown calf and so the entire business was basically a way of satisfying quarantine.

But there is absolutely nothing magic about the ancestry or genetics of the cows.

Re:(Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along

[Bowling Moses]

There's also another detail that's relevent. If these cows actually produce 3x the amount of milk, and the costs of doing this are low then it becomes interesting. Not to most of us nerds but to dairy farmers. I'm not a dairy farmer, but I do know that transporting a cow isn't too bad, but naturally gets more expensive and difficult with the distance. Transporting a bull for stud services is a bit different. Bull size depends a lot on variety, some can clear 2500 pounds or more. They are often transported sedated, but when the bull wakes up it's a ton plus of pissed-off horny beef that is trying to decide whether to kill or hump everything in sight. Embryo implantation might be/become cheaper than traditional stud services, allowing the premier beef/milk genes to get passed around more easily. It doesn't cost that much more to send a dewar full of liquid nitrogen and embryos across a state or across the country. Downside: more genetically homogeneous cow herds, and another crash in milk prices if everybody grabs "supercow" embryos to produce 3x the milk.

Re:(Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along

[rowne]

Just to clear something up, usually they would use artificial insemenation. Instead of transporting the whole animal, they would just send some glass rods full of frozen semen.

Re:(Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along

[Anonymous Coward]

I assume you would have to feed these cows 3x as much grass too....

Re:(Yawn) Nothing to see here, move along

[bhtooefr]

Plastic straws. It's plastic straws, in plastic (or metal) canes, in metal canisters. It's a glass speculum, except even those are being replaced by plastic.

This page has goat A.I. equipment. Scroll past the A.I. stand stuff for the actual equipment.

Mooo v'on. Nothing to see here.

[muirhead]

Three 'supercows' with the genetic potential to produce more than 14,000 litres of milk ...
The calves, born two weeks ago, were...

There might be a story here when these animals grow up and prove that the researchers are actually worth their stock options. In the mean time, don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy

[HaloZero]

Ok, so they can produce 14000 litres in a single... uhh... squeezing, but how much more initial fuel do you have to put into them? I mean, one cow, at this point, when grazing, can clear an entire square mile of pasture and be set for the day. I think. This grazing land is growing terribly scarce as the demand for moomeat and moojuice rises (more people in world) - and even then some are not getting any! But I digress.

Ok, so they make more. But how much more do they need to do so?

Re:Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy

[miruku]

by 'lactation' they refer to the ammount of months a cow can provide milk for, not as in 'a single sitting'.

Re:Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy

[alexre1]

My God! When I read that article, I was imagining a cow that could 'hold' 14,000 litres! Heh that's a "Super Cow" indeed!

Re:Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy

[Bowling Moses]

"I mean, one cow, at this point, when grazing, can clear an entire square mile of pasture and be set for the day. I think."

It's not that bad. I was curious myself since a relative of mine has a small dairy operation (~60 head on ~300 acres, probably less on both). So, from a webpage from a U. Arkansas argonomy class it looks like about 80 acres of pasture will be fine for 60 head of cattle for a month. So we're talking 60x the cattle for 30x the time on 1/8th the land. But the required acreage naturally increases if you're ranching on shitty west Texas desert compared to my relative's dairy farm in Iowa. How much I don't know, I'm not in the cattle business.

Rent a cow

[$exyNerdie]

Swiss Rent a Cow Program

Related News:
Rent-a-cow scheme opens for Swiss cheese lovers

Welcome !

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for one, welcome our new hypermammarian bovine overlords.

Re:Welcome !

[Anonymous Coward]

I, for two, welcome them as well. The problem is, now we all need to learn Spanish to understand what the Supercows are directing us to do.

Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

Nope. I enjoy my health too much to destroy it with one of the most bland types of junk food in existence.

Re:Need Milk?

[WTFmonkey]

Junk food if you're lazy. Old-school bodybuilders (back when they were cool, not the dorks on the covers of shit like MuscleMag and Flex nowadays) used to recommend a gallon of milk per day due to a good mix of protein, carbs (lactose is NOT as bad as fructose, sucrose, etc.) and fat. True, most of us would just get fat on a full gallon per day, but milk's fine.

Dairy products do contain calcium, but it is accompanied by animal proteins, lactose sugar, animal growth factors, occasional drugs and contaminants, and a substantial amount of fat and cholesterol in all but the defatted versions.

They say "substantial amount of fat and cholesterol" like that's a bad thing. Eating fat does not make you fat. Studies have shown (I'll cite them, if you really want) that diets in excess of 70% fat can still result in fat loss (and that's without ANY cardio--nothing but weight lifting 3-4 times per week). Cholesterol is extremely important in building testosterone, estrogen, growth hormone, lots of others. Low cholesterol=low testosterone in men, which is very bad. As far as "occasional drugs and contaminants," that's no different than any other food-- buy the good stuff, not the crap. If you're in good shape, your body can handle whatever you throw at it.

If you're really worried about calcium, take a calcium carbonate supplement. It's the kind most easily absorbed by the body. Follow that with a potassium supplement (most multivitamins are low in potassium) to aid in calcium abbsorption and you're good to go.

Wow, how did that ramble get started?

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

Given the choice between a 12 year Harvard study of 78,000 women VS the superstitions of "Old-school bodybuilders", I prefer to believe in one more than the other.

Saturated fats are needed by the body, but in amounts way below the amounts in milk, and in combination with healthier fats lacking in milk. Cholesterol is produced by the body when needed, so none in the diet is best.

The bigger problem is that milk is only for babies. When a lactose intolerant adult drinks milk, they get sick, and their intestines become lined with mucous to prevent the absorption of it. A lot of nutrition is lost because of this, including calcium. If you are lactose tolerant, you dont get sick, but you do get the mucous effect. In addition to this, the protien in the milk causes you to lose calcium already in your bones, just like any other type of animal protien.

You can find information about this on plenty of sites other than vegetarian/animal rights sites if you are worried about bias, just do a google search.

Re:Need Milk?

[Anonymous Coward]

...if you are worried about bias, just do a google search.

Wouldn't Google simply return those biased sites? Google is a tool, not a content-provider.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sgt York]

That study was not focused on milk. It was generalized on calcium intake from all food and supplement sources. I'm not referring to the article you linked, but to the paper by Feskanich that it references.

According to their study, there is an increased risk of fracture with increased calcium intake, not just milk intake. The linked article quoting the paper is actually using the paper to advocate something the paper warns against (i.e., increasing calcium intake).

Re:Need Milk?

[WTFmonkey]

Given the choice between a 12 year Harvard study of 78,000 women VS the superstitions of "Old-school bodybuilders", I prefer to believe in one more than the other.

Agreed, unless I'm in the bulking phase of preparing for a competition. Then I'll listen to the pros over the scientists.

so none in the diet is best

Dietary cholesterol has been shown to have little or no effect on total cholesterol. See
Reaven GM, et al. "Insulin resistance, dietary cholesterol, and cholesterol concentration in postmenopausal women." Metabolism 2001 May;50(5):594-7
or
Bowman MP, et al. "Effect of dietary fat and cholesterol on plasma lipids and lipoprotein fractions in normolipidemic men." J Nutr 1988 May;118(5):555-60
Saying "none in the diet is best" is kinda silly. While we can synthesize cholesterol (up to a point), we can't generate the rest of the steroid family (including cholesterol, testosterone, the estrogens, progesterone, aldosterone and cortisol) without intake of the "essential fatty acids," hence the name "essential." My point here is that it's much easier to get 'em in decent amount if you're not needlessly worrying about dietary cholesterol.

I agree with your third paragraph, up to a certain point. See Kerstetter JE, O'Brien KO, Insogna KL. "Dietary protein affects intestinal calcium absorption." Am J Clin Nutr 1998 Oct;68(4):859-65 for why a high protein diet may actually increase calcium absorption.

Re:Need Milk?

[Anonymous Coward]

hippy

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

Even if dietary cholesterol has no effect at all on your total cholesterol, it makes no difference. The dietary sources of cholesterol themselves (meat/dairy) are unhealthy for many reasons and have healthy alternatives, and cholesterol can be synthesized by the body when needed. Yes, essential fatty acids are necessary, but cholesterol is not one of them. They are linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid. You can get them in decent amounts without worrying about cholesterol like you said, but the idea that milk or other animal products is a good source for them is ridiculous. Vegetable oils are rich in essential fatty acids, especially but not exclusively hemp and flax oils.

It would be nice if you linked to web pages since I don't go to the library often, but I don't see why it matters if one study found that meat can increase calcium absorption in the intestines when most find that the net effect of animal protien in the diet results in more calcium loss. So you absorb more in the intestines just to pee it out later, is that basically what they said?

Overall I think calcium is overhyped. Cows, horses, elephants, and so many other animals get enough by just eating grass. There is no reason a varied plant based diet in a human would be insufficient. Quoting the article I linked to originally, "American recommendations for calcium intake are high, partly because the meat, salt, tobacco, and physical inactivity of American life leads to overly rapid and unnatural loss of calcium through the kidneys." There really is no need to take calcium suppliments or even worry about calcium as long as you take care of yourself.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

Uh huh. Now pick out which site in the search results you think is unbiased and read it.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

While the article does not say to avoid calcium suppliments, it puts them at the end of the section of calcium sources (after 3 paragraphs) in one sentence, right before milk which they warn against. The focus is on green leafy vegetables and beans. The women in the study didn't use suppliments at all though, so I don't know where you got that from.

You seem to be mixing two points together when you say "According to their study, there is an increased risk of fracture with increased calcium intake, not just milk intake."

Actually the study found that higher intakes of calcium from milk or other sources didn't by itself decrease fractures. The article I linked to before suggests exercise to reduce fractures. The other half of what was mixed into your statement (the actual increase of fractures) they claimed to be due to milk, again in-line with the article.

Re:Need Milk?

[WTFmonkey]

The "milk" part of dairy I will give you as being unhealthy, you partly convinced me there. But cottage cheese is an excellent source of protein, and your body handles it differently than milk. The active cultures in yogurt are great for you. Dairy, by and large, is good. Meat, even more by and large, is good (you don't see many vegetarian bodybuilders). As far as "healthy alternatives," I hope you don't mean soy products. I hope that what you meant to say was "red meat," to which I agree that rib and liver meat should be eaten in small amounts, but eat the rest of the cow in one sitting, if you want. Poultry and (fatty) fish are good alternatives to red meat. But that's offtopic.

Sorry about not linking to webpages, but I'm pretty sure that the you can't read the scientific journals online without a subscription anyways-- I attend SDSU and so can read whatever journals look interesting in between classes. I didn't bother looking for supporting web sites because I think the peer review that happens in journals is important.

Basically, I think we've shown two things here. First, that you can find independent, well-researched, scientific publications to back any claim. Second, it varies so much by person that you really need to find what works for you.

Milk works for me: It's a cheap source of protein, I can tolerate lactose, and the fact that it's sugar doesn't bother me since I "budget" for it in my diet. I'm in good shape, and I drink lots of milk. Some people would get fat drinking it, some people just don't like it, some people are worried about contaminants, other people have other reasons. Bottom line is, do what works for you personally.

I take a calcium carbonate (TUMS, basically)/potassium supplement because I like what studies say about its role in maintaining body composition. Call it an experiment. I'll let you know how it goes in a few months. I agree that bone density is adequately maintained solely through weight lifting (which is the best way to "take care of yourself" IMO) and that calcium supplementing is not necessary for that purpose. Pretty soon, I'll know whether this "works" for me too. And that's really the whole point, isn't it? To figure out what makes you look good naked, and how get there, and how to maintain it. Different people, different requirements.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sgt York]

I got the supplement portion from some of the other research the group did. I tend to mix together all the research one group does when I'm talking about one paper...sorry for the confusion.

Take a look at the rest of their studies, there are a few. They pretty much just show that increasing Ca intake alone does not help prevent fractures.

I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean by mixing two points...I was saying simply that the objective of the study was to assay for correlation between calcium intake and fracture incidence. It was not looking specifically at milk, therefore they don't claim that the increase seen in the one group was due to milk (that would get them slaughtered on review). They merely state the correlation. The lack of future publication on that bit of data would suggest (but not confirm) that it was a statistical glitch.

From this post, it would seem that we agree. Exercise is a major player in bone density, probably a more important player than diet. If that's what the article was saying, then I retract my statement about the article contradicting the paper. It's just that your original post seemed to suggest that this study claimed that milk itself was somehow harmful. If I misinterpreted, I apologize.

You ought to check out the other paper from '97 by this group. They showed that (in men) even after you correct for personal activity level (exercise!) and a host of other factors, daily intake of calcium has little or no impact on fracture incidence or bone density. That would indicate that a corrected factor (exercise, perhaps?) was responsible for any variation that there may be.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

You probably don't see many vegetarian bodybuilders because you don't see many vegetarians, and because people have been brainwashed into thinking you need to eat lots of meat to do it. Just how much muscle do you think you are building in one day? And how much muscle tissue are you eating? Seems excessive to me.

I think soy is overhyped just like calcium is. Tofu and soy milk are just more processed food in my opinion. I prefer whole foods like beans, grains, and fresh fruits and vegetables. A little soy here and there isn't going to kill you, but whats the point? It is not the magic bullet people like to pretend it is. I said what the healthy alternatives were though. Vegetable oils like hemp and flax are very rich sources of essential fatty acids, and regular vegetable oils have them in good amounts too. Even spinach which isn't thought of as having fats in it is a good source. It is all around, you don't need to look to animal sources for it, and I think you will be better off that way.

Re:Need Milk?

[WTFmonkey]

Okay, we're getting closer. Your attitude is the correct one, and I agree with you 100% right up until your last sentence! I especially like the magic-bullet part-- you're right: there's no such thing.

To answer your questions, during heavy-lifting phases, I shoot for 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily. During maintenance phases, I drop that to around .8 to 1 gram per pound of body weight. And of course I don't build that much. I think that getting the 2500-3000 calories (if not more) daily that it takes to keep me going would be very inconvenient if I left out animal protein. It might be possible, but I will not give up barbecued steak, chicken breast, salmon, swordfish, tuna, etc. without a damn good fight. I don't want to take in that many carbohydrates, as they have (if you're not careful) deleterious effects on body composition. I usually shooot for 30 g of carbs on non-lifting days, and 70 on lifting days (because muscles are more receptive to insulin-carried glucose immediately following a lifting session and those extra 40g come from a post-workout shake (containing milk, no less!)). I also do tablespoon-sized shots of olive oil, or alternatively fish- or flaxseed-oil supps.

But again, all of this is "what works for me" after lots of experimenting, diet tweaking, and weight lifting.

Re:Need Milk?

[Sasafras]

I forgot to comment on this, but you should look at the price of dried beans and brown rice at the supermarket. Cooking with beans and rice is not only extremely cheap, it is a "complete protien source" (more hype, but some people like it). It also has complex carbohydrates (which will give you sustained energy), fiber (because nobody likes to be constipated), and plenty of calcium along with other minerals and nutrients we don't completely understand (this is common with many if not most vegetables, we just have a lot to learn still). Seems to have meat and dairy beat both in price and nutrition.

Some fruit or fruit juice in addition to that will give you simple carbs if you think you need them for the workout.

Re:Need Milk?

[peterpi]

Ooh, another one!
We're slowly taking over the world! ;)

I wonder if these will not spread disease

[DrSkwid]

Believe me, you don't want bit's of your intestines removed every few years.

Plenty of research is showing a link between Crohn's and milk consumption.

http://www.crohns.org/media/pr180900.htm
http:/ /www.nomilk.com/crohns.shtml
http://www.smh.com.a u/articles/2003/08/07/10601458 00356.html

My signature isn't *just* propaganda

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[br0ck]

This is very interesting to me since my wife has Crohn's with frequent pain and has had 10 inches of intestine removed. There's quite a bit of recent news including that British researchers suspect that MAH has entered the water supply.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[WTFmonkey]

I'd be more inclined to believe what's in your sig if that site wasn't advocating alternatives that are even worse.

Soy protein is horrible, I repeat, horrible for men. It increases estrogen levels like crazy, and reduces testosterone counts. Tofu suppresses testosterone levels even more effectively than a low-fat diet. (You know why all the guys that hang out in front of health food stores don't look healthy? It's because of low-fat diets. High-fat diets are completely healthy and increase testosterone levels, whereas lowfat diets suppress them). If you're eating tofu and not enough good, old-fashioned fat (mostly from sources such as olive oil, but animal fat is also important) you're going to have chronically suppressed testosterone levels. Along with increased estrogen levels.

Nice breasts, dude.

Next, the site advocates a dairy-free diet. While it's true that pasteurized milk causes (in some people) milk allergies and lactose intolerance, as well as having an astronomical insulin index, milk products like cottage cheese behave entirely differently in your body. Yogurt, for example, has active cultures which are good to the point that they help with both diahrrea and constipation.

Bottom line is that for some people (skinny teenagers and guys (girls, too) trying to bulk up), milk is the ultimate weight-gainer. Good mix of macros. Cheap. For other people, the carb (sugar) content is a bit much. It's way too dependent on body-type and lifestyle to say "Milk sucks."

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[Sgt York]

The majority of the research points not to milk itself, but to bacteria that contaminate the milk. So yeah, water is horrible for you, too...

once it's been spiked with P. pestis.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[Sasafras]

Someone not looking healthy and not being healthy can be two very different things. When the general population is becoming increasingly overweight, healthy thin people may look unhealthy to you.

Soy phyto-estrogens are poorly understood, some think they are a weak estrogen and others think they actually block estrogen. It is obvious you are getting carried away with yourself when you say "Nice breasts, dude." Why you keep getting moderated up is a mystery to me.

Next you say dairy products are good for "bulking up", of course there are healthier ways to gain weight but I won't even get into that. Obecity related illnesses are America's #2 killer behind cigarettes. Most people don't need to bulk up.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[DrSkwid]

I've not drunk or eaten meat & dairy for 12 years.

My only health issues is the crohns.

I've had multiple blood tests and all that jazz, all normal.

An, of course, you mention nothing about the lifestyle of cows.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[WTFmonkey]

We obviously need to define healthy. I am a college student, with all of the irresponsibilities and naivete that come with it. My definition of "healthy" at the moment is "looks good naked." And I don't mean "movie star" good or "Calista Flockheart" good, I mean "pro-athlete" good (think Mark McGuire, Mohammed Ali, Lou Ferrigno). I'm not quite there, but gimme a few years.

Getting carried away with myself? Hell, yeah. I do that a lot. Why do I keep getting modded up? *shrug* People like assholes?

"Bulking up" does not mean getting "obece;" I never said anything about fat gain. By bulking up, I meant "the intentional gain of muscle mass." And remember I said "cheap." A bony college kid might not be able to afford steak, tuna, and chicken every night of the week (not to mention breakfast & lunch), let alone the protein supplements (powders, bars, etc.) that it takes to get a pro-athlete-looking body. But he can damn sure afford a week's worth of milk and a coupla dozen eggs as a supplement. That's all I meant with that one.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[Sasafras]

My definition of healthy is basically a lack of sickness. Good energy after a reasonable amount of sleep. I think you hit the nail on the head by naming people you think are sexy. You think people with a lot of muscle are sexy, but the truth is everyone has a different idea of sexy. If the vegans you see don't have girlfriends as often as meat eaters, you may have a point :)

My comment about bulking up was only meant to point out that what you are saying won't apply to a lot of the readers.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[WTFmonkey]

Agreed. Nicely put, and way to watch out for the little guy (no pun intended).

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[WTFmonkey]

of course, you mention nothing about the lifestyle of cows

By popular demand, reasons cows have it better than me:

1. I don't get my nipples tweaked every day
2. When I die, I'll probably get buried or burned up. The noble cows lives his life knowing that when he dies, it is an honorable sacrifice so that I can eat steak, glue things together, and feed my dog.
3. Cows are more famous than me. They get those hilarious, "It's the cheese!" spots. I've never even been on TV.
4. I don't have cud. That would save me at least $70 per year on bubble gum.
5. If I could fart like cow, I could light them and it would be like the dawn of apocalypse. Cool!
6. Four stomachs! Bring that extra slice of pie on, baby!
7. Leather is expensive. Those cows are made of it!

I think #5 is my favorite.

Re:I wonder if these will not spread disease

[Anonymous Coward]

2/3rd of the names you gave used steroids...

What do you think cows are?

[Otter]

Interesting thing here, besides the potential for milk, is the fact this was done via selctive breeding and genetic selection via embryonic implantation -- not adding the gene of a sea cucumber of something to modify it to produce as it does now.

You do realize that's how current dairy cattle and every other agricultural plant and animal were generated, right? A lot of the people freaking out about "genetically modified" whatnot seem to think God created Holstein cattle and Vidalia onions in the garden of Eden.

It's just a matter of time...

[El]

before they cross bovine and cocoa plant genes, and come up with a cow that gives chocalate milk...

After over 2 years of doctors not being able to tell me why my daughter was congested all the time, I switched her to soy milk, and the problem immediately went away!

Re:It's just a matter of time...

[Anonymous Coward]

Then it'll be bovine and coca plant genes, and those dimwits who say that milk is physically addictive will finally be right. Of course coked up cows could be really hard to farm . . .

Posting thoroughly anonymously...

[Anonymous Coward]

I was coughing up horrible yellow things for years, and then I stopped drinking milk. They went away. As it happened, I totally forgot about them until a couple of weeks ago, when I had a cows-milk yogurt. Guess what happened the next day? Little yellow things. I've talked to other people with the same problem, whose doctors always tell them it's the pollution in the air, or hayfever, or somesuch. If this is happening to you, try cutting out milk and getting calcium from some other source, such as beans or supplements. It might help you.

Re:Posting thoroughly anonymously...

[pqx]

actually, those yellow things sound like tonsillian cysts. I'm guessing your breath smelt like cow pie for a long time just like your comments reek of distaste.

Re:Posting thoroughly anonymously...

[Anonymous Coward]

Did the yellow things smell like sour milk?

Finding Nemo!

[rylin]

So this mollusk walks up to a sea cucumber. . .

Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[tokki]

Just think how marketing has imprinted in our brain that "milk is good for you". In fact, those claims would have to be described as "unsubstantiated".

http://notmilk.com

There're plenty more where that came from. Imagine drinking cat's milk, or rat's milk, or even horse milk. Why then, is it not disgusting to drink cow's milk? Marketing.

With synthetic bovine hormones (illegal just about everywhere except the US), and rampant use of antibiotiocs, it's even more disgusting.

Re:Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[Uosdwis]

Holly: We could use some fresh odds & sods aboard, like cows milk.

Lister: What milk are we using now?

Holly: We're on the emergency backup supply. We're on the dog's milk.

Lister: DOG'S MILK!! Hol, why didn't you tell me?

Holly: What, and spoil your tea? Besides full of goodness, vitamins and marrow bone jelly. And on the plus side it tastes the same when it's gone off as when its fresh!

Re:Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[Anonymous Coward]

What's wrong with horse milk? It's not bad. Well, besides the whole "middle eastern people drink it so it must cause terrorism".

Re:Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe all this bullshit about milk being unhealthy. Lets face some facts. Drinking milk is just fine. Great source of protein, vitamins, minerals, especially calcium. It doesn't matter one damn bit if it's associated with proteins or not, your stomach is ~pH 2 and will denature them, proteases will chew them to bits, leaving all that nice calcium ripe for absorption. The anti-milk PETA fascists will readily distort any study to somehow construe it as supporting their absurd position. Rather like the bloody creationists in that respect. Rat cat and dog? Come on! How freaking many damn rats are you going to need to get a cup of milk? Be different from your fellow PETA morons and think! Cow, goat, horse (I've had a little taste; it's better than goat but not as good as cow), drink up. It'll put some calcium on your frail bones and some meat on you, you skinny, frail, weak, unhealthy vegans. Ever seen a healthy vegan? Didn't think so.

Re:Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[pmz]

Why then, is it not disgusting to drink cow's milk? Marketing.

I'd say tradition over marketing. In other countries, yak milk or camel milk is commonly consumed. How about goat milk?

Probably the main reason we don't milk our own cats is that 1) the quantity obtained doesn't justify the effort and 2) sucking off Snowball and Fluffy just doesn't seem appropriate.

With synthetic bovine hormones (illegal just about everywhere except the US), and rampant use of antibiotiocs, it's even more disgusting.

Agreed, but this argument is unrelated to the milk itself.

Face it, milk is a food. If you are starving and have only a dairy cow around you would you rather keep the cow and survive on milk until other food becomes available or kill the cow and try to eat the whole thing before it rots?

Re:Milk Doesn't Do A Body Good

[Anonymous Coward]

Milk is very similar across species. Cows are just good producers. And antibiotic use is slowly going to disappear with the WTO's recommendation. Not to mention many Cubans have weak bones and health problems due in part to the scarcity of milk.

Consider...

[Bridog]

... a spherical cow.

Quality

[iCat]

Does the super-volume produced also exhibit super-quality, or average quality or, I suspect, inferior quality milk?

Re:Quality

[Quill_28]

I am curious what in your opinion would be high, average, low quality milk?

Re:Quality

[iCat]

Assuming drinking cows' milk is good for humans, the attributes considered beneficial (protein, vitamins etc) could be measured in a representative set of regular cows taken from a national/world-wide population. You could do the same for attributes considered non-beneficial (some types of fat, antibiotics etc)

It would then be interesting to compare these figures with those from a super-cow.

I can turn regular Coca-Cola into double the volume by adding water. Doesn't give twice the bang for the buck, though.

Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right.

[Spamalamadingdong]

I've got news for you, guy: dairy farmers have been freezing bull sperm for a lot longer than they've been freezing embryos, and a bull is darn lucky if he ever gets to hump a real live cow. Why do you think you can get liquid nitrogen delivered to your doorstep in the boondocks?

Let me guess...

[annisette]

These cows move around with the assistance of jet powered CO2?

Craving more than the taste

[annisette]

Milk is a natural source of morphine soooo there may be something to the phrase I got to have my milk!

Re:Consider a cow...

[iCat]

...without legs, eyes, horns, udders (no you need udders)... now that is efficient!

apt-get

[Anonymous Coward]

apt has had supercow powers for SomeTimeNow(tm)...

Re:Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right

[Bowling Moses]

Crap. I was going to mention that artificial insemination has been used for a while, but then I guess I got sidetracked. Don't know why I forgot--sitting in my living room is an old liquid nitrogen dewar marked "Bull Semen" that I bought surplus from Iowa State University for 50 cents when I was an undergrad there. Makes an interesting conversation piece, to say the least.

Moo

[Chacham]

The "mootrix" is a scene from Kung Pow.

Re:Moo

[jovlinger]

I see you made it past my cow... you must be stronger than I thought.

Fantastic mooovie.

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

Acutally, I thought it was a stupid movie, with two or three cute scenes. The cow scene was great. The baby scene at the beginning (especially rolling down the hill) was cute. Overall, however, i thought it was stupid, but definitely a cute idea.

Re:Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right

[Giggle Stick]

Um, I hope you washed it reeeeal good.

Re:Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right

[BluedemonX]

RE: Why do you think you can get liquid nitrogen delivered to your doorstep in the boondocks?

Huh! My initial guesses were 1) It's used in the production of bathtub meth 2) It's used in the production of sippin' shine or 3) It's used in the hilarious and often fatal game of "hey y'all, wawtch this!"

Get your barnyard analogies straight!

[Anonymous Coward]

don't count your chickens before they're hatched

In this case, I believe the correct phrase would be "don't count your heifer before you milk the bitch."

How about human milk?

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine! Some people actually give their children that yucky stuff that came off the glands of an animal. Disgusting!!!

notmilk.com does sound like a nice advertisement. Maybe soy producers are behind the site?

Re:Transport a bull for stud services? Yeah, right

[bhtooefr]

Actually, semen is stored in sealed straws, and they're frozen solid, so they wouldn't leak out anyway. First, they shove the semen into the tubes, and put stabilizers in, let it cool down in a dry nitrogen tank, then put more stablizers in, and throw it in a liquid tank. A week later, you pick it up and transfer the straws into your tank. Besides, washing it is a VERY bad idea. Rust is something you DEFINITELY don't want on one of these.

More like Losing Nemo

[yerricde]

Please don't advertise The Walt Disney Company on a web site that advocates free speech and copyright reform. Disney has horrible track record concerning ethics.

ObTopic: Yogurt does a body good.

Re:More like Losing Nemo

[zall]

Oh get over yourself... That losingnemo.com site has to be one of the worst and most pathetic attempts ever at attacking a company. You offer like 10 "different" reasons why disney sucks, except they're all poorly re-written copies of each other.

Welcome to the big world kiddo ... Hope you don't get lost in the sprawling urban jungle of grown-ups.

Re:More like Losing Nemo

[yerricde]

How about these? Do they look "poorly rewritten" to you?

Reason #1 | Reason #2 | Reason #3