Someone wrote: "I get the impression that there is a dichotomy of opinions in which cow milk is either the 'perfect' food or a 'bad' food. I don't think it is either. It is simply one of a huge range of foods that humans consume for some of the nutrients we need."
 
I fall in the camp of thinking that cows' milk/dairy is -- overall -- a VERY BAD food from the perspective of HEALTH, though an EXCELLENT food from the perspective of TASTE!  
 
No human needs to drink the milk of non-human animals to get nutrients.  Most humans in the world do not consume milk as adults, because they are lactose intolerant after middle childhood.  Milk *is* high in protein, and protein interferes with calcium absorption.  The post-menopausal rates of osteoporosis in women in 'developed' countries have much to do with their lack of movement/exercise, and less to do with loss of estrogen.  High consumptions of dairy have been linked to higher bone fractures in western women (see the Nurses Study).  Post-menopausal women in populations that don't drink milk after weaning, but have high life-long levels of physical work, show the lowest rates of osteoporosis and bone fractures.  
 
Note: I do not practice what I preach.  While I don't drink cows' milk, I do regularly partake of yogurt, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, and (especially) ice cream.  But NOT for their health benefits!!!! 
 
Here are a couple of good website/excerpts:
 
http://www.notmilk.com/kradjian.html  (excellent summary)
 
and
 
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/nutrition/calcium.php
[excerpt from above web site]
Protein & Calcium
A high protein diet, especially derived from animal foods, causes calcium loss in the body. The higher sulphur-to-calcium ratio of meat increases calcium excretion, and a diet rich in meat can cause bone demineralisation. A report published in 1988 [1] comparing the amounts of calcium excreted in the urine of 15 subjects showed that the animal-protein diet caused greater loss of bone calcium in the urine (150mg/day) than the all-vegetable protein diet (103mg/day). These findings suggest that diets providing vegetable rather than animal protein may actually protect against bone loss and hence osteoporosis. In one study adults on a low-protein diet were in calcium balance regardless of whether calcium intake was 500mg, 800mg or 1400mg a day. [2] Interestingly The American Dietetic Association, in its 1993 policy statement on vegetable diets, pointed out that the calcium intakes recommended in the USA were increased specifically to offset calcium losses caused by the typically high protein consumption in that country.
 
Child-care expert Dr Benjamin Spock, once an advocate of drinking cow's milk, has joined several doctors questioning its nutritional value and warning of a possible link to juvenile onset diabetes and allergies. "Breast-feeding is the best milk feeding for babies," says Dr Spock. Dr Spock is backed up by Dr Frank Oski, director of pediatrics at John Hopkins University and Dr Neal Barnard, president of the 2000-member Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine. Dr Oski states that cow's milk is overrated as a source of calcium, is often contaminated with traces of antibiotics, can cause allergies and digestive problems and has been linked to juvenile diabetes. [3]
 
 
 
Me again:  there are many excellent reasons not to consume dairy products, and really, no good reasons to consume them other than the wonderful way they taste.
 
Kathy Dettwyler
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