Got Soy? Milk, Snuff, and Soy Beans

Milk is highly underrated. Experts say, America finds itself in a calcium crisis today because consumers aren't drinking enough milk.

Milk is highly overrated. Experts say,If you really want to play it safe, you may decide to join the growing number of Americans who are eliminating dairy products from their diets altogether.

Which one of those statements is true? If you follow health and fitness news at all, you've probably heard about the debate over milk and its inclusion in our diet. There is a difference of opinion about the values and dangers of milk in our diet. Where did I find these opposing quotes?

The first statement is from whymilk.com, a website promoting the benefits of milk. If you look at the bottom of the home page, you will find that it is sponsored by an entity comprised of America's milk processors.

That fact does not validate nor negate the content and statements on the website about milk. It does, however, make me think. It gives me a filter through which to view and analyze the statements made by the website. In other words, I now know the website's bias.

The second statement is in an article posted on notmilk.com, a website dedicated to spreading the news about the dangers of milk. How did I find these websites?

Of course, I turned to one of the major search engines. Placing the word milk in the rectangular box, I pressed Enter, and off went the search engine's spiders all over the web, searching frantically, hungry for data and content. What they brought back is interesting.

The two quotes at the beginning of this article are from the two websites noted above. The two websites noted above are,respectively, Result #1 and Result #2 from the major search engine as of the moment I am writing these words.

What's the point? The web is a forum of different ideas, conflicting agendas, and polar opposites. Sometimes you have to do some homework to really find out what a website is all about.

The first website I browsed made the point pretty easy to understand. Examine, however, the second website. It is a little more difficult to ferret out my point.Search Result # 1 is from a website with a specific agenda, namely, the promotion of milk as a benefit to our health. At least that is the stated, obvious agenda.

The first website, whymilk.com, is sponsored by America's milk processors. Now I know what the underlying agenda is for that website: sell more milk and dispel the notion that milk is not a part of good nutrition and a balanced diet.

Now there's nothing wrong with that as long as the consumer knows about the underlying agenda or, at the least, can find out about it through a rather cursory perusal of the website.

Armed with that information, we can filter all of the content and advertisements we see from that website. In other words, we will keep in the back of our mind the entire time we are nosing around in the whymilk website the notion that they are trying to get us to buy milk. Fair enough.

Search Result #2 is also from a website with an agenda thatis a little more complicated. It is here where the consumer might make some decisions for the wrong reasons and based upon incorrect assumptions.

Notmilk.com is a website dedicated to evangelizing lactose saturated sinners who drink milk and bring them into the light of salvation. That salvation comes when each adherent realizes the evils of milk, rejects said evils, and turns from them unalterably, wholeheartedly, and irrevocably. Then, and only then, will you have turned from your wicked lactose laden life and be free of the Dairy Devil.

Now I have no reason to question or affirm this website's sincerity in believing that milk is not good for human consumption. What does make me stop and think, however, is the ad for a device called a SoyToy right on the homepage.

With this device you can make fresh and delicious soy milk from dried beans in only twenty-five minutes at just four cents per quart. And it's yours for only $159.00 (plus shipping and handling). Hmmmm. Are you beginning to get the point?

What is really interesting is that if you look hard enough you find that the owner of the amazing SoyToy is EVS Holding Company. This is without a doubt one of the most laughable things I have seen in awhile. Not that it's that uncommon.

No, it's because it is so common that it is laughable.While promoting your good health through the SoyToy found on the notmilk.com website, the same entity is the holding company for Arrowhead Smokes. There three major products? Cigarettes... Cigars... and Snuff. Yes, you read correctly-snuff! Now are you getting the point?

If not, here's the Online Help button.

When it comes to your health, doesn't it make sense to rely on the professionals to help you make choices about good nutrition, diet, and healthy weight loss?

Consult your physician or medical practitioner about milk or about anything that has to do with altering your diet significantly. He or she is a trained medical professional who, in most circumstances, is only trying to sell you his or her service by being the best medical professional they can be!

Now, I'm not expecting anyone to believe that doctors don't give one product a little push over an equally effective product from time to time. They sometimes do a little "affiliate advertising" of their own in a roundabout sort of way.

But how long has it been since your physician offered you, along with your annual exam, a chance to make soy milk from dried beans in less than twenty-five minutes? And at such an "easy on the wallet" price of $159.00 (plus shipping and handling). Hmmmm.

And now surely there are those adept ones reading this who are now wondering just what is my angle? Where am I coming from?

I have a website too, along with my business partner, Michael Smith, MD. It's called Diet Basics, and you'll find it at www.weight-loss-professional.com. We offer really up to date content and tools to assist in healthy weight loss. Most of what we promote is absolutely free. But NEVER FORGETthis: I'm still going to try and sell you something!. And that's true of almost every website you'll encounter.

And that is absolutely fine. It's absolutely fine as long as we as consumers have the opportunity to get to the site's story behind the story. That is particularly important when it comes to your health.

So what's the point? It does not matter whether it's pro-milk.com, anti-milk.com, or whocaresaboutmilk?.com

It doesn't even matter if it is my website you are surfing. Find out who has created the site, and why they created it before you make any decisions based on that site's advice.

Dig a little! Find out just who sponsors the website, what they are saying and what they are promoting. Find out also, and perhaps more importantly, what they are NOT saying or promoting--that's the story behind the story.

And when it comes to your health, consult with your physician. Know the facts. Then you will be able to make sound decisions and choices regarding nutrition and balanced diet.

And by the way, I've been meaning to ask you..."Got Soy?"

Cheers to your health!

Mark Fuqua
http://www.weight-loss-professional.com

With 3 earned degrees and more than 16 years of experience as spiritual leader, pastor, director of marketing and investment banker, Mark Fuqua brings to the discussion table a breadth and depth of unique experience coupled with academic acumen. Yet he subscribes to the philosophy that you can approach life from either a positive or negative pathway. How you choose that determines your experiences in life whether you are trying to lose weight, build a career, raise a family, or prepare for retirement. He is Consultant and Chief Editor of Diet Basics, a website dedicated to healthy weight loss success.