Why I Don't Think Milk Causes Diabetes

So, I just finished up one of my summer classes called 'Diabetes'. It was an excellent class, and one of the required textbooks for it was an ebook called 'Diabetes Rising' (note: ebooks make excellent textbooks for essays. "Where's that reference again? Oh, look! A search bar!").

Anyway, the book goes over 5 theories as to why diabetes is on the rise in America, which I previously  blogged about here.

Basically, the milk theory says that humans, specifically babies, aren't designed to be able to digest milk. The cells of the pancreas have a hard time with this, and the beta cells that produce insulin are destroyed as a result.

That's a giant container of barbeque sauce, by the way. Yellowhed's idea. We've had it over a year.

Sounds scary, right?

Well, it's certainly a theory, but I don't know how much stock I would put into it. Why? Because of my own little pet theory, which involves the Bible.

Now first of all, the Bible is not a medical textbook. You're not going to find surgical techniques in it, or specific instructions as to how to treat the flu. But it does cover a lot of public health issues. The book of Leviticus is considered the first recorded public health law. Personal hygiene, food safety, community sanitation issues, and a whole host of other potential problems are discussed within the Bible.

1 Timothy 4:4-5 - "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."

Now before you go out saying, "Alrighhhht!!! Bring out the marijuana!!!", let me say that I think you have to exercise a bit of discretion here. Obviously God created tobacco, but that doesn't mean He intended for us to fill our lungs with its smoke. God cares about our being responsible, and making wise and God-honoring decisions, and I think we need to be mindful of that.

But when I saw this verse, it got me thinking about the Israelites.

In Exodus 3:17, God told Moses that He was going to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land. "A land flowing with milk and honey."

The Promised Land was supposed to be pretty sweet. God had everything planned out for them there. Why on earth would He lead His people to a land filled with something that causes diabetes? That doesn't make any sense to me.

This isn't the only example either. Over and over again in the Bible, milk is referenced in a positive manner. Jeremiah 11:5, Proverbs 27:27, 1 Corinthians 9:7, Exodus 13:5, Jeremiah 32:22, and Numbers 13:27 are but a few of the many verses that talk about the presence of milk as a positive factor.

 I've heard the arguments before about how if the earlier doctors had just read their Bible, they would have seen Deuteronomy 12:23 which mentions blood being the source of life, and as a result would have never bled their patients, which often resulted in death. George Washington, and a host of other important figures would have probably lived and done other good things as a result, all if doctors had just read their Bibles.

Is that possible? I don't know. And I'm not saying that my theory is absolutely, positively sound either. There may be some truth to the fact that newborns should probably stay away from cow milk and formula.

All I know is that it wouldn't make sense for God to seem to advocate something that would lead to a very devastating disease.

And that's why I don't think that milk causes diabetes.