PETA's New Campaign: 'Autism Is Caused By Milk'.

WanderingWolf

Only *insert number here* days to go!
Member
Before I say anything else, this will be a rant.

PETA's newest campaign is one of their most disgusting, exploitative and repulsive things they've ever done. They're now classifying that autism, which affects tens of millions of people worldwide, is caused by drinking milk. Exploiting the neurologically different, just to show that you shouldn't drink/eat animal products.

This campaign really hit home for me, as a brother of someone with autism, and a friend of two with autism, as well as supporting hundreds affected through fundraisers each year for schools with special needs classes. One in every 50-80 people in the U.S., alone, have autism, and now, because of PETA, all of these people are shamed and cruelly told that 'milk gave them autism', by all of the supporters of PETA.

It's comparable to someone saying that 'reading the newspaper gives you cancer in the eye' or 'jumping gives you ADHD'. It's disgusting, and exploitative. Only to either show a point, or just get more publicity.

Thanks PETA, you've gotten quite a lot of publicity in the past, and you sure as hell will with this bullshit.

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As you can tell, I'm probably foaming at the mouth after learning of this. I can only hope to see their next shocking campaign stating that 'death is caused by wearing woolen jumpers'.



Note: Please remember to have a constructive discussion about this topic. Flaming posts, trolling posts, or posts that are negative towards other members will be removed. Thanks!
-Mistryss Nite
 

Frost Mage

Pegasususus
Member
If milk causes autism then why are autism and other mental illnesses in children just starting to be diagnosed now? Of course there's the argument that 100 years ago we couldn't diagnose autism, but why is it that every kid is diagnosed with some sort of disorder? Over-diagnosis to push drugs? Something in the air we're breathing? Who knows. But I'm pretty sure it's not freaking milk.
 

don()shinobi

PokeBeach's Yu-Gi-Oh enthusiast. I guess.
Member
As somebody with a minor case of autism myself, this is more than just insulting. But won't spreading this story around just give them the attention they so desperately want (and end up receiving every single time they do anything)? After all, "no publicity is bad publicity".
 

Haunted Water

DEFT Lunar
Member
Considering the fragility of the human body, this could be true. However, if you may recall from that stupid campaign that is similar to this, which used false evidence to support the belief that vaccines cause autism, this'll probably just blow over and be easily refuted as false.


Sidenote:
'jumping gives you ADHD'
This is probably true. First question I ask when learning a new game is "Can you jump?" If the answer is yes, then yay, I found a new game. If it's no, then I hate the designers and wish they'd burn in a fire.
 

Blah

DBT
Member
I'm someone who is very rarely offended by anything and am often of the opinion that everyone needs to have a thick skin...but this is over the top. It's an exploitation of a mental disorder in an attempt to help PETA accomplish it's goals. Worst of all, although I didn't read through the full article, the whole thing is almost certainly bogus. Autism is caused by complications with genetics or during pregnancy, not by something like an infant's diet after they are born.

I don't even understand what they hoped to accomplish with this. Offending people, or just talking about mental disorders in general, is not a way to get anyone on your side.
 

Jeremy1026

Aspiring Trainer
Member
This isn't new. There have been studies looking at the link between milk consumption and disease (specifically, mental illness) for years. Here is an an article from 2008 on the subject -> http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/milk-linked-to-autism.aspx. While there aren't any defined 100% links yet, there is some scientific research to back up the theory.
 

bacon

!!!!!
Member
Just another round of pseudo science, tagging alongside the likes of anti-vax and intelligent design. The only productive thing you can do in this situation is shoot down the poor sods who buy into this thing with well constructed, logical arguments.

It's a shame that PETA has such a loud voice, but don't let yours go unheard too.
 

CF1994

Aspiring Trainer
Member
This is further proof why PETA are a group of the most abysmal excuses for humanity to ever exist.
 
Jeremy1026 said:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/01/02/milk-linked-to-autism.aspx

Newer, better science! That study was actually published quite a while ago, and as the guy who conducted it (the inventor of Gatorade!) said:

The digestive problem might actually lead to the disorders’ symptoms, whose basis has long been debated, said UF physiologist Dr. J. Robert Cade, cautioning that further research must take place before scientists have a definitive answer.

Conveniently, that article leaves that bit out, and instead concludes:

Milk restriction is an ABSOLUTE imperative to the treatment of autism. Anyone managing this illness without restricting milk is deceiving themselves. Complete elimination of sugar, juice, soda, french fries and wheat (pasta, bagels, cereal, pretzels, etc) is a close second.

...which has been proven to be total grass-fed bullshit.

Also, I made the mistake of reading the comments section for that article.

some moron said:
Don't need to spend millions of dollars on ridiculous studies to figure this one out. Cow's mother's milk is meant for baby cows NOT humans. Humans are the only animal ever to steal the mother's milk from another animal, let alone as adults!!! I always refused to drink my milk from about age 7 or 8 and haven't ingested any dairy for the past few years. WOW! my health has improved immensely and I didn't even know I needed it to. My brother, on the other hand always guzzled milk as a child and still does as an adult. He is Schizophrenic.

these people vote
 
J

Juliacoolo

The funny thing about this is that PETA's claim is a plausible truth. However, the way they are using this is totally manipulative, and insensitive to the people who's lives are affected by autism. Shameful antics like these take away from not only the causes that they are using for propaganda, but also from their own animal-welfare causes.
 

Ironman131

Aspiring Trainer
Member
If milk actualy did cause autism, there would be a lot more people with autism. Milk is delicious and I personly go through like a gallon a week. Whats next PETA eggs cause cancer or bacon causes diabetes.
 

peer

Technical Machine
Forum Head
Member
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Edit: As someone with autism/aspergers/adhd, I've been drinking milk all my life, I saw a reduction in symptoms after i stopped taking ritalin.

THINK ABOOT THAT ONE PETA
 

Professor Palutena

The Queen
Member
Literally foaming at the mouth. This is one of the scummiest publicity stunts I've EVER seen.

And it's not like milking cows even causes harm to animals!
 

Spartan Sceptile

Just goin for a walk....
Member
I have drunk milk at least once a day as far as I can remember. I don't have autism, my brother does and I am highly offended by this even though I don't have it. PETA's new campaign is over the top. They went way too far.
 

Drohn

Wild War Dance
Member
I know PETA mainly from the Internet and TV, but I don't see anything from them in real life. They're not as active in The Netherlands. I'm not a fan of many things I see and hear about PETA and I find it quite stupid they spend so much time to force their believes on others. If they want to inform people of the negative consequences of things that's great, but leave them to make their own decisions with that information. It seems as annoying as people trying to force their religion on others. I am actually a vegetarian, but I would never try to convert someone else to be it and I won't raise my children vegetarian. It will have to be their own choice if they do it. I don't think any less of people that aren't vegetarian. Lions are also awesome and they eat meat; will PETA hunt them down with paint buckets?

The link beebahboo posted led me to some other websites and eventually to this page. I never knew milk was THAT unhealthy. I don't know if it has anything to do with autism or not and I still love milk. I don't know if I will reduce drinking it, since it never bothered me before and I never noticed the mentioned negative consequences.

PETA still looks annoying, but thanks for the heads up.

Professor Palutena said:
And it's not like milking cows even causes harm to animals!
I actually read that the way many farmers do it causes the udders to grow extremely large and causes infections for the cows.
 
Drohn said:
The link beebahboo posted led me to some other websites and eventually to this page. I never knew milk was THAT unhealthy. I don't know if it has anything to do with autism or not and I still love milk. I don't know if I will reduce drinking it, since it never bothered me before and I never noticed the mentioned negative consequences.

This is kind of a terrible article. Take, for example, this excerpt:

Cow's milk is allowed to have feces in it. This is a major source for bacteria. Milk is typically pasteurized more than once before it gets to your table... each time for only 15 seconds at 162 degrees Fahrenheit.

To sanitize water one is told to boil it (212 degrees F) for several minutes. That is a tremendous disparity, isn't it!

Well, dear author, if you'd taken the time to learn the difference between sterilization and pasteurization before claiming it doesn't work, you'd know why that is! It's literally the first sentence of the second paragraph in the Wikipedia article.

I'd imagine that the majority of the points made can be debunked just like that with a little independent research (there's probably a few in there that are entirely valid, because even a broken clock is right twice), but nobody has the time for that. So instead, I think I'd rather trust Wikipedia and its sources on the pros and cons (as opposed to just cons, like that article, which is awfully telling in itself) of milk instead of a website that hosts compelling information on whatever shady shit those Illuminati dudes are up to and shocking info about UFOs that the government doesn't want you to see.

Note: fwiw, I'm actually really considering becoming a vegetarian, or at least a pescetarian, and I think they're really admirable. (I don't think I could go full vegan myself though, but I have a particularly strong admiration for them. That's a difficult choice to make.) The environmental and ethical reasons are actually compelling, and I urge people to look into them with an open mind...but a lot of the rest seems like pseudoscience, and they really don't help the cause, much like PETA's shenanigans here. Just making sure I don't come across as anti-anti-dairy consumption--I think it's a great thing.
 

Athena

The Cooler Danchou
Advanced Member
Member
Yeah, I only had to look at the homepage for Drohn's link to realize that I shouldn't pay attention to anything the article says. :p Beebahboo's initial link is at least a bit more of a reputable website, but like any article that's called "X reasons why you should(n't) do Y" should be taken with a large grain of salt (no one should ever solely trust anything on the Internet for health related purposes anyway) and make sure to verify sources.
 
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