Re: Less time than usual, so will have to be a bit brief...

A summary - I have looked carefully into what appears to be the best diet for health and longevity, and there seems to be general agreement amongst a group of doctors and researchers that a plant based diet is best, with little or no meat, no sugar, salt, fat, dairy (organic free range eggs may be an exception), no oil etc.

Specific findings of individuals:
Dr Caldwell Esselstyn revered heart disease (yes - reversed) when eliminating the above. See http://www.heartattackproof.com/
(has a good video there)
T Colin Campbell PhD came from a dairy farming background. This is an extract from the introduction to that book:
"But that's not all. We found that not all proteins had this effect. What protein consistently and strongly promoted cancer? Casein, which makes up 87% of cow's milk protein, promoted all stages of the cancer process. What type of protein did not promote cancer, even at high levels of intake? The safe proteins were from plants, including wheat and soy. As this picture came into view, it began to challenge and then to shatter some of my most cherished assumptions."

John Robbings came to his conclusions via a similar path. Rather that being a dairy farmer, he was heir to Baskin Robbins ice cream, but realized that people were dying young in his family. He looked into longevity, and found people leading healthy lives around the world, disease free. The healthy ones ate little meat or dairy.

A lots of studies show that high intakes of dairy promote prostrate cancer and reduce calcium. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/74/4/549.pdf
Doctor Joel Fuhrman agrees with this but I can't find the link, I think it was in one of his radio shows. Oh OK I did a quick google and found a link http://www.peertrainer.com/LoungeCommunityThread.aspx?ForumID=1&ThreadID=45289

The pattern is consistent... avoid dairy. But there is ONE exception. The Weston T Price Foundation. Now that last link was titled "Has The Dairy Industry Brainwashed America?", and remember that when you read this http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/campbell_china_response.htm
because he points out that "When I asked him who supports WAPF, he told me that farmers, among others, were important contributors. Because factory farms now produce most of the food in the U.S., I would be more comfortable if I knew how much influence these 'farmer' conglomerates have on WAPF itself. I don't decry the industry promoting its product—honestly of course—but I question the blatant attempt of WAPF writers to convey seemingly objective opinion that favors the industry without making clear their serious lack of qualifications and conflicts of interest."

Also Dr Mercola is associated with them, which I find sad. I posted this thread recently //www.curezone.org/forums/am.asp?i=1418266

which seems to have been started as a response to my comments in this thread //www.curezone.org/forums/am.asp?i=1418266
- you will probably find more and better links in those threads.

I have an open mind, and I would be interested to find some SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH supporting the health benefits of dairy from a source other that the Weston T Price foundation, because I caught them out twisting research around so I don't trust them, although the actual guy that did that bad book review is now dead, he died at age 41 from a stroke.

So that's why I currently won't drink milk or dairy, though I have made the odd exception to fit in with social demands.

Hope that helps, sorry it's ot more detailed.