Book Review: “NO MILK” by Daniel A. Twogood

• Conclusion
• 1. Summary
• 2. Book review
• • 2.1. The Cause of Disease p. 24
  • 2.2. The Milk Connection p. 50
  • 2.3. Beyond Milk: Other Allergens and Poisons p. 119
  • 2.4. The Symptoms p. 174
  • 2.5. The Stories p. 192
  • 2.6. Prescription for Health p. 213
  • 2.7. Last Word p. 248
• 3. About the book
• Bibliography

Dr. Daniel A. Twogood graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a degree in Kinesiology. He attended Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles, where he graduated in 1983.

After practicing at the International Sports Medicine Institute in West Los Angeles, he opened his own practice in Apple Valley, California.

Here he met a patient who told him that his own back pain and headaches were caused by certain foods in the diet, namely milk and dairy products. This book is the result of six years of checking out this patient’s story in Dr. Twogood’s clinical experience as a chiropractor.

© CC-by-sa 2.0, Daniel Twogood

Dr. Dan A. Twogood is a chiropractor in Apple Valley, California. He studied at the University of California, where he graduated in 1973 with a degree in sports and physical education. He then attended the Cleveland Chiropractic College and received his doctorate with magna cum laude in 1983. Following that (in 1984) he started to work at the International Sports Medicine Institute in West Los Angeles.

Some of the patients he treated there were athletes in the Summer Olympic Games at the time. In 1985 he opened his own practice in Apple Valley, California, and that is where he discovered the connection between milk and pain.

Dr. Twogood is the author of four books on chronic pain:

• No Milk (1991),
• How To Rid Your Body Of Pain (1996),
• MSG Is Everywhere (1997),
• and his latest work so far, Chronic Pain Gone 90 Days.

He is available for interviews and public lectures. (The Independent Author Network)

Since Paracelsus we have known that adding a chemical into the bloodstream will manipulate or alter physical symptoms. But it can also cause side effects.

In his fourth book titled "Chronic Pain Gone 90 Days" (Chapter: Just Say No To Drugs, p. 28ff, see image below), Dr. Daniel A. Twogood contends that drugs, working as potential toxins, further irritate the system (= body). And this is a system that is already out of balance.

The author is aware of the fact that there has been an increase in cancer since the beginning of the 20th century — and that this has been in spite of modern medicine.

How is it that heart disease hardly occurred in the 19th century, but that today it’s one of the most common health conditions? Was this a result of the lack of diagnostics, the smaller number of physicians, more infrequent doctor visits, less thorough documentation, and/or statistics?

Based on his experience, observations, study of relevant published works, and subsequent deduction (p. 31), Dr. Daniel A. Twogood concluded that casein is the main cause of neck pain, back pain and headaches.

This is a conclusion that may appear less significant given the lack of evidence-based, double-blind studies. But in spite of the sparse data, the author points to numerous examples and Internet discussions on the topic.

Moreover, this thesis shouldn’t be categorically rejected before more trials are conducted. According to the author, many health problems are caused by milk, even if not everyone is allergic to it.

Robert Ester, mid-fifties, had seen many different doctors and specialists for his severe headaches, neck pain, and back pain, but even though they did countless tests and examinations, none of them could find the cause of his pain. Each of the practitioners had their own assumptions as to the cause and prescribed an appropriate treatment, but none of these were successful.

Then one day two of the doctors pointed out that he had slightly elevated cholesterol levels in his blood, but also said that this had nothing to do with his symptoms. Nevertheless, he decided to make changes to his diet. To curb cholesterol intake, he abstained from red meat, eggs, fats, dairy products, and sweets.

And what do you know, the pain was gone after just a few weeks. He was still uncertain as to which of these foods had been the cause.

About four months after he had changed his diet, he had a craving for a glass of milk. When the milk touched his lips, he immediately felt a burning sensation along his spine. And just a little later he a got a very bad headache. After that, he exposed himself to milk (or dairy products) another 25 times, each time with the same result.

Physicians, however, try to eliminate symptoms and diseases through controlled chemical and structural changes, in other words, medication or surgery. If the symptoms are caused by inflammation, the treatment of choice is anti-inflammatory agents, such as NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). If there are any additional muscle spasms, doctors prescribe a muscle relaxant.

Pharmaceutical companies are working day and night to develop chemicals that can effectively reverse, or shut down, unpleasant symptoms (p. 32).

If the structural changes are too serious or cannot be reversed, doctors may try to correct the problem surgically.

Chiropractors try to prevent certain symptoms by manipulating bony structures. For example, a subluxation (partial dislocation of a joint) can cause a certain symptom. The chiropractor prevents the symptom by correcting the partial dislocation of the joint.

A healthy person, who otherwise would have developed health problems because of the subluxation, doesn’t have to suffer from the condition. Prevention is the name of the game (p. 33).

Spinal manipulation is an effective method offered within the health system.

Before Dr. Daniel A. Twogood devoted himself to bioecology (i.e., the science of how the human body reacts to environmental influences), he was a traditional chiropractor who achieved good results using spinal manipulation. However, he was by no means able to heal all of his patients. Patients who did not respond to his treatment were usually put back on medication or had surgery.

In both medical and chiropractic school, there are poor students who become poor practitioners. That’s not the problem. We need new ideas and treatment approaches, especially for those patients who don’t experience any improvement in their condition after being treated by conventional practitioners.

During my medical studies at the University of Basel (Switzerland), I was taught that not eating cheese reduces susceptibility to migraines and abstaining from chocolate has a positive effect on the complexion in terms of acne. This connection was already suspected even back then, which is why it is obvious that practitioners (including myself) would advise their patients to avoid cheese or chocolate, for example, if they were suffering from migraines or acne.

However, not everyone reacts to allergens.

Only after a person develops a sensitivity, will any exposure to the allergen bring about an allergic reaction. And even small amounts of an allergen can trigger symptoms.

Toxins, however, are toxic for everybody. It is the quantity that matters. Paracelsus said: “All things are poison and nothing is without poison; the quantity alone determines if a thing is not a poison.”

The fact that Dr. Daniel A. Twogood was able to show that joint and muscle problems can be triggered by milk (and dairy products), other common allergens, and poisons amazes me. I remember from my studies and working in a hospital that lifestyle modifications (= changes in lifestyle, e.g., weight loss, reduction in blood pressure and blood lipid levels, and adherence to a diet to regulate blood sugar levels) were recommended as a therapeutic approach, in particular, for metabolic syndrome.

If a patient was referred to us for further tests by a general physician for chronic joint symptoms, but the referral did not list obesity, hypertension, high lipid levels, or "insulinresistance" as factors, the procedure was as follows:

• medical history (anamnesis) to find out whether an acute trauma was present or if there was evidence for the overuse of a joint.
• this was followed by a blood sample to determine changes in the blood (for example infection/inflammation)
• finally medical imaging, which was generally a CT or MRI because of the better resolution.

A diagnosis could usually be made based on the above findings, which in most cases involved treatment with medication as Dr. Daniel A. Twogood describes in his book. In my experience, any steps taken to have the patient make diet changes played a minor role. An exception was metabolic syndrome as described above.

The author’s interest in the subject was sparked by a patient who observed that consuming dairy products caused him to have back pain and headaches.

In the following six years, Dr. Daniel A. Twogood was able to establish this connection between the consumption of milk and dairy products and back pain, neck pain, and headaches in an additional 3'000 patients (pp. 51 and 97).

It should be emphasized again that this is anecdotal evidence, which in contrast to empirical evidence still does not allow for a conclusion by analogy to be made. However, it forms a good basis for further studies to confirm the above thesis (evidence-based medicine).

Dr. Daniel A. Twogood even goes so far as to state that symptoms such as neck pain, back pain, and headaches should be listed in medical books as pathognomonic, or characteristic, for allergic reactions to foods, mainly dairy products (p. 50).

Crepitus [grating/crackling of the joints] is not present in every case of milk allergy. In my experience, crepitus is present in 75 % of cases where symptoms are due to milk allergy. But, crepitus will disappear in 99 % of cases when casein is totally eliminated from the diet (p. 177).

Casein is the number one cause of back pain, neck pain and headaches. In my experience, casein causes these symptoms in 95 % of cases. … Believe it or not, the other 5 % of these cases are caused, usually, by other dietary poisons, or allergens, for example, monosodium glutamate (p. 113).

© CC-by-sa 2.0, Robert Cohen

But why does the food industry claim that milk and dairy products are important and healthy? Why is milk consumption not questioned by the medical profession? When patients say, I want to eliminate milk and dairy products completely from my diet, their doctors usually answer with something like the following: Where will you get the calcium necessary for bone health, if not from milk?

If you consider that cow’s milk is actually only designed to feed calves, then why does it seem like dairy products are something we can’t do without today and why are they touted to be especially healthy for us?

If you are interested in these questions and related issues, I recommend the book "Milk, The Deadly Poison" by Robert Cohen, or our book review of it, which you can find here.

We too often forget that toddlers who were switched over to cow’s milk end up suffering from abdominal bloating, diarrhea, colitis, skin rashes, and restlessness because of an allergy to cow's milk.

Some doctors believe allergies are a childhood phenomenon and that they disappear as children grow older. Dr. Daniel A. Twogood disagrees.

Although the (allergy) symptoms often seem to disappear around the fifth or sixth year of life (= masking, concealment), many of these patients consult me in adolescence or adulthood, with headaches, or back pain, that is, in fact, due to their milk allergy (p. 86).

For infants and toddlers, a milk allergy usually manifests itself first as digestive and skin problems, later as recurrent streptococcal infections in the ear, nose, and throat area, and as adolescents in the form of learning/behavioral problems, joint pain, and acne (p. 175).

Allergies are not something children grow out of, but instead they remain with a person for a lifetime. It is therefore doubly surprising that many children have a special milk break at school or receive milk at lunch!

At the bottom of page 72, Twogood writes: Drinking milk for calcium makes about as much sense as smoking for weight control.

The facts about calcium are these: humans can get all the calcium they need for optimum health from a normal diet of vegetables, fruits, rice and beans. Cows produce lots of calcium without drinking milk. Cows are vegetarians. Calcium deficiency of dietary origin is unknown in humans (p. 73). The medical community has not yet considered that a calcium deficiency could be caused by poor eating habits!

Cow’s milk contains the following proteins: casein, lactalbumin, and lactoglobulin, whereby casein accounts for 77 % of the total protein. Milk consists of a solid component, the curd, and a liquid part, called whey.

The production of cheese requires only the solid component; the remaining whey is a waste product. Cheese contains primarily the protein casein. The lactalbumins and globulins remain in the whey. Some people with a milk allergy do not react to whey products because as they do not contain casein, which causes milk allergies. This was also the case for the author’s patients (pp. 73, 84).

© CC-by 4.0, Ernst Erb, Foundation Diet Health

There are many different types of diets and food traditions. In China, round tables are popular as they allow people to easily share the food. This photo shows a table with a rotating glass surface. Image: Invitation from Chinese collectors and friends in China.

Many people are aware that milk isn’t good for them as they experience flatulence and diarrhea after consuming it. This is the result of a lactose intolerance, which is caused by a deficiency of lactase in the intestine. Since lactose intolerance is a common problem, the food industry responded promptly and introduced lactose-free products to the market. But even that will not necessarily counteract a milk allergy since casein occurs in milk with the same concentration.

The dairy industry will therefore likely continue to optimize their “perfect food.” We, however, should finally realize that milk fat, lactose, and casein are not good for the human body.

Since most people know that dairy products are unhealthy because of their high fat content, they make an effort to consume only skim milk products, something that is also recommended and endorsed by doctors. Many think that by consuming skim milk products the problem is solved, but this is only true if the goal was to reduce the fat content.

If a person is suffering from chronic headaches, neck pain, and/or back pain as a result of a milk allergy; then the symptoms will disappear only after they completely eliminate milk from their diet.

If you look closer at the products at the grocery store, you will see that dairy products are added to a lot of ready-made, pre-packaged foods. Even if you don’t think you consume milk (e.g., milk straight, milk in your coffee/tea or on your cereal, cheese, and pudding), you may be consuming dairy products on a regular basis without realizing it. And, as Dr. Daniel A. Twogood maintains, casein is the main cause of his patients’ symptoms.

We are slaves of milk! However, it is not so easy to completely eliminate dairy products from our diet today. The food industry has known for some time now that we crave creamy foods, and they therefore add milk derivatives such as sodium caseinate to many food products.

Milk substitutes are on the market that are supposedly made without any dairy products.

It is not surprising that so many people continue to consume milk and dairy products in good faith. After all, these products provided for us by the food industry can’t really be that bad or harmful.

© CC-by 2.0, Catalina Sparleanu, PhD, Foundation Diet and Health Switzerland

It is a known fact that heart problems are on the rise in industrialized countries, and that this is attributable to our poor diet (Western pattern diet). And cow’s milk contains high levels of fat and cholesterol. The dairy industry knows this and has therefore put much effort into developing new products that have a reduced fat content.

The trend has been increasingly toward consumption of products with reduced fat and sugar.

But at the same time there has also been an increase in the consumption of cheese, which has a much higher proportion of casein, and of convenience foods that contain cheese.

After all, it contains so much calcium, which protects us against osteoporosis. What a misconception!

You can read more about how the industry accomplishes this in our book review of "Salt, Sugar, Fat" by Michael Moss.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is composed of sodium and glutamate, the salt of glutamic acid, an amino acid.

Glutamate is a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) with an exciting/stimulating effect. The food industry knows that the natural production of flavor enhancers is costly. And natural flavor enhancers do not have the addictive effect that monosodium glutamate (MSG) has (p. 124). It is therefore not surprising that some people downright crave Chinese food!

Food manufacturers have learned to work around the labeling guidelines of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), so they can continue to use MSG – even though they know it’s poison! (p. 124).

And as a result, you may, for example, find the following on the packaging: “contains hydrolyzed (vegetable) protein,” which is nothing other than MSG.

A lot of convenience products include “natural flavorings,” which are used to regulate and stabilize the consistency, taste, color, and shelf life of processed foods.

Look at all the other ingredients that could have serious consequences for people who are sensitive, say to eggs or yeast. … It seems that food labeling, initially designed to inform people, has been twisted around by food manufacturers to mislead people (p.125).

In 1969, the use of monosodium glutamate was banned in infant baby food.

Monosodium glutamate is a poison that affects all people, some more than others, depending on sensitivity. Poisons are dose dependent, so more MSG will cause more severe symptoms. (p. 129)

In fact, 99 % of all headaches will be solved by eliminating MSG and casein. (p.130)

When an allergen (e.g., casein in milk) or potential toxin (e.g., monosodium glutamate in processed food) affects an organ, it causes swelling of the tissue. For example, in the nerve and muscle passage of the hand, called the carpal tunnel, the allergen may trigger swelling of the median nerve. This can result in paresthesias (abnormal sensations) and/or pain of the limbs, which is known as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Conventional medicine assumes that overuse of the hand results in scar tissue in the carpal tunnel, which then impairs the median nerve. The problem is therefore often addressed surgically, which leads to more scar tissue in the carpal tunnel. As a result, therapeutic successes are not common.

In multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease, the myelin sheaths (myelin = electrically insulating outer layer) of the nerve fibers are attacked. The sclerotic lesions are incurable, affect nerve conduction, and lead to difficulty with walking, swallowing, and body coordination.

Dr. Daniel A. Twogood notes that headaches may be the result of exposure to an allergen and/or toxin or the result of withdrawal (allergy addiction) (p. 184). The wave of fatigue we feel after eating a meal can also be caused by a milk allergy (p. 187).

We could begin by collecting information about the dietary habits of cancer patients and analyzing this for similarities since continued exposure to allergens strains the body and can lead to cancer (p.190).

The medical histories of some of the patients are somewhat shocking.

For example, one 49-year-old woman had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome in her right hand. After that, she had even more pain, so they wanted to correct that and then perform surgery on the other hand as well (more information on this syndrome is provided several sections above).

She refused to do so and a year later ended up with an orthopedist, who diagnosed a thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), which is a neurovascular compression syndrome (crush syndrome). Then the doctors wanted to remove a rib and cut some nerves. The patient however decided that she would rather live with the pain and took a dose of Clinerol daily.

It sounds like a fairy tale, but the reports are very detailed and professional.

It is amazing that some of these patients stood out who had a particular high consumption of milk and/or dairy products. Some had constant headaches that were so bad that they regularly took pain relievers. But there were also patients who, for example, only consumed butter (milk fat) or who only ate cheese every now and then.

In one case, a 58-year-old man ate a cheese sandwich after a month of abstinence from any dairy products, and the pain set in within 20 minutes and lasted for four days. He had severe arthritis (p. 197).

It is interesting that in some cases a trauma such as a whiplash preceded the onset of pain caused by milk consumption. This pain sometimes persisted for years and only the full elimination of dairy products including foods that contain dairy products (such as pizza), finally brought relief from the pain.

Dr. Daniel A. Twogood also takes up three cases of additional ENT (ears nose throat) problems.

A 62-year-old woman came to see him because of a chronic stiff neck, headaches, and noise that occurred when she turned her head. The anamnesis (medical history) also revealed chronic nasal congestion. She had sinus problems and suffered from a chronic sinus infection (sinusitis). She drank two glasses of skim milk a day and ate cheese and other dairy products almost every day.

A 16-year-old teenager saw the author for back problems. She mentioned that she also had nausea and digestive problems. Her father said that she often suffered from streptococcal infections and tonsillitis. Both said that she was very moody and often felt tired. She had milk on her cereal only about once a week, but loved her daily cheese and “of course” chocolate now and then. She got chocolate milk (hot chocolate) daily at school. That only turned up when the author and patient discussed her usual daily routine in detail as part of an interview.

The girl managed to give up milk, chocolate, and other dairy products. Results already started to show after a week. After two or three weeks, she no longer suffered from back pain, fatigue, or nausea. And she didn’t get any more infections.

A 72-year-old woman was seen for neck stiffness and discomfort between the shoulder blades. But then during the anamnesis, she explained other problems she suffered from, including numbness in the hands and feet, chronic nasal congestion, and “weak feet.” The doctors had suggested surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, which she refused.

After eliminating dairy products from her diet, the symptoms disappeared just a week later. Pauline had suffered for 30 years, and the problems cleared up after just a few days.

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A certified chiropractor tells how he discovered that allergy to the milk protein ‘casein’ is the largest cause of neck, back and headache pain. Dr. Twogood tells the tale with folksy humor and a readable style accessible to all, even helping the reader find the names under which casein hides. He also deals with other problem foods, from MSG to wheat and corn.

Clearly, Dr. Twogood’s goal as a chiropractor is to find a solution to his patients’ problems and send them away feeling well. That goal and an open mind led him to learn what others have not: that milk is the Number One cause of the kinds of pain he sees in his practice: neck and back pain, and headaches. He was led to this discovery by listening to one of his patients describe the way in which his problems seemed to be caused by the occasional indulgence in milk. The doctor disbelieved at first, but kept his opinions to himself, and kept the idea in his mental database of information. Six years and many patients later, he is a believer.

If you suffer from chronic pain -- back, neck, headache, joint pain -- you cannot do yourself any harm by reading this book and trying the diet. This is not major surgery we’re talking about here, but an elementary experiment you can do to find out whether removing the culprit ‘casein’ from your diet would make your life better. Try it for just a month or two -- no one says it has to be for life; it’s your choice -- and see if it has an effect. But if you do try it, try it seriously. Get this book and let it help you find all the places in which milk is hidden, so you can head for the grocery store well-informed and go completely and cleanly without for a while. Give this voice of experience a chance to help you, and you may find that life is so much finer when you are at last free of the pain that no one else could explain and cure (Linda Blanchard, 11/00).