Dairy Free

I just realised that this is my 100th blog.  Yay for that. 
In my blog today I'm going to use bits of an article from my favourite newsletter/website (www.care2.com).

Dairy.
Humans are all at least slightly intolerant to dairy which is why too much of it upsets our stomachs or makes us sick.  I understand that cheese may taste good, yoghurt has probiotics, milk has calcium etc but do we really need dairy?  Are there healthier alternatives?  Soy cheese, milk, yohurt etc is now a good alternative although there is great debate about soy and its mimicing of estrogen; which is obviously a problem when cosuming high amounts.  There's oat milk, rice milk, goats milk and many many other milks available on the shelf or from health food stores if you are worried about soy.

So now to my underlining point: Why not to eat dairy (from care2.com article).

Cow’s milk is intended for baby cows.  (Has nobody realised this?!?!?!)
We’re the only species (other than those we are domesticating) that drinks milk after infancy.  And, we’re definitely the only ones drinking the milk of a different species.

Hormones. Not only are the naturally-present hormones in cow’s milk stronger than human hormones, the animals are routinely given steroids and other hormones to plump them up and increase milk production.  These hormones can negatively impact humans’ delicate hormonal balance.

Most cows are fed inappropriate food.  Commercial feed for cows contains all sorts of ingredients that include:  genetically-modified (GM) corn, GM soy, animal products, chicken manure, cottonseed, pesticides, and antibiotics.

 Dairy products, when metabolized, are acid-forming.  Our bodies are constantly striving for biochemical balance to keep our blood at 7.365 pH.  Eating excessive acid-forming products can cause our bodies to overuse some of its acid-balancing mechanisms, one of which is the bones.  Alkaline calcium is stored in the bones and released to combat excessive acidity in the body.  Over time, bones can become fragile.

Most dairy products are pasteurized to kill potentially-harmful bacteria.  During the pasteurization process, vitamins, proteins, and enzymes are destroyed.  Enzymes assist with the digestion process.  When they are destroyed through pasteurization, milk becomes harder to digest, therefore putting a strain on our bodies’ enzyme systems.

Dairy products are mucous-forming. They can contribute to respiratory disorders.  When I remove dairy and sugar from the diets of my clients, they stop experiencing hay fever and seasonal allergies.

Research links dairy products with arthritis. In one study on rabbits, scientist Richard Panush was able to PRODUCE inflamed joints in the animals by switching their water to milk.  In another study, scientists observed more than a 50% reduction in the pain and swelling of arthritis when participants eliminated milk and dairy products from their diet.

Most milk is homogenized, which denatures the milk’s proteins, making it harder to digest.  Many peoples’ bodies react to these proteins as though they are “foreign invaders” causing their immune systems to overreact.  Research also links homogenized milk to heart disease.

Pesticides in cow feed find their way into milk and dairy products that we consume.

Personally, apart from being fairly lactose intolerant, dairy causes over production of mucous which is one thing I hate about even consuming lactose free products.  Anyhoo I shall post more interesting blogs soon but felt the need to make my point :)