The Truth About Milk & Dairy

"Media, Media on the Wall. Who's the most deceptive, of them all?"

It is so heartening to see fellow mankind waking up gradually to the misrepresentations of society. 2 years ago, when I tell my friends that milk & dairy may not be so good for us, they tell me to "relax, everyone is consuming it so it should be fine!". Now, when I tell them the same thing again, they go "really? I read that somewhere too, maybe there's some truth..."

There must be a reason for Japan to refuse dairy & meat products from US. When I researched on this, my mind went back to the time I visited Japan for a holiday, and I don't remember seeing anything imported from US in the dairy section! Well... even if they are a pro-homebrand nation, I could at least see some US imported products other than consumables (I mean shoes & bags).

Personally, I had a challenging time giving up dairy. 2 years ago, after discovering that one of the major yogurt brands actually contained a coloring (this coloring was made from crushed beetles' legs!!), there was a huge internal dissonance. I finally settled on plain, uncoloured yogurt.

My love for milk probably started where all of you started too - when we were babies. The familiar taste of warm, comforting milk. Please don't be mistaken, I think if we live in an organic farm and we have a goat, I have nothing against the occasional glass of fresh goat's milk. (Provided our goat is cared humanely & free of vaccines or GMO feeds). Unfortunately, living on an island, we no longer know what constitutes our food & drinks by the time they reach our table.

While 'weaning' off milk (at 28 years old!), I comforted myself that its okay to drink occasionally for enjoyment & its better than drinking alcohol! After that, whenever a close friend or loved one told me they drink milk because of the calcium, I will share with them what I have researched. You can actually get so much more calcium from spinach! And best of all - the calcium is absorbable by your body.

In 1994, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition discovered that the absorbtion rate of calcium from vegetables are usually more than 50% (while that of milk is about 30%; another question is can the calcium in milk be digestable by humans - this is another story altogether!) Leafy greens like spinach, collard, kale can give you more calcium than milk, and for those who dont like greens, try to snack on dry figs.

The biggest hurdle for me was cheese. Being a hard core cheese lover, it took more than awareness. It was only until the discovery of self-made Raw cheese, that I finally succeeded! Now, I delight myself in whipping up a bowl of creamy, rich nut cheese anytime I feel like it. Its so easy and beats commercial cheese anytime!

The BIGGEST reward I could ever receive from giving up dairy was - my morning sinus which had been following me ever since I could remember, was gone! In the past, I used to have running nose for the first 3 - 4 waking hours almost every other day. Miraculously, it went away just like that!

Dairy & meat products are acidic forming - ie our body forms an acidic ph level when digesting these consumables. Perhaps I may post a short summary about that sometime soon.

2 years later, from the shocked looks on the faces whom I share the 'beetles legs' story with, it is obvious that this is still a pretty much unknown fact. But, it is so heart warming to see more global awareness on milk & dairy. More and more doctors are coming forth with their secret research (they must have been previously secret for a reason) and publishing them in books, newspapers, magazines, internet etc... all except for television of course. It would be hilarious to have a doctor's clip on the truth of dairy right after we see our favourite celebrity drinking a glass of 'calcium rich, low fat & delicious' milk on TV. ;)

(C) Copyright, 2008 Linda Loo