After a Year of Research & Debate, Here’s Why I Gave Up Milk!

These facts about milk startled me and I stopped giving milk  to my child. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom that I have gathered in the last 1 year.

Before you dismiss this, watch this video and try out with your child – 

Cow’s milk and all dairy products were the love of my life, ever since I was a baby! My emergency food, my food for solace, my food for health. I quite despised those who poured that glass of milk down the drain.

In fact, I was so fond of milk while I grew up in Bihar (where the supply of fresh milk was abundant) that I never liked adding sugar or any other supplements to alter its taste.

And then, along my journey of discovering ways for improving health I met Dr Vijaya Venkat at The Health Awareness Centre. That changed the way I looked at milk completely.  Until then, I somehow switched off when presented with debates on milk.

The path that I followed thereafter, opened my eyes to a number of food fads and nutrition myths, milk, being one of them. It shocked me and my belief system thoroughly. Thus, ensued a prolonged scientific research to find out more about milk as a food for humans.

Here are the facts that made me finally give up milk:

Milk sugar (lactose), needs an enzyme called lactase to digest it. Milk protein (casein) needs an enzyme called rennin to digest it. Both rennin and lactase are no longer produced in the human intestine after the age of three! So, we cannot digest Milk or Milk products after the age of three.

Cow’s milk is meant for calves. Nature has specifically designed it to be high-protein, since a calf doubles its weight in 45 days. A human baby, doubles its weight in 180 days. So if we drink the milk meant for calves, it is sure to cause damage.

Colostrum in breast milk (fit for humans and lower in protein than cow’s milk) protects babies from all human diseases. Cow’s milk provides protection only against cow diseases and doesn’t help build any immunity against human diseases.

Cow’s milk has 300 times more casein than human milk – and casein is the base for one of the strongest glues used by carpenters. Imagine what will it do to our intestines!

Besides, we are the only species which drink another mammal’s milk. Think about it!

Pasteurization (heating milk to a high temperature) destroys whatever food value the milk may have. Powdered milk, milk substitutes and dairy whiteners are further processed so they have hardly any nutrition left in them.

Cows don’t lactate enough to feed the entire human population. For our selfish needs, cows are forcibly made pregnant every year so that they lactate. A prod is pushed up their uterus to make them give more milk. Also, the conditions in which milk is usually extracted, stored and transported are not something we can be proud of. It is best to visit a dairy farm to really see and know this for ourselves.

All leafy vegetables contain calcium. All raw nuts contain calcium. Dried fruits contain calcium. Raw sesame seeds are the richest sources of calcium! In fact, all these sources have a much higher grade of calcium than milk. Milk’s calcium is tied up with casein which makes it difficult to use and the rest is destroyed by pasteurization.

If we have fruits and vegetables daily and raw nuts even occasionally, we are likely to be calcium sufficient!

It is entirely up to you to do your own research before you make any decisions on milk for your family.

Watch this short film about Dairy facts to understand better:

PS: A little test in case you want to validate these facts – Give up milk for a month and see if any symptoms of frequent illnesses vanish! Or, atleast stop milk when your child is unwell. It takes around 18 hours for our bodies to break down a cup of milk. So give it some rest when it is trying to fight a germ!

Note from BabyChakra: The views and opinions expressed in posts are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views held by BabyChakra, its creators or employees. If you find yourself vehemently disagreeing with something and want to educate the world as a mother, please contact us about writing an article of your own voicing the contrary side of the issue. BabyChakra is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information provided herein by the bloggers. However, we respect the choices that the mother or parent has made, and trust that he/she has done her own due diligence.

Also Read – Do You Boil Milk Before Drinking or, Offering to Your Child? Think Again!

Explore the entire collection of articles: Pregnancy Food

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