Milk Information

Milk is a word that brings about impassioned arguments. Some defend cow’s milk like tigers; others demote it and do not give it a chance. You would think people are discussing a dangerous illegal drug.

To defend their position cow’s milk critics maintain that humans are the only mammals that consume milk in adult age. This has never convinced me, because except when we humans become aggressive, we do everything different from the animal kingdom.

In the first place we should keep in mind that milk is a food, and treat it as such. Before modern measurement methods broke down every nutritious substance to the smallest possible unit, people relied on traditional knowledge, real life experience, and their own body intelligence to decide if a food was healthful for them. Likewise mothers’ intuition regarding their children’s nourishment was accepted as the most natural thing on earth. Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us have been raised on milk. Not only that, many of us have been raised with the “Basic Four Food Groups” and other dietary guidelines that recommend milk as one or our daily food needs. However, there is much we need to understand about milk and how if affects our bodies, what it does and does not provide, and how today’s dairy milk differs from the milk that used to be found on the farm or in the past.

Let’s first understand that we as humans are mammals. We are the only mammals who drink milk after we are weaned. We are the only mammals who drink milk from another mammal. We are the only mammals who drink pasteurized milk!

Humans and other mammals were created to produce nourishment for their young. That’s how it was meant to be and that’s how it should be. Horses produce milk to feed their young. Sheep produce milk to feed their young. Cows produce milk to feed their young. Humans produce milk to feed their young too. That is nature’s way of starting a baby on the right and proper nourishment. But none of the mammals are meant to produce milk forever. We/they begin to dry up after a year or so. In order to produce more milk, it takes producing another baby. Yes, cows and goats have to be bred on a yearly basis in order to continue to produce milk – it wouldn’t happen any other way. (And by the way, I’m glad I am not a cow having to get pregnant on a yearly basis for my milk production, with my new baby yanked away from me as soon as it arrives!) Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve all heard the slogan, “milk, it does a body good” – but what kind of milk? While some milk is fine for some, many others, especially children are allergic or intolerant from their first drink. An estimated 30 million Americans have some kind of lactose (the milk sugar in all dairy products) intolerance, and more than 100,000 babies are thought to suffer from milk allergies.

There is a difference between lactose intolerance and milk allergies. Children with lactose intolerance are deficient in lactase, an enzyme produced internally to break down lactose. This can result in stomache aches, gas and diarrhea. However children allergic to milk have reactions to some or all of the proteins: casein, whey, and lactalbumin. The adverse effects can cause gastric problems as well as skin issues such as rash, and eczema, and nasal distress such as runny nose and congestion. These reactions can come as soon as babies are breastfed (by mothers ingesting dairy products) or given milk based formulas. Babies are more likely to be born with a milk allergy vs. a lactose intolerance. Read the rest of this entry »