As this blog helps you along your journey through the transition to healthy and holistic living, I will do my best to scatter out posts concerning purchase choices. Today is one of those posts. I’d like to tackle the topic of dairy. When I think of the legacy of diary, I think of an actor who used to be such a big deal. They made huge movies, cameos on TV shows, on every talk show and even cut an album that made it high on the charts. Somehow, over time they got old and people can’t  remember what the hype was all about. The next generations are born and they don’t even recognize that actor’s name. The dairy industries tombstone is being etched right now and for good reason. I know it’s hard to image how something that doctors, schools and society have encouraged as a dietary necessity for years is actually wrong, but here we are. So many people are trying to figure out their digestive demise and following outdated, poorly researched advise. Now don’t worry. I’m not going to tell you to cut diary out from your diet all together. I would however like to educate you on how to buy dairy responsibly and also encourage you to at least balance it out with some alternatives.  

Here are 4 things to consider regarding dairy consumption: 

1) Being mindful of what is going into the cows body

2) If its inhumane to poison an animal then its also inhumane to poison yourself. 

3) Understanding the relationship between dairy and the human body 

4) Understanding the large environmental impacts of “needing” cattle - you’ll be shocked. 

So, let’s break this down.

1) Being mindful of what is going into the cows body

If you have every been a breast feeding mother or the spouse of one, you may have had conversations about staying away from certain foods or medications because they would be transferred to the baby through breastfeeding. This is the same concept we need to be mindful about when it comes to our milk, cheese and other dairy products. There are many different injections given to our cows, but the most common is the genetically modified Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). The purpose of this injection is to increase the milk production in the cow. Now, once again if you have any connection to breastfeeding you may remember that engorgement leads to a risk of mastitis. This is when the milk duct is clogged and many times becomes infected. It is incredibly painful. Enter in the antibiotics. Not only is the infection from the cow’s mastitis leaching into your milk but so is the hormone they were injected with and the antibiotics they needed after. The most common antibiotic used for the cows is penicillin which a large percentage of our population is allergic to. Antibiotics reek havoc on our immune system but in this formate, it also contributes to the rise in antibiotic resistance that is an epidemic in our country. rBGH is not the only thing cows are injected with but I think that's enough of a wake up call, don't you?

The other hormone factor to consider is the natural hormones that are passed through the cows milk that are specific to a baby calf. Just as humans are designed to consume our mother’s milk, so are calves designed to consume their mothers milk. A mother’s milk has very specific proteins, nutrients and a variety of natural hormones that are intended to be transferred to a new and developing baby. By drinking milk at all, we are receiving the hormones that were intended to develop a 80 lb calf into a bull into our human selves. That doesn’t feel right either. 

2) If its inhumane to poison an animal then its also inhumane to poison yourself. 

The main way that cows consume is obviously through what they eat. If the container for your dairy product doesn’t say grass fed then you can bet they are consuming a genetically modified corn and soy based diet. Many might be thinking, is that so bad? Cow’s bodies are designed to consume and process grass. Because it’s hard to maintain such a vast amount of grass land for the quantity of cows America requires, we give them government subsidized grains. It’s cheaper. Since they cannot process grains, their bodies go through a lot of trauma and the farmers have to manually help them through the digestion process. It’s like if you needed to drive your car from one side of town to the other but you are filling your tank with olive oil. As the car tries to make it, you have to shove tubes down the engine to make things flow properly and inject it with chemicals to just make the car fake it enough to get to where you need to be. Ok, I don’t really think that analogy would hold up in a scientific test but that visual is probably better than me explaining how it’s really done with the poor cows. This diet has changed the natural acid process that used to protect us from E. coli. Now E. coli is found in every farm and it withstands the human stomach acid causing infection. If you want more information on how this all goes down, see Michael Polan’s input on Food Revolution’s Truth About Grass Fed Beef. 

In 2017, a massive amount of red skittles covered the Dodge County Highway in Wisconsin. After a police report, they found that this truck was transporting these unusable skittles from the factory to feed cows. This is a practice that farmers have done for decades but hadn’t really been brought to light until this incident. When corn prices surged, this was a cheaper alternative to provide the cows with “cheap carbs”. 

3) Understanding the relationship between dairy and the human body

Ok, enough about the cows bodies. What about dairy in the human body? Human’s have been consuming dairy for only about a quarter of the time we’ve been on earth. We don’t need it, we want it. Our bodies were not made to digest dairy. So, when people make it a staple in their daily diet, their digestive systems are crying out for help either through indigestion, acne, asthma, and even cancer. In the Forks Over Knives documentary they break down the correlation between animal protein and cancer both practically and scientifically. Periodically, we will be doing documentary reviews and this one is on the list in case you want to get a head start. 

Being a person who values a holistic lifestyle, people open up to me about their body woes quite often. The most common thing I hear is stomach pains and digestive issues that the doctors can’t figure out. I’m not saying that all these people have a dairy issue. They might. But dairy is the cause of so much discomfort and yet it has’t really had the spotlight on it until recently. My generation and the generations before me were raised to think that this is an important part of a daily diet so to think that it could be the cause of discomfort and illness has not been on anyone’s radar. 

“Our bodies just weren’t made to digest milk on a regular basis. Instead, most scientists agree that it’s better for us to get calcium, potassium, protein, and fats from other food sources, like whole plant foods — vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and seaweed.”

Dr. Hyman, the Medical Director at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine 

Believe it or not but we actually stop producing the enzyme that digests lactose (the primary sugar in milk) between the ages of 2-5 years old. Without this enzyme, the undigested sugars end up in the colon, where they ferment, producing gas that can cause cramping, bloating, nausea, gas and diarrhea. Does this sound familiar? 

4) Understanding the large environmental impacts of “needing” cattle

The fun part about writing this blog posts is that I take a topic I already know about and get to research it further. Here is the part I was less familiar with but found fascinating. Did you know that The United Nations has deemed the livestock industry as a slightly higher producer of green house gas emissions than transportation? Because the cows are now grain fed, they produce substantially more methane. The largest dairy-producing state in America is California. California has been battling a drought rollercoaster for decades. One quarter of California’s water budget is spent on meat and dairy livestock. Aside from corn and soy, animal proteins are one of the most over consumed products.

Did you know?

In our society, we are taught that protein and calcium are primarily consumed through meats and dairy. There is a giant menu of options for protein and calcium. In fact, by choosing a plant based source for your proteins and calcium, you’re are also feeding your body many other vitamins, minerals and nutrients that will make your body thrive. 

Did you know that there are vegetables, nuts, legumes, seeds and other plant based sources of calcium, protein, potassium and healthy fats? Not only are they power packed with a variety of other nutrients that your body needs but they are high in protein and calcium as well. 

You can get approximately the same amount of calcium from a glass of milk as you can from 2 cups of kale or 2 tablespoons of chia seeds or even 2 tablespoons of Tahini? 1 cup of nonfat milk contains 8.26 g of protein. You can also find the same amount of protein in 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, or 1 cup of quinoa,  or maybe a quarter cup of hemp seeds or 1 cup of peas.

So, what should I do?

So what am I saying here? Do I think that we would all feel better and have healthier digestion by going diary free? Absolutely. Am I dairy free? Not completely. Here’s my opinion.

If you can ditch the milk, do it. It should not be your primary source of protein or calcium. It’s so much healthier to get those nutrients elsewhere. Use plant based milks for your cereal. If you have tried plant based milks and didn’t like them, you may want to ween off of the dairy. Start by having your cereal with half milk and half plant based milk for a week. Then continue to lessen the milk until you’re used to the change. If it’s too hard to go cold turkey off the cheese (trust me, I get it) then give yourself boundaries with cheese. Make cheese a supporting role and not the main act. Stay away from mac and cheese and pizza but allow some crumbles on a salad or soup. 

If you are going to consume dairy, make sure it’s at least organic if not organic and grass fed. Do not compromise on this. If this challenge is a strain on your already stressful food budget, think about it like a trade. If you replaced one cup of milk in your day with one alternative food I spoke of above, then you’ve lowered your milk budget to it’s original cost. One less Starbucks per week makes up for the price increase on a jug of organic, grass fed milk. Did I press a nerve there? Sorry. 

I would like to gift you with my favorite nut milk recipe. It’s easy, I promise! Unlike store bought nut milks, that strain out the actual nuts (protien), this one keeps them in which makes it extra creamy. Let me preface this by saying that not all nuts are created equal. My recipe for cashew milk is not the same as for almond milk. I prefer cashews because they are softer nuts which makes for a creamier milk. Almonds have a rigid, paper like shell that needs to be strained out or it’s unpleasant. There is a 2 hour soaking time in this process. I like to start it when I make the coffee in the morning and finish it before I pick up the kids from school. Otherwise, it really is so easy.

Creamy Cashew Milk Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup Organic Cashews

4 cups of filter water for soaking

5 cups of filtered water for blending

4 Pitted Dates

1 tsp Vanilla or Almond Extract

1/2 Tbls Cinnamon

Method:

In a large bowl combine the cashews, pitted dates and soaking water. Let this sit for 4 hours.

Strain the water from the cashews and dates. Transfer them into the blender. Add the 5 cups of filtered water, vanilla or almond extract and cinnamon. 

Blend away! Make sure to really pulverize those nuts. You want this creamy, not with chunks. 

With a funnel, pour the milk into the jar you want to store it in. Glass is best.

Other options:

If it’s too thick for you, either reduce the amount of cashews you put in or strain the milk with a nut bag strainer. This will thin the milk out.