Dairy vs. Calcium

"Milk it does a body good" and "Got milk?"are just some of the dairy industry's campaign slogans to get you believing your body needs milk.



So much so that even after a child is weaned, a mother believes her baby still needs milk, but not hers, instead the milk of an animal because somehow she's been trained to believe that this is best for her infant. How does this make sense? You stop giving your child your milk, but think giving your child the milk of another species is fine and needed.

Don't' get me wrong! I'm 100% for a mother breastfeeding her child her milk. I also strongly believe that milk from a naturally lactating cow is great, for her calf! However, even a calf doesn't continue to drink milk from it's own mother as it gets older. So, why do most humans think it's normal to drink cows milk throughout their life?


As with all mammals, mother's milk is intended for the baby, not the grown adult.

So many people experience such terrible reactions from cow's milk, and still even though their bodies are telling them no, they continue to drink it. Even those who are severely lactose intolerant make me shake my head as they pop pills to make it easier on their system and continue to down the stuff as they hold their stomachs in pain. The negative reaction to milk doesn't even need to be immediate or as severe for your body to be telling you this not right for you. Many experience awful acne, weight gain, ear aches (especially in children), inflammation, congestion. I remember way back in the day when I'd eat ice cream how I'd have small coughing fits, only to find out later that milk is mucous forming, that explained my reaction!


So what to do? Your body does need calcium. Well milk is not the only source of calcium as the dairy industry would hope you'd believe. In fact it's not even close to being the best source of calcium!

So what can I recommend for you to have with those cookies instead? Lot's! There is an endless choice of grain, vegetable, seed and nut milks that are so much healthier for you to consume and still get you calcium.


-Oat milk


-Soy milk


-Almond milk


-Rice milk



-Potato milk



-Hemp milk

...and most of these milks come in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry too!

Other sources of calcium include:

-Black strap molasses
-Tahini

-Most greens

-Many seeds and nuts like almonds

-Sea vegetables

-Beans and peas

-Grains
So you see your options are almost endless AND healthy!

Assignment:

I would like you to experiment with alternative types of calcium this week and slowly start to make the change to these healthier options.