Got some health issues? Like an abundance of mucus.
But I Love Cheese!
Milk does a body good. Or does it?
Let’s take a hard look on the facts about dairy. There was a time when if you asked me to name one of my favorite foods, I would have said “cheese”. The more pungent the better. It was even my go-to choice of food that would make me feel better after a hard day at work. You know … a little red wine and some cheese. Well cheese actually does give a feeling of bliss for a very short period of time since it releases dopamine into the blood stream, and gives you a feel good sensation that keeps you coming back for more.
First let’s look at the big cow weighing somewhere between 1600 to 2500 pounds feeding her little baby her milk so the little cow can grow into a big docile animal. Cow’s milk is very different than human’s milk, in fact humans are the only animal that consume another mammal’s milk. Cow’s milk contains more than three times the protein as breast milk. That’s because baby cows need a lot more protein to become big cows. So here it is in a nutshell … the mama cow feeds the baby cow so it can grow into a big cow.
Likewise, human breast milk is the perfect food for human babies. It’s rich in good fats like DHA for brain development and relatively low in protein, compared to cow’s milk. After all, mothers don’t want their babies to grow into big fat cows!
The next common concern is where will I get my calcium? Did you know that you can absorb more calcium from a cup of Kale, than from a cup of cow’s milk? Even though the dairy contains more calcium, it is not bio-available to the human body, meaning we absorb very little calcium from cow’s milk. But the calcium in the greens are bio-available! Calcium from plants beats dairy hands-down because you also eliminate the cholesterol and saturated fat.
But it goes so much deeper. Cow’s milk is treated with dangerous hormones such as rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) which is injected into the cow to boost milk yields. But, “Venus, I buy organic dairy!” Cows still make their own hormones that do nothing for the human body. Many times the cow’s udders are infected and all that pus gets in the milk. Yuck!
Dairy is in almost all processed foods and this can really add up and play havoc on your health. Things like whey and casein. When we consume dairy products it leaves a slimy lining of mucus in the intestinal tract covering the villi. These little fingers called the villi help to capture nutrients in the small intestine for absorption of nutrients in the human body, but when they are covered with mucus they can’t absorb nutrients and the food passes through without leaving behind any nutrition.
For some other great calcium-rich foods, try these options: quinoa, arugula, spinach, jicama, turnips and their greens, cauliflower, carob, pecans, almonds and sprouts are just a few. To replace milk in your recipes or to drink, substitute nut and seed milks.
The bottom line is dairy is very acidic and can cause inflammation in the body which increases your chance of chronic disease. Dairy products are not like water, you don’t need them to survive! And you’ll get rid of snot, have fewer colds, and less constipation!
