Milk

Have you been converted to plant based milks? 

No problem, dairy doesn’t suit everyone…but many plant based milks have multiple ingredients which are not exactly ideal. Vegetable gums and emulsifiers are pretty common. Carageen is common, and has been shown to damage the gut. 

How many ingredients do you think they add to good quality Australian cow’s milk? 

None. 

So, dairy milk- whether goat’s cow’s or camel’s- is what I would call an unprocessed whole-food. Many, if not most plant based milks are actually highly processed foods. (Yes it is possible to make your own- but do you? And are you drinking it thinking it is an effective substitute for dairy? It isn’t- it may be wholesome, but not the same). 

Do you avoid dairy because you find it upsets your tummy, or just because you have read its not healthy? 

For many people the upset tummy is caused by not having much lastase enzyme in their gut and can be fixed by just adding small amounts of dairy back into the diet at a time. This slowly builds up the lactase enzyme again. Cheese can be a good plase to start, or a tsp of milk a day- but don’t overdo it. Goats milk can be easier to digest for some. 

Others are allergic to the protein in milk…that is another story, although sometimes that can also be helped wit gut healing. 

Dairy has been eaten by my English and northern European ancestors for probably thousands of years. I avoided it for years and ended up with under-average bone density. So I examined why I had avoided dairy, and somehow had thought it would cause “mucous” in my system. But, in my experience, I don’t get any mucous, such as sinus issues, from eating dairy. 

I feel much better with good quality dairy than without. Dairy is full of absorbable calcium which has a calming effect on the body. I am now aware that many people on plant based diets or even paleo diets who are avoiding dairy, may be low in calcium. And while yes, it is possible to have sufficient calcium on any diet if you are diligent…it is also easy to be deficient. Tahini is ot even particularly high in calcium, and do you really eat that many cooked many leafy greens? 

You can put your daily diet for a few days into the Cronometer app for free, and see if you are eating enough calcium on a daily basis. I did, and realised calcium was the only mineral I was chronically low in. Dairy fixed that. 

Going low on calcium for years on end (which I did) can have long term health effects. Not recommended. In fact, higher calcium levels in the diet, particularly from dairy, are associated with lower adiposity (fat), and can be protective against weight gain despite excessive calorie intake.

Dairy is not just a source of calcium but is also high in protein and many other substances…and is a very nutritious, complete food. For those who say that dairy milk is only for baby cows….well, that’s just a belief system. People have eaten dairy forever. 

Its not for everyone…but it is a more wholistic food (as cheese, yoghurt etc) than many of the  highly processed plant based alternatives out there.