To drink or not to drink cow’s milk?

As you know, I'm not a fan of dairy products, especially cow's milk from the store - I try to avoid it.

Mainly it comes to lactose and the sugar in it, a very high percentage of adults do not digest lactose – because they do not have the lactase enzyme, necessary for its digestion. I also have problems with that, the excessive consumption causes water retention in my body. I never liked the milk, but I used to drink it with coffee- latte (zero-percent milk and sugar-free syrup necessarily;)) or ate lots of cottage cheese. After eliminating it from my diet, I do not miss it, all I need is a simply Americano, and if I have a big craving for milk, or need it for cooking I just buy plant milk without sugar or preferably I do it by myself... but more on that later ;).

But I do not mind fermented milk drinks such as: curd cheese or kefir from time to time, BUT from reliable sources and without sugar (!). And what about the lactose in these products? Apparently, the lactic acid bacteria decompose lactose during fermentation, so that decrease its amount. Once in a while I eat fat curd cheese. I do not buy low fat one, because it has a lower absorption of vitamins and curd cheese is a perfect symbiosis of vitamins A, D, K and fatty acids. Also valuable in curds are live active cultures of bacteria, which can be found only in curds with a small expiration date – mainly sold by weight, with a higher price, unfortunately - I have already written about it here.

In my fridge you will find also clarified butter / ghee (the amount of lactose in this product is also minimal), in fact it is rather for guests, but sometimes I do eat it with a gluten-free homemade bread And most importantly, I cannot avoid lactose using protein supplements with whey protein. However, I choose mainly isolates and hydrolysates, which have the small amounts of lactose (and which ones? I invite you to read this article.) Also I would have looked differently at milk from a trusted source, where the cow is properly fed, not with any modified grains and hormones. But how to get such a source ?? Maybe its nutritional value would not be a prominent, but certainly would be harmless. Unfortunately, this cannot be said for cow's milk from the store: /.

Below I would like to present you 10 arguments why I would eliminate COW'S MILK from your diet. I will not bring out any hard facts that milk is a soup saturated with antibiotics and hormones, containing substances for making cloven feet and antlers and meant for animals that have a few stomachs ..; P Nooo, I just want to present recent scientific studies about the influence of milk on the human body. When I stopped to eat it, I have felt a significant difference in well-being and I have observed significant changes in the body.

Probably now more than one grandfather would have smiled and said "what are you even talking about, I drank milk for several years from my cows and lived so many years." However, I believe that times have changed, the way of breeding cows "evolved" and we eat differently, not infrequently - worse. Of course, I am not a doctor or nutritionist, but I have verified the information contained in this article that are not fabricated, based only on information from reliable sources, observations and research. If someone sees a contradiction or is able to prove to me that this information is wrong, I am open for new knowledge and if there will be a need I will edit this post;).

Note, the following text can cast a damp over fans of dairy products:

1. We are the only mammals who consume not only their own milk. Probably you already have heard it, but for me it is thought-provoking. Someone can say that cats drink cow's milk, but this is trained, my cats suffered after drinking it.
2. LACTOSE - causes many of the symptoms of intolerance. While in infancy adequate intake of lactose is essential for the development of the sense of taste. What's more it is proved that the milk sugar promotes the absorption of calcium and stimulates the growth of probiotic intestinal microflora, and even - thanks to galactose - beneficial effect on the development of the nervous system of the child; Then, in adult life the ability of our enzymes to break down the milk sugar is reduced, after the age of 18 to 40% and later the percentage also grows.It often leads to lactose intolerance: a person can tolerate small amounts of lactose (about 200 - 300 ml of milk per day), discomfort appears whit the higher ingestion. It is associated with a reduced lactose-degrading enzyme - lactase. Symptoms are similar to those which occur in the case of total lactose intolerance, but have a less severe and occur at higher than trace consumption of milk sugar.
3. It is rich in HORMONES, including the most important estrogens, which behave similarly to human and increases the chance of disease, particularly in women with cancer of the ovaries or breast. I found this information, but I do not know whether it concerns Polish cows, that cows are fed with growth hormones to produce more milk so that can also affect humans.
4. The presence of cow Insulin contributes to make insulin resistance.
5. Cow's milk does not strengthen the bones. Recently appeared quite controversial information that in Norway, where there has been a high consumption of cow's milk and dairy products, is the highest percentage of bone fragility in the world (!), in contrast to China, where almost no one drinks milk, where a small percentage of people have any problems with bones injuries. Furthermore, osteoporosis is the most widespread in the regions of the world with a high intake of milk, for example. In Northern Europe, Canada and the USA. Furthermore, osteoporosis is the most widespread in the regions of the world with a high intake of milk, for example: in Northern Europe, Canada and the USA.
6. The belief that milk contains a lot of valuable calcium is a myth. Much more is it slice of cheese. But also sufficient amount can be found in vegetables.
7. UHT milk is pasteurized at a temperature of 355 Celsius degrees, which extends its life, but deprives the milk of any vitamins. This temperature only survive calcium, but see no.5!
8. Milk causes anaemia. It is very mucinous. Partly, our body removes this mucus eg. when we have a runny nose. However, most of it accumulates in the form of deposits in the worst functioning of the body. If you drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of dairy products, the mucus is not removed and deposits block blood vessels which causes them to "starvation". Weak, hypoxic and anaemic cells eventually die.
9. Here you can information from: http://gurbacka.pl/sklep/11-powodow-aby-przestac-pic-mleko/

"The researchers found that some types of cancer are mainly found in regions and countries where the consumption of milk and dairy products is higher... It is believed that the main culprit may be hormones contained in cow's milk. These include insulin-like growth factor IG-1, gonadotropin, thyroid-stimulating hormone, ovarian steroids, epidermal growth factor. Steroids and hormones contained in cow's milk, stimulate excessively our endocrine system, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal cortex, testes and ovaries leading to endocrine disorders and malfunction of these glands.

Over-activity of the longer time leads to hypothyroidism, and disturbs the regulation of cell growth. It is considered that the hormonal imbalance, increasing of the levels of IG-1 and estrogen metabolites are the leading causes of cancer.

And finally the best:

10. The low fat milk is used for fattening pigs; P

I think milk is not anything we needed, and the researches presented above, are for me so risky that I will simply not eat it. Still you cannot imagine life without milk? After all, we can easily replace it with a healthier version of plant milk (almond, quinoa, rice, coconut). It is not a big deal, do a test: do not eat dairy products for a month, and study the changes in your body and well-being. Of course, each of us is different, maybe milk will not do anything to you, but apparently milk causes harm to 80% of people.

Of course, alternative plant milks on the market are quite expensive, about 14 zł per liter of almond milk without sugar. However, it can be easily made at home.

In this price of almond milk from the store, you can buy half a kilo of almonds and get 5 liters of milk :).

Recipe for 1 liter of almond milk:

- 1 cup of almonds

- 1 liter of boiled, cooled water

Pour boiling water over almonds and let them sit for 30 minutes. Then rinse it in cold water and get rid of the skin. Pour cold water over peeled almonds and leave for at least 8 hours.

Peeled almonds put into a blender, add 8 cups of boiled, cold water and mix it a few minutes. Prepare 2-liter vessel, into which you can pour the milk. Preferably by cotton cloth, so that no piece of almonds does not get into the milk.

After pouring the liquid on the cloth will be almond paste, which can be used for pancakes;).

You can keep it in a refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Kiss!

Karola Kocięda