Want To Lose Weight? Diabetic? Do Not Have Milk, Says Luke Coutinho; The Truth About Milk

There was a time we all drank milk (including our ancestors) without any health problems. So what has changed about milk that makes it important to reconsider this milky-beverage? It's the quality. There has been deterioration in the quality of milk and the health of animals that produce it due to the greed and corruption of most food lobbies. Thus its very important to create awareness about dairy and dairy products. With awareness comes the power of making a choice and deciding whether dairy is the right fit for you or not .

Here are a couple of truths about dairy:

1. Raw milk is good and pasteurised milk is not

Our ancestors drank raw milk straight from the cow and that raw milk is the most powerful food on this planet. Its the best source of class A protein in its raw form as all amino acids, enzymes, vitamins and minerals are intact. Pasteurisation and Homogenisation on the other hand kills all of its benefits, denatures live digestive enzymes and proteins, destroys vitamin C, makes calcium, phosphorous, magnesium insoluble in the human body, kills good bacteria and renders it useless. The only benefit pasteurisation has on milk is increasing its shelf life.

Also read: 5 Dairy Products You Can Eat If You Are Lactose Intolerant

2. The quality of milk today makes you acidic and fat

The process of homogenisation and pasteurisation makes milk acidic in nature. To neutralize the pH level, our body starts leaching calcium from bones. This can lead to pain and inflammation in joints and conditions like arthritis and low birth-weight because the protein is denatured and not in an absorbable state by our body. Secondly, the process of homogenisation changes the good quality fat in milk now into bad fat. This leads to accumulation of fat around abdominal area.

3. What feeds the cow feeds us

To meet supply and demand, cows are fed corn and soy to fatten, injected with vaccines and antibiotics so that they are disease-free, injected with estrogen, bovine growth hormone to produce milk. When we consume milk from such cows we see a rise in girls reaching early puberty, hormonal issues (PCOS, ER+ve cancers), obesity, antibiotic resistance, diabetes. Cows are also milked using unethical practices that leads to a lot of contamination of milk with blood and pus cells.

Also read: These Are The Best Dairy-Free Sources Of Calcium For Your Lactose Intolerant Child

4. Yogurt is better than milk

There's a big difference between yogurt and milk because when milk is fermented, it changes the molecular structure and becomes easily digestible. During fermentation, lactoferrin is generated which is a great probiotic. Even thin buttermilk is a great alternative provided its cultured at home and is of good quality.

5. Cases where its best to avoid milk

Dairy might not be the best food for you if you are dealing with any of the following: struggling to lose weight, arthritis or any sort of inflammation, leukaemia, cancers, cardiovascular problems, IBS, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, too much mucous and colic in children. Dairy can cause inflammation and irritate the gut linings. It also contains insulin like growth factors that can worsen a case of diabetes, obesity and cancer. Hence you may want to eliminate that completely. When we cut out milk, we see a remarkable improvement in these conditions.

Also read: Dairy: Is It Good Or Bad For You?

If not milk, then?

There might be many ways to replace milk like almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, cashew milk or coconut milk but they cannot offer you the kind of protein, raw milk would have. So its important to get protein and calcium from natural food sources. A healthy balanced diet can give you enough of protein. As for calcium: sesame seeds, poppy seeds or khuskhus, lentils, beans, black eyed peas, white beans, green leafy vegetables, amaranth, figs, almonds, walnut, carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, oranges are richest sources of it.

At the same time, if you can source raw , pure and organic cow milk from a trusted source that feed cows fresh green grass and are free from any antibiotics and hormones and milked with hands (the traditional Vedic way ) while using safe and hygienic practices , its absolutely good to go if its suits your health and lifestyle . Avoid it if you suffer from any condition listed earlier. The whole idea is awareness and we need to start making changes based on our health. A little milk that goes into your tea or dessert is not the problem, but consuming it in large amounts and relying on it as the only source of calcium and protein, that too of bad quality, is the problem.

(By Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach - Integrative Medicine

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