6 Reasons I’m going dairy free

After finding out about the cruelty that goes into milk production, I have gone dairy free. This means no more milk, no more margarine and spreads containing milk, and definitely no milk chocolate.

There are other reasons I am shunning milk –

1. Despite what we keep being told, milk is not good for you. In fact, consuming it gives you a higher risk of osteoarthritis and breast cancer. In Asian where most people don’t eat dairy, the rates of both conditions are much, much lower than in the West where dairy is a part of people’s everyday diets.
2. Have you ever woken up with phlegm? That horrible thick sludgy stuff in your throat that’s often green? Then dairy may be to blame
3. Despite consuming more milk that most other countries in the world, the USA and the UK have high rates of osteoarthritis. Much higher than Asian where dairy is not part of their diet. How can that be when we keep on being told we need milk for strong bones? Maybe there’s something in milk that isn’t good for bones.
4. We have sky high rates of breast cancer in the USA and the UK too than countries that don’t drink milk.
5. Humans are only meant to drink their own mother’s milk, not another species. Drinking milk is weird.
6. The dairy industry is a cruel one. Did you know in the UK alone, 100,000 calves (yes, that's babies are killed every year) for no other reason than they are male and don't produce milk? VIVA (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) have a campaign right now exposing the cruelty that goes into making Cadbury's chocolate. They have a Facebook page. Read more about them their milk myths campaign here

The Great Milk Myth

For decades, the British government has spent millions on countless campaigns to promote milk or ‘the white stuff’ as they called it in one campaign as something that is vital to being healthy. They’ve used pop stars like Atomic Kitten and model Nell McAndrew.

In America, the ‘Got milk’ campaign has used everyone from The Simpsons, to Batman and Spongebob SquarePants to try and get more people to drink milk.

Whilst the campaigns may differ they have one common message – milk is good for you.

But is that really true?

Recent news that a new strain of the superbug MRSA has been found in British cow’s milk and in people in both the UK and Denmark would suggest that it’s not. You can find out more about the story here http://uk.news.yahoo.com/mrsa-superbug-found-cows-milk-scientists-220746838.html 

Fact - In Western countries where dairy consumption is high like Britain, there is a higher rate of breast cancer that most other countries in the world. In fact, one in twelve women in the UK will get breast cancer. This is said to be linked to milk consumption.

Fact – In countries where they don’t drink milk like China and Japan, the rates of breast cancer in women are very low.

This isn’t the first research that’s shown that milk might not be as good for you as you’re led to believe.

Scientist Professor Jane Plant believes that avoiding milk is the key to beating breast cancer.

Read more about her here - http://www.rense.com/general35/av.htm

There are a lot of things said about milk that are simply not true. Here are some of the most common -

Myth - humans are meant to drink milk.

Wrong – humans are the only mammals that drink other mammals’ milk. If it were natural other animals would drink other animals’ milk too.

Myth – Cows exist to produce milk for humans. To do that is natural.

Wrong - animals produce milk to feed their babies not humans. Nor is it natural that in order to increase the amount of milk produced, cows have their young taken away from them and are pumped full of steroids.

Myth – milk involves no animal cruelty.

Wrong – dairy cows taken away from their young so that humans can drink milk. What could be crueller? Many of the throwaway young end up in veal crates where they are deprived of light, companionship and space and then slaughtered.

Myth - it’s the best source of calcium.

Wrong – people in non-dairy consuming get more than enough calcium without eating dairy products or drinking milk. They get their calcium from green leafy veg like broccoli, cabbage, chick peas, baked beans and olives.

Ask yourself this, if milk is such a good provider of calcium which is essential for strong bones, then why do Westerners have the highest rate of osteoporosis (brittle bones) in the world?

Alternatives to milk –

Soy milk (this can be sweetened or unsweetened or flavoured). My favourite is banana. I put that on my cereal.

Flax milk

Rice milk

Coconut milk

Nut milks  

Hemp milk