THE TRUTH ABOUT DAIRY

AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STOP CONSUMING IT?

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Dairy Intolerance Symptoms: Acne on face and/or back, eczema, bloating, gas, abdominal cramping, loose bowels, flatulence, nausea, fatigue, weight gain, allergy-like symptoms, recurring sinus and ear infections, bedwetting and incontinence, arthritis.

If you are experiencing one or more of the symptoms mentioned above, keep reading, cause it may turn out that you’re intolerant to this very common thing called DAIRY! The dairy industry is one of the largest industries in our modern society, but what once used to be an excellent source of nutrients has today become a terribly industrialized and overly processed product that causes more harm than good to both your body and the environment. Most people think of a dairy allergy as belly cramps and diarrhea, but the symptoms are far more extensive than that, and you may not even have made the connection until now. In my aesthetician practice i mostly advise my clients to try eliminating dairy to help clear up their skin (especially from acne), but if you are suffering from any of the symptoms above this is worth a try.

ALMONDS

are among the highest in calcium. Just 1 ounce (28 grams) of almonds, or about 23 nuts, delivers 6% of the DV

Milk as a whole, raw, organic product straight from a healthy cow who has been pasture raised and grass fed its whole life without the use of added growth hormones and antibiotics is a wonderfully delicious and nutritious product with endless amounts of health benefits. Raw milk is packed with the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, a complex of different B vitamins including B12, minerals such as calcium and phosphorus, and over 400 types of fatty acids including 65-70% saturated fatty acids. Saturated fats are essential for brain health as the majority of the brain is constructed of cholesterol and fat, the nervous system as insulation for the nerves, the cardiovascular system as it regulates cholesterol levels and reduces lipoprotein(a) a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease, bone health as saturated fat is necessary for calcium to be incorporated into bones, and immune health as insufficient amounts of saturated fats in white blood cells will impair their ability to recognize and destroy foreign invaders like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Raw, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk is also very rich in probiotics, immunoglobulins (antibodies) and as mentioned earlier vitamin D, which all help boosting the immune system and reducing allergies in both children and adults. People with milk sensitivities/allergies/intolerances often don’t have a problem with raw milk as it still contains living enzymes that help the body digest the proteins and sugars in milk often associated with milk allergies, such as lactose, whay, and casein. When left in room temperature (in sterilized jars obviously), raw milk will transform into a beautifully fermented product such as yogurt or sour cream due its high levels of friendly bacteria, increasing the nutritional value even further.

This is the way milk is supposed to be consumed, and how milk has been consumed for melennia by our ancestors all over the world in all cultures. Interestingly enough, the milk you find on the grocery shelf is lightyears away from this healthy product, and is the culprit for many, many very common health issues, as those mentioned in the beginning of the post.

The majority of dairy products derive from massive factory farms where the cows are kept in inhumane confinements their whole lives without ever stepping a foot outside. To keep the cows lactating at maximum yields they are artificially, repeatedly, and forcibly impregnated year after year until they collapse of overexertion and sent to the slaughterhouse usually at around 5 years of age (where a healthy cow can live up to 25 years). Like all mammals, cows must give birth in order to make milk. Like human mothers, they carry their babies for nine months, then begin to lactate for the sole purpose of nourishing their young. 97% of newborn dairy calves are forcibly removed from their mothers within the first 24 hours to maximize profit, and either sent to be slaughtered or kept in confinement for months until they are large enough to be impregnated and start producing milk themselves. Due to extensive biological manipulation, today’s dairy cows produce up to 12 times more milk than they would naturally produce to feed a calf. If this wasn’t enough, the cows get fed an unnatural diet consisting of mostly soy, corn, and grains which are extremely inflammatory, causing a wide range of health issues in the animals as they are kept away from their natural food; grass. Many of these cows are so sick that they naturally wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for antibiotics and other artificial ways of keeping them alive in such inhumane conditions.

Luckily, there are a vast selection of non-dairy products on the market these days that are just as delicious, if not even more so, than dairy. And no, your bones are not going to deteriorate from stopping the consumption of dairy, which we are so strongly led to believe. There are SO many other sources of calcium in our food chain that most people are not even aware about, such as green leafy vegetables (kale, collard greens, spinach, bok choi), broccoli, blackstrap molasses, tofu, soy yogurt, tempeh, tahini, navy beans, okra, and almonds to mention a few.

So, i hereby challenge you to eliminate dairy for a full 30 days and hopefully you’re going to see some incredible results in that time, like so many of my clients have. Below i have listed some delicious non-dairy varieties that i invite you to try out and substitute your regular milk and cheese with. If this blog post invoked any questions in you, feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

MILK SUBSTITUTIONS:

MILK - almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, hemp seed milk, soy milk.

YOGURT - cultured almond or cashew “yogurt”, soy yogurt (organic, non-GMO), coconut cream.

CHEESE - nutritional yeast, smoked tofu, almond cheese, Daiya cheese, cashew cream cheese.

It is so easy to make your own nutmilks from scratch at home, bypassing a lot of additives and sweeteners from the store bought milks. All you need is a high speed blender and a fine mesh strainer or a nutmilk bag to strain out the gritty solids. You can choose between any nut or seed you can possibly think of, making the most delicious, frothy palnt milks fresh for your morning coffee. To make things even simpler, there are nutmilk machines emerging on the market lately, and i’ll be honest, i couldn’t resist getting the “Almond Cow” when i saw it on @elsas_wholesomelife (talk about influenced). I make homemade macadamia and cashew milk at least a couple of times a week, and this nutmilk machine takes the process from zero to a hundred. Worth every penny! It literally does everything for you, and best of all, no mess when straining the milk (probably my biggest pet peeve when making nutmilk).

In health,