Got Milk? Hmmm.

Ok, among the 10,000 new topics I want to share with you all- based on the information I'm learning through all these amazing books and such......well, one topic is dairy. You may recall I shared a video that a friend had passed on to me a while back about the "dangers" of dairy etc. It caused quite the debate. And I've had many of you write to me asking about more info - (on a side note people, so many of you email me instead of commenting here~ I'd love to share your comments/questions/knowledge with others, don't be scared to comment!!! It's a great way to 'meet' new peeps as well, FYI.) so I thought I'd summarize the top "issues" to keep in mind with dairy. 

In my opinion, based on the reading and research that I have done (just me, so clearly I haven't read EVERYTHING OUT THERE), there is not ONE definitive answer to the milk or dairy question. You really need to do the reading and decide what YOU feel is best for YOU and your family. 

The first thing to consider is more of an "inconvenience" about dairy. Intolerance (not necessarily ALLERGY) to dairy is the most common one outside of wheat. This basically means that our bodies, {those of us that have an intolerance for dairy products} have difficulty disgesting and processing dairy. This can lead to bloating, gas, consitpation, skin disorders, rashes, you name it. For many MANY years, I was very lactose-intolerant. Once I had a feeling that this was true, I started paying attention to how my body reacted. Anything soft-serve; ice cream or yogurt was immediate stomach pain. Same for cottage cheese. Same for a large amount of any cheese i.e. a lot of pizza. Same for milk with cereal. Yogurt- that was iffy. So, for years I stayed away from milk and DANGIT started doing the soy milk thing. OOHHHHH I hate that I did that for so many years. (For dangers of soy products in men and women, see earlier posts. I will start tagging my posts so we can track all this information.)

Oddly enough, in the past 6 months, I began to realize that I could tolerate some dairy again. This coincided w/my discovery on how bad soy consumption was for women in particular. However, I realized that some dairy products like cottage cheese really STILL gave me a stomach-ache. Immediately. Drinking a large glass of milk or having milk with cereal- stomach ache. But, a cappuccino with milk- fine. So, for me, this was cool since I wanted to lose the UBER FAKE SUGAR FREE FAT FREE SPLENDA LADEN CREAMER I was putting my coffee every morning with 6 Splendas. Yes 6 of them. And haha- how can they even call that stuff "Creamer" when there is no cream in it?? Crazy. I digress.

So, if you are lactose intolerant, you want to probably consider staying away from a lot of dairy and/or checking into dairy alternatives.....avoiding soy of course. 

If you are NOT lactose intolerant and want to be vibrant, fit and healthy, here is what you want to consider about dairy.

Pasteurization: "Pasteurized milk is milk which has been heat-treated to kill pathogens which cause disease. Not all pathogens are removed during the pasteurization process, so pasteurized milk is not 100% sterile, but many people consider it to be safer to drink than raw milk which has not been pasteurized at all. The bulk of the milk sold in commercial grocery stores is pasteurized, and much of it is also homogenized to prevent the cream from separating...The benefit of pasteurization is that it renders milk much safer to drink. However, it also destroys some of the enzymes present in the milk, including enzymes which make milk easier to digest" (Source: WiseGeek.com)

So, the milk in this country is pasteurized and thus, missing much of the enzymes that are BENEFICIAL to our bodies and our health. (This is why the RAW movement focuses on juicing a lot- you get all the ENZYMES in vegies and fruits that would be eliminated by cooking. FYI) So, that's one thing. The second issue to consider is larger and more signficant. Unless you are consuming ORGANIC dairy, understand that the dairy products "...contain bovine growth hormone and antibiotics..." (Source: The Detox Solution, Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald --book listed under Buy Kelly's Stuff Tab. FYI) The more you understand how serious and widespread these contaminants are and what they can do to our bodies, the more you will want to avoid them. 

For me, I know that I can tolerate a minimal amount of REAL DAIRY. However, based on what I know, for both my tummy comfort and my overall health and fitness, I choose to keep dairy to a minimum. I have real milk (ideally 100% of the time organic) in my cappuccino/coffee and I try to stick with goat cheese over other cheeses. Does this mean I'll avoid cheese the rest of my life? Highly doubtful. But, I won't have a LOT of cheese and I will try to use more RAW cheese as well. Organic Raw Cheese. 

And I plan to try some of these new 'ice creams' made with coconut milk etc. out there (I've seen this on Jenna's blog Eat Live Run.....I need to go live with this girl, seriously. LOVE her.)

Hopefully, this is a start. I HIGHLY SUGGEST doing some of the reading I've been doing peeps. Google is free and there is a wealth of information online. But if you can swing $25-$50, some of the books listed on my tab over there are SO GOOD and will change how you eat and LIVE for the rest of your life. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Mommy's Day!! All you Moms ROCK!!!!