Who hasn’t seen the advertisements in magazines and schools asking you if you have “Got Milk?” The dairy industry has a strong lobby, a positive message and government support. But are they right?

Milk is far from being an essential part of your breakfast.

Let’s explore the reasons to give milk the boot.

Reason #1 to give up milk forever: Calcium not well absorbed

Milk has a high fat and protein content. The latest research is showing that the high fat and protein content of milk is impeding the absorption of calcium in our bodies. Sure, there is calcium  in our milk but what good will it do if our bodies can’t absorb it. Robert Cohen, the author of Milk The Deadly Poison states that the countries who drink the most milk have alarmingly high rates of osteoporosis. Isn’t that what milk is supposed to prevent? New research is pointing to plant based sources of calcium as being better absorbed by our bodies. So Almond milk, fortified orange juice, kale or other leafy greens would be better substitutes.

If you are drinking milk for the protein then you can drink soy milk instead. Cow’s milk isn’t a natural source of Vitamin D either. The Vitamin D is added and plant based milks can have added Vitamin D too.

Reason #2 to give up milk forever: Vitamin D issues

In the book The China Study, T. Colin Campbell PHD states that although Vitamin D continues to be synthesized in the body it become inhibited by animal proteins and therefore cannot fulfill the tasks it needs to. Tasks like stopping the spread of cancerous cells etc.

Reason #3 to give up milk forever: Pus

When cows that has mastitis, which is an infection in the milk-duct caused by a variety of things like not being milked frequently enough or from dirt, she doesn’t get taken off the production line. She continues to be milked, and when she is, pus gets expressed at the same time. Yummy!

Sure, everything is pasteurized so there shouldn’t be concern about bacteria but would you want to drink even sterile pus?

Not only that, but those infections in people are very painful and to be milked by a machine under those circumstances would undoubtedly be excruciating. This is also an animal rights issue!

Reason #4 to give up milk forever: Antibiotics

To treat or prevent mastitis, as well as other diseases incurred from living in close quarters to each other, the cows are given antibiotics. These antibiotics find their way into the milk that we drink. Antibiotics are great in certain instances but a daily dose is hardly recommended. Some scientists are starting to question the link between milk and antibiotic resistance.

Reasons #5 to give up milk forever: Hormones

In western countries we are seeing the effects of hormones in our meat and milk: early puberty! I used to think that this was just because of the growth hormones (rBGH made by Monsanto) but when I found out that we don’t allow rBGH in Canada I had to come to a different conclusion. There are natural hormones in milk that may have an impact. Or maybe early puberty etc. is just a result of the hormones injected in beef.

Either way, hormones aren’t meant for us to be carelessly ingesting. To be fair, there are phytoestrogens in soy products that are known to mimic estrogen. I never advise anyone to eat more than one serving of soy per day.

Reason #6 to give up milk forever: Lactose intolerance

On Food and Cooking states that most people in the world are lactose intolerant. We, in the Western/Northern world have trained ourselves to drink milk. But our bodies don’t digest it very well. And if you’re not convinced that your body knows best then think about this: The only specie in the world to drink milk past infancy is humans. Not only that, but we steal the milk of other animals. Picture a person sucking on a cow’s teat and I think you get the picture. Milk is for babies! There is a reason that adults/humans are allergic to it. And speaking of milk being for babies. The babies of those cows don’t even get to have that milk because we are drinking it. The babies who deserve the milk go on formula while we drink their milk. Milk that is causing an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Milk that suppresses our immune systems. Why do we do this?

Reason #7 to give up milk forever: Animal cruelty

I have written about this before so I will try to be brief. The short and long of it is that cows have to lug around enormous amounts of milk all day and night. They are only milked twice a day, whereas a calf would drink many times in a day. This lack of milking increases their risk of getting Mastitis. A painful milk-duct infection. The milking of the cows that have these infections is very painful too.

The life expectancy of a normal cow in a natural environment is about 25 years. A milk cow has a life expectancy of six years. They also carry up to 40 lbs of milk more than a natural cow would have to.

These cows are also kept pregnant back to back to keep their milk flow going. As someone who has had three children close together I can attest to how exhausting bearing children is. Nursing in exhausting too. The calves born to these cows may or may not get to have their mother’s colostrum. If they do, they only get milk for a few days maximum. Then they are sorted. The female calves are put on formula and raised to be dairy cows. The males are either raised as veal, which most people know is a very short and very cruel life, or they are thrown into dog food grinders.

This is your dairy industry.

Reason #8 to give up milk forever: Chronic diseases and cancers

Campbell (in The China Study) has spent over 40 years proving that casein, the milk protein, causes accelerated growth of cancer cells and helps to increase the progression of many diseases and chronic problems such as Multiple Sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis etc.

Also, the rats and mice in his trials that were given a lower dose of protein than is commanly found in western diets were healthier, exhibited more energy and vitality and lived longer.

Conclusion:

We are seeing more and more articles sneaking into the media about the new research being done to disprove the lies we have been told about milk. Lies like how it’s good and nutritious for us. Lies like how it will reduce our risk of osteoporosis etc.

While it’s hard to find all the pieces to the puzzle there is a picture starting to emerge. Will we take this information and learn from it or will we continue to make decisions that affect the quality of life of our children, ourselves and the animals?

 

Resources:

Books by Robert Cohen: Milk: The Deadly Poison and Milk A-Z

High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk: http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINCOL97457320071219

Milk not best for bones: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7115733

A variety of perspectives in this PETA site (at the bottom of this site is a bunch of links to good articles from reputable sources): http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

Dairy linked with Parkinson’s in Men: http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Dairy-linked-with-Parkinsons-in-men/2007/04/20/1176697046523.html

Dairy causes dementia: http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=3285459

Fit Kids (By the Canadian Heart and stroke Foundation) states an increase in childhood stroke from drinking more than two cups (500 ml) a day.

There are a pile of YouTube videos. Some of the ones I have seen and think are worth passing on are:

* About the rBGH in milk and the cover up involved (very good): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

* Interview with Robert Cohen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYpafipJyDE

* Cute but more animal rights than anything(28  reasons not to drink milk): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBBFTpTMUbc&feature=related

I am always touting the benefits of sunshine on our mood, bones and immune systems but how much sun do you really need? And not only that, but do you need to wear sunscreen?

I will address the sunscreen issue first. Why do we wear sunscreen?

We wear sunscreen because the UV rays from the sun can cause skin cancer and we don’t want skin cancer. But Viva magazine states that sunscreen also blocks the UV rays that allow for the metabolism of Vitamin D which helps our bodies to fight cancers, keep our bones healthy, and keep our mood elevated.

I would advise people to avoid sunscreen when your sun exposure will be low and when the sun isn’t at its strongest. I never put sunscreen on myself or my kids in the morning or in the evening. The sun isn’t strong enough to cause a burn, which, in my opinion, is when you become at risk of developing cancer cells. If you consider that anytime that food is burnt (especially meat) it releases carcinogenic materials into the food, it makes sense to assume that if you burn your skin a similar result may occur.

So wear sunscreen. Wear sunscreen when you are at the beach or spending considerable time in the sun between 12 pm to 4 pm. But don’t wear sunscreen when you head to the Farmer’s Market at 10 am.

I am, however, encouraging you to find more natural alternatives to the grocery store chemical laden sunscreens. Our skin is very absorbent and you are absorbing any chemicals you apply to it. There are many options out there and your local health food store will likely have a couple in stock.

Now to answer the first question. How much sun do we need? 

Well, the sun is a very efficient source of Vitamin D. You don’t need lots of sunshine to get your requirement of Vitamin D. I have read that a half hour a few times a week is more than enough.

What do you do when the sun isn’t available in abundance anymore? You should supplement then. It’s likely that your multi-vitamin has some in it. Plus your milk, whether it’s cow’s milk or soymilk, will likely be fortified with Vitamin D as well. You may want to talk to your Doctor about how much Vitamin D is right for you and your family. Some people may need more than others. 

The other thing to factor in is how well your body is absorbing it. I know that a good multi-vitamin will have the ingredients in proper balance to encourage optimal absorption. I recommend an all natural supplement since our bodies weren’t made to digest chemicals and that vitamins and minerals derived from natural sources will be better absorbed than the cheap grocery store brands. Read the bottle to get an indication if the sources are natural or lab-made. One major indicator of how natural it is is whether it’s a “one a day” pill. If it is, it’s not natural! If you are finding yourself overwhelmed by all the options here is some help. I never buy anything from Quest. They sold out to a large corporation and they put Splenda in their kids vitamins! My favorite line for myself and my family is the “Progressive” brand. Their kids vitamin is very good! Other good brands to try would be Sisu, Greens (although read labels as they have many different kinds of supplements that are geared for certain things and are not necessarily complete). I am not crazy about Now but I have bought them before. Some natural vitamins can be very large. So if you have trouble swallowing you may want to find one with a smaller pill (be prepared to have to take four a day with some of these brands).

I hope that this helps you on your way to living a more balanced lifestyle!

You can pick up this month’s issue of Viva magazine at your local Loblaws or Superstore Natural Value section and read their take on sunscreen vs. Vitamin D. It’s free by the way.

Author’s note: I received my August copy of Alive magazine yesterday and they have an article on sunshine and Vitamin D (The sunshine Vitamin). They too recommend that you get some exposure to the sun without wearing sunscreen so that you can better synthesize Vitamin D. They also say that Vitamin D can help prevent various types of cancer (including Prostate cancer) and can, like i said, boost your immune system, reducing your susceptibility to all sorts of other ailments. In another article addressing Vitamin D, just a few pages from this one, they say that more cancer patients die in the winter time than the summer time. It would be wise to get a lot of sunshine if you find yourself getting sick.

I call myself a Vegetarian whole-foodist. I don’t know if that is a real ideology or not but it encompasses what I believe in. I will never be fully vegan (not that anyone can be anyways) because I refuse to use margarine and still use butter about once a week (like on baked potatoes or garlic toast). The reason for that is that butter is a more wholesome food than margarine (see my post about margarine for more details).

I am not willing to compromise on my vegetarian diet but will compromise on the odd vegan ingredient/product for the sake of wholesomeness. I believe in the Low GI Diet as I stated in an earlier post because it focuses on eating foods as close to their natural state as possible because processed and denatured foods are too easily turned into sugar and then body fat. So, if you are going to have cake, have whole wheat cake. If you are going to have toast, have whole grain toast etc. It’s very easy to make better food choices.

Their Vegetarian recipe book can be found here: (http://www.amazon.ca/Low-Vegetarian-Cookbook-Jennie-Brand-Miller/dp/0340923113/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216304099&sr=8-2

We need to think more about what we eat. Our bodies just weren’t made for processing Doritos.

I know many of you have heard about the Skinny Bitch book. Their cookbook Skinny Bitch in the Kitch, is creative and pretty enough but the content hardly lives up to its tag line “Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (And Start Looking Hot).” The recipes in this book are, in my opinion, quite “crappy” ingredient wise.

Sure, they give you advice on using healthier oils for cooking and they make sure to use whole wheat flour instead of white flour in their recipes but that doesn’t make up for the many, many recipes that include fake cheese, fake meat, premade pie pastries and the like.  They planned their entire menu to try to emulate normal diets. Pizza pockets, macaroni and cheese, meat sandwhiches, bacon and eggs etc.

I hate that “we-have-everything-you’ve-got” attitude that some veg*ns have with food. It’s like they are trying to prove that you can still eat the same garbage as you eat now. Sure you could, but why would you want to?

We are different. Why do we have to try to blend in by bragging that we have our own bacon too. Why can’t we be proud of our healthier diets and embrace recipes that showcase all that wholesome veg*n food can be? Like chickpea curry, and asian style stir-fry, and delicious soups, and falafel, and chili and so much more! I love my diet. I love that my entire meal plan isn’t so predictable. I don’t have a staple food. I have much more variety in my cooking than I ever did when I had to plan my meals to go beside my meat.

I thought it appropriate to throw in some recipes here. 

My Bread Machine Bread recipe. This took some mastering.

1 1/2 cups of water (room temperature-ish), 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tsp of sea salt. Then add two cups of Whole Grain “Best for Bread” flour and two cups of regular Whole Wheat flour. Top with 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 2 tsp of quick rise yeast.

I put this in the machine for a dough cycle (about 1:30 hrs) and then knead it myself and shape it into a loaf. I let it rise another 45 minutes to an hour then I bake it on the middle rack for 30 mins at 325 *F.

This makes a very soft and healthy bread.

 

Best Vegan Pancakes ever!I found this on VegWeb.com. These are awesome. Here is the link:  http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=16252.0

Below I added my changed version of it (this only makes enough for two people btw):

    1 cup whole wheat flour (Whole Grain makes it a little crunchy)
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    3 tablespoons maple syrup (100%)
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1 mushed banana (if you don’t want to use or don’t have bananas you can use a flax egg (1-2 tbsp freshly ground flaxseeds with double the water -let sit until they become semi-solid)).

    1 cup soymilk
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil

I know it’s nowhere near wintertime but I was doing some reading this morning about how you can buy these light machines that are supposed to make you feel better in the wintertime.

I think they are silly but to each their own! It made me think about how rough winter is. It’s cold so you don’t want to go outside. You can’t open the windows and get fresh air either. For those of us who work in Canada you barely get any sun light at all. You go to work just before it gets light and come home in the dark. How depressing!

Not getting sunlight has an impact on our energy levels and our immune systems and our mood. When we feel crumby we act like potatoes. We sit on the couch instead of exercising, make bad food choices (craving carbs and junk food) and lack the self control and motivation to do something about it. If you start looking at the mood connection to your health and weight you will be shocked to see how you react. For example, when I am tired I spend money frivolously, I eat food that is bad for my body and lounge A LOT! 

(A small side bar: If you want to lose weight and make better food choices you need to improve your mood. This link goes to an article that talks about enhancing immunity. Point number five talks about the impact that mood has on your body:  http://theworldismysoyster.wordpress.com/category/immunity/ )

Combine all of these factors and the results are not that hard to predict. We get sicker! Not because of the cold, but rather, because our immunity is suppressed from lack of sunlight and fresh air and exercise. Then there is poor food choices and depression and likely a plethora of other reasons. For example, the Canadian Medical Association says that indoor air quality is five times worse than outdoor air quality (even for those of us who live with smog). And where are we spending all our time in the wintertime? You guessed it! Indoors. That doesn’t make for a very happy or healthy existence.

What can you do? For starters, bundle up and get fresh air. If that means going for a walk at lunch or spending your Saturday snowshoeing or cross-county skiing in a walking trail in your area or skating at the neighbourhood rink.

Then take vitamins. Make sure you supplement with Vitamin D and C if you are going to be house bound for the winter. You can also take Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3, 6, 9) to help improve mood and if you just need a little extra help you can take some St. John’s Wort (but be careful not to take that if you are on prescription drugs without the approval of your doctor as St. John’s Wort can deactivate drugs sometimes).

Try to exercise indoors if you can’t make it outdoors and make sure to get the rest you need. Shouldn’t be too hard to get rest in the wintertime. The sun goes down at 5:00! Find activities that you enjoy. Throw a ball for your dog in the snow (my dog enjoys trying to catch snowballs), go sledding, go to a festival of lights. Just do something!

Here is a big one that I struggle with.

Should Vegans support or oppose the Zoo?

When it comes to rodeos it’s pretty easy. Animals are damaged and exploited for the sake of nothing more important than entertainment. But the Zoo educates and allows adults and children to develop an awareness and appreciation for animals. We went on July 1 to the Zoo for my son’s birthday and we thought it was a great experience. We got fresh air and sunshine. We had an opportunity to see animals that we don’t see in this country and learn some new factoids.

On the other hand we contributed to the imprisonment of animals and possibly their emotional suffering.

I often wonder if there is a balance. I know in my heart that imprisoning animals against their will and far away from their natural environment is not right, but, what if they are protected and fed, and what if the Zoo genuinely strives to offer them a decent environment to exercise and be stimulated?

What if it brings appreciation for these creatures and enables the general populace to become more sympathetic towards them and care about their protection from exploitation in the wild? Like the people who are outraged about seal clubbing or the slaughter of elephants for ivory.

Does that outweigh the harm? There are animals that seem to thrive in the Zoo but there are others who don’t.

I don’t know what the right answer in this case is but I doubt that anyone can negate that my son being given the opportunity to pet goats and sheep and rabbits will reinforce our (and his) resolve to not eat animals. It’s much easier to eat the steak if you never get to pet the cow. Right?