1 in 3 people have lactose intolerance.
After the age of 2 to 5, most people’s bodies don’t produce lactase, and cannot absorb lactose.
The irony is that modern babies are ripped off their mother’s breast so early, yet never weaned.
Babies are fed cow’s milk to replace mother’s own, sometimes right from birth! That a child survives that sort of a digestive crime is practically a miracle on its own.
In fact, humans are the only species that drink another animal’s milk after weaning, and often times it’s for their whole lives!
Here are some great books to show you how easy it is for your kids to love dairy-free food:
The massive over-consumption of cow dairy not only causes lactose intolerance, but also creates an abundance of health issues in our society.
It causes suffering in the bodies of your children.
A natural choice to prevent lactose intolerance is veganism. Avoiding commercial dairy has been proven time and time again to significantly improve health.
I’ve heard people say to other vegans, “Are you going to raise your child vegan too? How are you going to breast feed? Isn’t that considered dairy?”
A mother’s breast milk is the most natural and healthy thing you can give your baby. Cow’s milk is unnatural and unhealthy. There is a big difference between these two types of “dairy products”!
A child doesn’t quite bond with a cow the way it does with its mother, I think. ;P
So when I talk about lactose intolerance, I am not encouraging you to abstain from breast feeding your child. In fact, please do! Breast feed for as long as you can: two years, three years, even four. It’s perfectly natural and there is nothing as nutritious as breast milk!
Those milk ads won’t tell you your kids have lactose intolerance.
Cow’s milk has a totally different nutritional value than human milk.
It has 7 times the amount of protein! All that protein is impossible for a human body to absorb (why do you think cows have four stomachs?)
Though milk as a substance has calcium, in your body it is not being absorbed properly because of the combination with protein. Animal protein produces acidic ash. To keep the blood alkaline, the body takes calcium from the bones to neutralize the acid.
Studies have found that osteoporosis is a disease that exists solely in countries that consume dairy (read The China Study).
What the dairy council milk ads on TV also won’t tell you, is that dairy is the leading cause of food allergies in children.
Other illnesses meat and dairy consumers can expect include:
– congestive heart failure
– neonatal tetany
– tonsil enlargement
– ulcerative colitis
– Hodgkin’s disease
– respiratory, skin, gastrointestinal, and behavioral problems
It’s not a wonder why so many people have lactose intolerance…the body is trying to safeguard them!
lactose intolerance free milk
They are drinking almond milk – a delicious alternative for lactose intolerance.
Apart from lactose intolerance, some other reasons to avoid cows’ milk:
– It causes a build-up of mucus in the body
– It contains bad fats
– Non-organic milk comes from cows who are injected with antibiotics and hormones
– These cows are overfed (mostly with animal by-products) and they often get mastitis (an infection of the udder)
– Their calves are constantly taken away from them at birth (and the cows cry…if you’ve ever heard this it is heart-wrenching)
– All cow’s milk that you get at the supermarket is pasteurized, basically robbing it of any potential nutrients
A note on pasteurization:
“’By milk I mean safe milk,’ says Alfred W. McCann, ‘and, the only scientific way of insuring safety is by the process of pasteurizing.’
McCann knows that safe milk depends upon: (1) a healthy cow, (2) proper food, sunshine, fresh air and exercise for the cow, (3) clean handling.
He knows that healthy dairy cows are extremely rare; that no dairy cow is properly nourished; that their food is always denatured and unbalanced; and that milk is not always handled in a way to keep it clean.
What then does he mean by calling pasteurized milk, “safe”? He means this:
If the cow is sick pasteurize the milk and use it.
If the milk is deficient, due to a deficient diet or to lack of sunshine, pasteurize it and use it.
If the milk is dirty, pasteurize it and use it.
The false sense of security that the process of pasteurization gives people, who use such milk, is only one of the evils of this process. It puts a premium upon carelessness and uncleanness in the handling of milk.
In the process of pasteurizing, milk is heated to 145°F, and maintained at this temperature for a half hour, or longer. This produces some very important changes in the milk itself, none of which are beneficial.
The process is intended to destroy bacteria which are supposed to cause disease. It does destroy some of the germs in milk, including the lactic acid bacilli, which are the natural protectors of the milk. The destruction of these lactic acid bacteria allows the milk to rot – it will not sour.” (Taken from The Hygienic Care of Children by Herbert M Shelton)
When weaning your children it is best to wean them fully, without a “substitute”. Nothing beats breast milk, for as long as a child needs it.
As they grow there are many alternatives to cows’ milk that will help them avoid lactose intolerance, and live healthy and energized.
Green leafy vegetables provide lots of calcium. Nuts, seeds, and mushrooms provide a great protein boost, although your kids probably don’t need it. (Most North Americans have too much protein in their diet)
Kids also love nut milk. It’s so easy to make your own, that way you know it’s preservative free.
If your kids still want something white and creamy, a great swap is raw goat or sheep milk, in small amounts.
It has far less protein than cow milk (about the same as human breast milk) and contains more calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron and vitamins than cows’ milk. Sheep dairy is lactose free.
Depending on your area, there are associations dedicated to quality assurance of raw milk. Real raw milk and dairy is much more natural and nutritious and a better ethical choice (produced by small-scale farmers).