MIlk

I haven't talked about milk in a long time and I get questions about it all time. Let's readdress the issues.

First off; milk in the stores is not good for you. Plain and simple. Why? Here are a few reasons to start with:


#1: Most of the time the cows it is derived from are treated with hormones and antibiotics, not to mention the fact that they are eating corn or grass that has pesticides on it.You get all that in your milk. Yuck.

#2 The milk is then pasteurized and homogenized which kills any enzymes it once had to actually help you digest the high amount of proteins that are in the milk. Now, the milk is left without nutrition and actually can leach the calcium from your bones. You get plenty of calcium in other foods that are actually digestible. It is a great myth that you need milk for calcium.

#3: Milk creates mucous. Mucous feeds yeast. It can cause allergies and ear infections. In fact, dairy is the number one allergy. Anyone who has stomach issues, stuffy noses or runny noses or ear infections should always eliminate dairy right off.

The Goodman household never drinks milk. We do use milk to cook with , to make yogurt and to culture Kefir. We buy our milk right from the Cow. Organic grass fed cows. It still has enzymes, it still has vitamins. Since the cows we have around here are the black and white type, mucous production is still an issue so we still don't want to drink it. If you can get the brown type cow milk, it has a much lower propensity to create mucous. Even so, milk should be a food not a drink. All mammals are weaned. Mom's milk dries up. There is a reason. It is very high in protein and is needed in infancy. However , as the baby or animal grows, they actually loose some of the enzymes used to digest the milk. I am sure that is all part of the master plan. We don't need all that protein anymore. Our systems are changed to adapt to what we now need.
Once my babies were weaned, we went right to rice milk or almond milk. Never , ever, not once did I ever put cow's milk in a bottle. Ever. The earlier you introduce cow's milk to a child, the higher chance they will have a dairy allergy. And, once you get one allergy, you are that much more likely to create more allergies.

Culturing milk for yogurt or kefir actually puts back the enzyme in the milk that most of us are lacking; lactase. It will render the milk more digestible. Culturing also creates probiotics in the dairy to help with beneficial bacteria. Many harder cheeses like cheddar and Parmesan are cured over 60 days and they too are much easier to digest. Many people still cannot handle milk in any form and a couple of mine have those issues. If you cure your yogurt for 24 hours, it will be much more broken down and even easier to digest. I still do not recommend dairy in any form to those with a true allergy.

So, if you are lucky enough to get raw milk, spend the extra money. I get mine from Save Your Dairy in Queen Creek with a drop off near my home. You can google them and find out more. If you don't live here, google raw milk to see if you have some close to you.

Goats milk is another option, I have a friend in Queen Creek that is selling some of her raw goats milk and some eggs. Goats milk is much easier to digest and many can handle goats milk even if they can't handle cow's milk. It has much less proteins.

You may email Denise at:rockin7ks@aol.com. She is selling the milk for $4 per half gallon. It is great for yogurt as well. I can't wait to try my hand at some goat cheese. As soon as I get to that, I will blog my adventures.

If you are looking to start your own yogurt or kefir, I bought my cultures from Culturesforhealth.com. I would be happy to give any tips I have learned. It is super easy and way cost effective.

So, homework assignment: if you are a dairy drinker or have cold cereal for breakfast, break the habit. Your body will love you for it. If you have kids with runny noses, cut the dairy and watch the magic happen.