When you follow a
dairy-free diet, you dont consume milk, butter, cheese, yogurt or any other dairy products. Dairy, along with some of its additives have been linked to allergies, acne, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, diabetes, cancer and a host of other illnesses. If you want to feel healthier, a life without dairy may be just what the doctor ordered.
Chemical Toxins in the Dairy
Milk is only as good as the cows that produce it. Dairy cows are regularly given growth hormones to help them produce more milk than Mother Nature intended. This puts the cows at risk for a condition known as mastitis. This bacterial infection of the udders causes swelling, pain, heat, inflammation and redness. Mastitis in cows is potentially fatal if it is not treated properly.
When farmers use milking machines to extract milk from mastitis-infected cows, the puss and blood from the infected udders can get into the milk supply. The milk produced from livestock with mastitis is low-grade and not worth drinking.
Antibiotics are given to the cows to treat mastitis and other diseases. Even if the dairy cows are not sick, farmers still give them antibiotics as a preventive measure. As if the antibiotics and hormones are not enough, dairy cows are also fed a diet of chemical-treated grain that often contains the leftover parts of slaughtered animals.
Cows are naturally vegetarian theyre supposed to eat fresh grass, not low-quality grains filled with dead animal parts. The addition of animal parts is one of the reasons for outbreaks of mad-cow disease. The human form of this disease is fatal.
The antibiotics, hormones and other toxins pass from the cow to the milk supply. When you eliminate dairy from your diet, you wont have to worry about ingesting these toxins and putting your health at risk.
Affects of Pasteurization on Dairy Quality
When milk is pasteurized, it is heat treated for a short amount to time to make it safe for human consumption. However, the temperature during pasteurization is not high enough to rid the milk of some of the bacteria that can make people sick. Instead, it kills off good bacteria as well as the enzymes needed for digestion.
Pasteurization makes 50-percent of the calcium found in milk unusable by the body. This may be the reason for the high instances of lactose intolerance and osteoporosis in the United States.
Calcium Sources for a Dairy-Free Diet
The primary concern for those who are considering a dairy-free lifestyle is the ability to get enough calcium in their diets. It is recommended that adults get around 1000mg of this mineral each day.
If you eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, nuts and fish, you can absolutely get enough calcium from a diet that does not include dairy. Here is a list of foods that contain calcium.
broccoli
cauliflower
cabbage
kale
butternut squash
bok choy
okra
turnip greens
collard greens
oranges
blueberries
mulberries
grapefruit
almonds
pistachios
sesame seeds
hazelnuts
sardines with bones
salmon
If often surprises people to find out just how much calcium they can get from plant-based sources. The calcium from these sources is absorbed more efficiently by the body than calcium from milk, cheese and other sources of dairy.
Is Organic Dairy Safe?
Dairy cows that are used to produce organic milk are not given growth hormones and antibiotics. Also, their feed is not chemically treated or littered with dead animal parts. This in itself makes organic dairy healthier. However, organic milk is still pasteurized, so a lot of the calcium is still not useable by the body.
