It is believed that up to 75% of people are lactose intolerant. This is because the majority of people do not produce enough lactase, used to break down lactose into 2 types of sugars that are absorbed in the bloodstream. Lactose intolerance is more prevalent in Asian and Afro-Caribbean populations.
However, the dairy industry represents about 12 per cent of Britain’s GDP, so in their interest to sell products, the dairy industry has created an obsession over calcium that instead has become the main contributing factor of death from overnutrition such as obesity, diabetes, stroke, arthritis and heart disease.
The primary biologic purpose of cow’s milk is to cause growth, Cow’s milk is 50% fat and it also has high concentrations of protein, potassium, sodium, calcium, and other nutrients to sustain rapid growth (https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/mar/dairy.htm).
HOW DOES DAIRY FOOD AFFECT YOUR BODY?
Symptoms of lactose intolerance start after consuming food or drink that contains lactose. They can include:
- flatulence (wind)
- diarrhoea
- bloated stomach
- stomach cramps and pains
- stomach rumbling
- feeling sick
The severity of the symptoms depends on how much lactose has been consumed.
However, lactose intolerance is not the only thing to worry about when consuming dairy products:
- The consumption of cow’s milk and milk products increases blood levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) that are linked to several common cancers including cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon (http://www.whitelies.org.uk/sites/default/files/milkmyths/White%20Lies%20report%202014.pdf). The consumption of 1 pint of milk in adolescent girls increases IGF-1 levels by 10% and the same 10% increase for postmenopausal women from 3 servings per day of nonfat milk or 1% milk (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12417786?dopt=AbstractPlus)
- Mass production of cow’s milk has led to production-related diseases, like lameness and mastitis, leading to pus in the mammary glands and milk. Up to 50% of cows suffer from mastitis and are regularly treated with antibiotics directly on the teat canal. Cows’ milk can legally contain up to 400 million pus cells/litre in the UK, so one teaspoon of milk can legally have 2 million pus cells. That pus goes into your system and then triggers inflammatory responses in your body (http://www.whitelies.org.uk/animal-welfare/why-people-talk-about-pus-or-antibiotics-milk-how-would-these-things-get-milk).
- Milk and milk products are highly acidic which can cause acidosis. This means that the cells in your body live in a high acidic state that can cause many chronic diseases as listed below
(https://consciousfood.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/acidosis-and-what-causes-it/)
HOW TO START GOING DAIRY FREE?
An Alkaline diet is the healthiest diet and less likely to cause cancer or chronic diseases. So the aim is to consume alkaline foods and limit the consumption of high acidic foods.
(http://foodandnonsense.com/diet-review-alkaline-diet/)
Milk, cheese, yoghurt and cream can be replaced as following:
- Dairy milk with almond, coconut, rice or soya milk
- Hard cheese with tofu or bean curd for sauces, soft cheese with hummus
- Dairy yoghurt with soya or coconut yoghurt
- Crème fraiche, fromage frais and cream with coconut or soya cream
- Butter and margarines containing dairy with soya spreads, hummus, peanut or other nut or seed butter
- Dairy ice cream with soya, coconut ice cream or other dairy-free types; milk chocolate with dark chocolate
- Other advice includes replacing refined and processed oils with extra-virgin olive oil; refined and man-made sugars with raw cane sugar; refined white bread, pasta and rice with unrefined wholegrain products; and cutting out preservatives and artificial flavourings and colourings.
- Consumption of meat, fish and eggs should also be limited. Instead, eat unrefined carbohydrates, beans, nuts, vegetables and fruit. Salt is best replaced by herbs, and coffee by homemade juices, tap water and herbal tea.
(Beat Cancer: The 10-Step Plan to Help you Overcome and Prevent Cancer’ by Prof Mustafa Djamgoz and Prof Jane Plant)
ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF CALCIUM
(http://inminutes.com/best-sources-of-calcium/)