Monday, 9 April 2007

My Thoughts on Milk

I've never been a huge fan of milk. I was lucky enough to have been brought up on skim milk so have only occasionally known the horrors of full cream milk. Blah - just the thought of it makes me shudder. I haven't had any dairy products for a while but today I impulsively had an iced chocolate drink at the the new Borders which opened in Wellington a few weeks ago (disappointing btw - where are the books?? I've only had 2 Borders experiences - Singapore and Hawaii - and this one doesn't even come close!!). Moments later my nose started dripping non-stop and I had to buy a pocket pack of tissues just to manage the nasal flow! A coincidence? I think not!! The thing is - I had taken my chronically runny nose for granted (it's really that bad. I go through 1-2 handkerchiefs a day with the odd tissue thrown in for good measure) and all I need to do is give up dairy for good.

So I did a little bit of online research and found that there's a lot of evidence that milk is not your friend. Read Milk Sucks for the low down on how dairy production affects your health and the environment and Not Milk for an even more comprehensive look at this. And when Dr Weil says this - Casein, the protein in cow's milk can both irritate the immune system and increase mucus production. It is often associated with sinus conditions as well as with such problems as recurrent childhood ear infections, eczema, chronic bronchitis and asthma. It may take as long as to two months before you experience the full benefits of eliminating milk from your diet. - I know for sure that it's not all anti-dairy propoganda.

So I'll leave you with these thoughts and questions that I'm sure someone out there can answer:
  • Humans are the only species that drink the milk of another animal.
  • Could Mad Cow/CJD be spread through milk? I will never be able to donate blood thanks to my carnivorous ways over 4 years in London at the height of the Mad Cow outbreak so sensitive about this one!
  • Is there a dairy free chocolate that tastes like milk chocolate?

3 comments:

Mary said...

There is a non-dairy chocolate that is made with rice milk. Here's the link:
https://secure1.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=vegane&BusType=BtoC&Count1=186962306&Count2=104102730&CategoryID=1&Target=products.asp

I've personally never had rice milk chocolate, but you can see from the reviews that it is well received.

And milk is the grossest thing ever.

El Goober said...

So this is where you are....

Alisa said...

In the US and Canada, Terra Nostra's rice milk bar is excellent. In the UK and Europe there is a brand new "milk" chocolate line, but I can't seem to find the name. It is out there though!