Do you use milk and dairy product or avoid them?

[StaceyinLA]

"no other animals do it," thing. We aren't like other animals. Also, God did provide us with the opportunity to utilize animal products.

 

That being said, I do NOT believe that we should obtain animal products by way of cruel, inhumane treatment of animals, which, unfortunately, is the case with most purchased dairy products. Even organic dairy farms take tiny calves from their mothers in order to take the milk for humans, who probably could do without it.

 

I have a couple of dairy goats. Most of the last 11 years we have had raw milk from our goats, friends' goats, or non-homogenized from a local dairy if we were desperate. I allow my goats to nurse their kids until they wean them naturally, and we take what is left. Occasionally I buy OV milk (the one I have researched to be the most humane).

 

We do like other dairy products, but I dislike purchasing those for similar reasons of course, although on occasion I do buy OV. We have a local butter source as well if we want butter.

 

We are mostly vegan. However, from my purist side, I have issues doing the fake-y substitute foods as well, so much that I'm on the verge of just eating raw fruits, veggies and nuts. We do enjoy coconut milk and many of the coconut products, almond milk, and hemp milk.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I give the kids one glass of milk per day, and they eat some yogurt. Dairy products give me terrible intestinal problems, so I try not to eat them.

[KatieH]

Animals also don't drive cars or use computers, but I don't see what that has to do with me. And really, the only reason they aren't drinking milk is because they lack the opposable thumbs to go milk the cow. I mean, maybe my animals are freaks, but if you sit a saucer of milk on the ground, the dog, cats, even the chickens go nuts for it.

 

We drink orangic, grassfed, non-homogenized, low-pasteurized milk from a local creamery. I would drink raw if I had access. I think conventional milk is horrible for you. I also think veganism is horrible for you. We tend to follow a traditional foods diet. We eat oragnic, grassfed butter, and yogurt from the same creamery we get our milk from.

[JadeOrchidSong]

That being said, I do NOT believe that we should obtain animal products by way of cruel, inhumane treatment of animals, which, unfortunately, is the case with most purchased dairy products. Even organic dairy farms take tiny calves from their mothers in order to take the milk for humans, who probably could do without it.

 

:iagree:That is the reason that I would reduce dairy products for. I am going to order a soy milk maker for $60 soon.

[momofkhm]

A friend sent me an article about how bad milk is to our health. Basically, no animals drink milk once they are weaned of their mothers' milk and are able to eat real solid food. And cows that produce milk even when they don't have babies do it in an artificial way and the milk quality is not good. Plus calcium in milk is not easily absorbed by human body.

I just want to see what you think. Do you drink milk or avoid it and what are your reasons for your choice? Do you avoid non organic milk and use organic or no milk at all?

Thanks! I really appreciate learning from you. This is a wonderful community from which I can glean lots of wisdom.

 

Dairy drinkers here! I love cheese especially.

[robsiew]

Some of us are dairy sensitive in our family so we consume some, but not a lot. We do okay with cheese, but it's not raw. We had an outlet for raw milk, but lost that so we don't drink milk. We drink rice milk instead. Well, mainly I use it in baking and for milk on cereal. All we really drink here is water on a regular basis.

 

I refuse to buy or consume commercial milk or meat. We get most of our meat from local farmers. Once our raw milk source is back I'll most likely get that again, although the 2 of us with sensitivities can't even drink a lot of raw milk...

[colleenebeans]

:iagree:That is the reason that I would reduce dairy products for. I am going to order a soy milk maker for $60 soon.

 

Wow, they have a soy milk maker? I never cared for soy milk and love the almond milk, I wonder if soy milk would be better home-made. Im gonna look into that...Thanks.

 

Animal cruelty is the main reason why we cut dairy and meat out of our diet. Lovin it...no plans on going back.

[angela in ohio]

We don't drink milk often, but we eat dairy products: yogurt, kefir, and cheeses. It's because dairy does less damage to my stomach (and my dc's stomachs) when it's been altered in some way. My little underweight guy does get whole milk twice a day, though, in addition to the yogurt and cheese that he eats normally.

[nukeswife]

my oldest will drink nothing but milk or water. I have a milk delivery service that drops of half gallon glass bottle (about 8 or so a week) every Tuesday, along with eggs, butter, and many other items.

[gaillardia]

We have cut way back on dairy products and are healthier for it.

Less sinus problems, hardly ever, EVER, do we have strept throat, not much problem with ears.

One daughter is small and has always liked to drink milk, she is developing in the chest faster than other daughter and I did. We know a family that has 3-5 gallon jugs in their fridge at all times, there are only 6 people in the family.

We buy organic when we can. We also use soy milk sometimes. The teens have seen a better difference in their health when they don't use dairy products so much.

[HappyCrazyMama]

Animals also don't drive cars or use computers, but I don't see what that has to do with me. And really, the only reason they aren't drinking milk is because they lack the opposable thumbs to go milk the cow. I mean, maybe my animals are freaks, but if you sit a saucer of milk on the ground, the dog, cats, even the chickens go nuts for it.

 

We drink orangic, grassfed, non-homogenized, low-pasteurized milk from a local creamery. I would drink raw if I had access. I think conventional milk is horrible for you. I also think veganism is horrible for you. We tend to follow a traditional foods diet. We eat oragnic, grassfed butter, and yogurt from the same creamery we get our milk from.

 

I was wondering if someone else had noticed this and I have responded similarity to the, "no other animals do it" argument. We have had dairy goats for over 10 years and I have fed goat's milk to many animals; cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, even calves, they love it and if they could milk a cow or goat they'd be doing it too. ;) . (Never gave it to the parrots or fish though. :tongue_smilie:)

 

We drink raw goats milk, eat butter, cheese, half-half, cream, yogurt, yep dairy in many forms is a staple here. :)

[Laura Corin]

I was wondering if someone else had noticed this and I have responded similarity to the, "no other animals do it" argument. We have had dairy goats for over 10 years and I have fed goat's milk to many animals; cats, dogs, pigs, chickens, even calves, they love it and if they could milk a cow or goat they'd be doing it too. ;) . (Never gave it to the parrots or fish though. :tongue_smilie:)

 

We drink raw goats milk, eat butter, cheese, half-half, cream, yogurt, yep dairy in many forms is a staple here. :)

 

I just did a bit of a search and the consensus seems to be that it would be rare/impossible for them to take milk from the cow's teats directly, but they might well drink leakage from the teats when the cow is lying down and very full.

 

FWIW, one is advised not to feed cow milk to hedgehogs, as it upsets their stomachs.

 

Laura

[sagira]

I was a bit concerned too, but gosh, I think dairy is one of the things in life I'm never going to give up :tongue_smilie: I don't see a convincing reason either. Some of the healthiest people I know consume dairy. We drink organic milk and I buy organic cheese whenever possible. ILs will get us non organic dairy, and we do eat the cheese, but the milk tastes different to me. I do love organic products better. They do taste better to me as well. The grass fed, low pasteurized milk is my next goal, but by golly, it's so expensive for us right now!

[jld]

We have cut way back on dairy products and are healthier for it.

Less sinus problems, hardly ever, EVER, do we have strept throat, not much problem with ears.

One daughter is small and has always liked to drink milk, she is developing in the chest faster than other daughter and I did. We know a family that has 3-5 gallon jugs in their fridge at all times, there are only 6 people in the family.

We buy organic when we can. We also use soy milk sometimes. The teens have seen a better difference in their health when they don't use dairy products so much.

 

This was the biggest change we noticed, too.

 

As far as earlier sexual development, I thought I had read that was tied to flesh consumption, but it makes sense that dairy would hasten it, too.

 

You know, my sister used to keep several gallons of milk at all times in her fridge. Her oldest had/has asthma, and I've often wondered how much easier his growing up years could have been without all that dairy in his body . . .

[creekland]

We use dairy and are VERY rarely sick, never have had strep throat (any of the 5 of us), don't have any chronic diseases or conditions, or any other major health conditions. At one point I cut some dairy, but then I read articles showing that those who use dairy tend to lose more weight or be a lower weight, so I added it back in. Besides, I absolutely love cheese, so cutting it out never really was an option anyway.

 

When we can stop by the convenience store that sells the hormone free variety milk for the same price as the other stuff I buy it there. If I need to buy it at the grocery store I don't pay extra for it though. Nine times out of ten I go to the convenience store.

[babysparkler]

Milk, cheese, half & half.... I'm a dairy fiend! :D

 

Cat

 

I love milk.

 

I understand why it's rather unnatural, but I really do love dairy.

:iagree:

[Ravin]

Human lactase persistence (the mutation that lets us digest lactose beyond infancy) is not universal by far. It originated in Europe and in West Africa (two independent mutations), and in North America many people have mixed ancestry (often without even knowing it) that may give them only one copy of the gene, and plenty who haven't got it at all. These people are "lactose intolerant" (actually, they're just normal). Some people will maintain lactase persistence unless they go a long period of not eating lactose-containing products, then they lose it and aren't likely to get it back.

 

All that is basic genetics, not "junk science". There is a wider range of people who have cultural traditions of eating fermented cheese products that have little lactose in them--yogurt, kefir, hard cheese, sour cream, etc. Probably most people can eat such things in moderation and be healthy.

 

Individual quirks of metabolism in the age of food intolerance and allergy mean that some people still won't be able to eat dairy.

 

Overall, I came to the conclusion long ago that dairy is healthy human food unless you individual genetics and constitution result in it being problematic for you, in which case avoiding dairy is sensible. It's also entirely possible to have a very healthy diet with no dairy in it at all, something which often runs counter to the cultural assumptions of those in dairy-eating cultures (like ours).

 

No one in my household falls in that category except me; I have to limit my consumption of high-lactose products because during my vegetarian phase and a few years before that (during the on a ship with nasty UHT milk phase), I pretty much stopped drinking milk and now I don't digest it as well as I used to--the Mediterranean ancestry on my dad's side probably accounts for that if nothing else. I fell in the "use it or lose it" lactase persistence group. I still eat plenty of dairy--cheese, yogurt, etc. are all good, milk/cream in considered moderation.

[flyingiguana]

Some human groups have developed the ability to specialize on dairy products. If other animals haven't, that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad for those groups of humans who can eat it. Saying animals don't do it is kind of a silly argument. Some solid research on its effects would be more convincing than just saying that other animals can't eat it.

 

Humans eat chocolate too. That's poisonous to some animals. And there are lots of toxic plants that I wouldn't touch, even though many insects can eat them.

 

 

Just happened to run across this this morning -- it may have been funded by a dairy board somewhere, and further research might debunk it, but interesting to consider all the same:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12049624

 

Dairy foods 'could help prevent diabetes'

 

A natural substance found in dairy products appears to protect against diabetes, say researchers. Trans-palmitoleic acid is present in milk, cheese, yoghurt and butter but cannot be made by the body.

[kewb]

I am not a huge milk fan so I rarely drink it. I do buy organic milk because it is hormone and anti-biotic free. I tried raw milk but my kids didn't like it. Dh did, and he liked the fresh cream but the kids are the primary milk drinkers and it wasn't worth it.

 

We all love raw milk cheese. We all love cheese, period. Along with yogurt and kefir. Ice cream as an occasional treat. Dairy is a big part of our lives.

 

That said, there are other sources of calcium so if you are not a dairy fan I don't think it is that big of a deal.

[cathmom]

We have no dairy sensitivities here. My own personal unscientific opinion with no research to support it is that our ancestors have been big dairy consumers for many centuries. Lots of Scandinavian and northern European blood. When we were learning about the Vikings, I remember reading that milk and cheese were a big part of their diet. Short growing season there, but cows graze on the grasses and produce milk that people can make into cheese to store for the winter. Anyway, I find it a comforting thought to think that I am made for cheese and am living the way my ancestors did!:D

 

I am also of Northern European descent. I am pretty much the only adult I know who drinks milk. Once about 10 years ago, I was having some issues and decided to go without dairy to see if it helped. I went about a month and noticed no change and I really missed them, so I started again. I do wish that I could afford to only buy organic though!

 

FWIW, one is advised not to feed cow milk to hedgehogs, as it upsets their stomachs.

 

Laura

 

I will keep that in mind! :lol:

[Rosie_0801]

I can't believe I didn't mention ice cream in my litany of dairy products we love. Safeway just came out with a white chocolate raspberry ice cream with nuggets of chocolate truffle in it. I am the happiest person ever.

 

 

That's only because you've never had the lime-coconut milk ice cream I used to be able to get :tongue_smilie:

 

Rosie