CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK

Challenge of the Week:

Dare to go Dairy-free this week?

With the countless “Got Milk” ads and commercials, we’ve been bombarded with messages about how dairy is SO good for us- it has protein and is loaded with calcium.

In Reality: Not only do we HARDLY absorb the calcium when we drink milk, but it actually LEECHES calcium from our bones.

Here’s how it works:

Since milk is acidic, our bodies need to neutralize the pH.  The way our bodies do this is by using calcium that is stored in our bodies (mostly in our bones.)  After the calcium is used to neutralize the acidity, we pee it out, leaving us with a NET LOSS of calcium. 

Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?

You’ll get a MUCH higher absorption of calcium from green leafy vegetables than you ever will from milk.

So drinking milk for the calcium benefits and to reduce your risk for osteoporosis is NOT the best advice…DESPITE what your doctors are probably telling you.  (and absolutely I encourage you to do your own research on this.)

“Consumption of dairy products, particularly at age 20 years, was associated with an increased risk of hip fracture in old age. (“Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Hip Fractures in the Elderly.”  American Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 139, No. 5, 1994)

Now you can understand why even though we drink more milk here in the US than any other country, we have one of the highest rates of osteoporosis in the WORLD.

Here are a few other things you probably didn’t know:

• More than 75% of us have some degree of lactose intolerance- meaning our bodies can NOT properly digest the proteins found in cows milk.
• Cow’s milk is NOT for humans…it will take a baby calf from 100 to 800 pounds by the time it’s weaned from it’s mother. That’s a weight increase of 800%!
• Africa and Asia have the lowest consumption rates of dairy and ALSO have the lowest rates of osteoporosis.  
• Most cows that our milk comes from are treated with antibiotics and hormones that gets transferred into the milk that we are drinking.   These hormones will increase your risk for cancer.  (Breast & Prostate) (I’m also convinced that these hormones are one of the reasons that our 12 year-olds are looking more and more like they’re 18.)
• Milk will aggravate symptoms in people with IBS
• Milk causes increased inflammation in the body

So…This Week’s Challenge is to AVOID DRINKING MILK (and other dairy products.)

Here’s what you CAN have…

• Coconut Milk  
• Almond Milk as a substitute.  I use this in my smoothies or protein shakes. You can also make your own almond milk in the blender- it’s SUPER easy.  It’s only 1 part almonds to 3 parts water.  Blend it up in the blender and strain out the pulp!  That’s IT! 

• 2-3 servings (spread out over the week) of Organic Greek Yogurt.  It has beneficial probiotics in there and yogurt is more pH neutral than regular milk.

Think you are up for the Challenge this Week??!  

Take advice from the Anchorman….that Milk is a BAD Choice.