Dairy: Bad for you?

[Geohood]

A friend was preaching that dairy is a processed food that has been marketed to us as something healthy when in fact it's not. He was also saying that it's a major cause of things such as nasal congestion, mucus, asthma etc since it's relevant to me.



I'm going to cut it out of my diet for a few weeks and see how im feeling. Does anyone else have any knowledge of this? This is interesting because I like everyone else have grown up being told that milk is good for you etc etc



Here's a couple of articles I've found:

http://notmilk.com/kradjian.html

http://www.ultrawellness.com/blog/wh...uld-avoid-milk

 

[Geohood]

And what would be a substitute to have with cereal? (you probably know that I love weetbix lol)

 

[roopy]

soymilk
available in any supermarket - milk substitute made out of soy beans.
The people who make weetbix, sanitarium, make a soy milk brand called 'So Good'.

Dairy has a lot of saturated fat and a lot of people have allergies to cow milk, but it is the main source of calcium for most people, and a serious disease called osteoporosis is caused by a lack of calcium in the diet. If you go without Dairy you need to get calcium from fish with edible bones like salmon and tuna, green leafy vegtables or a calcium tablet - but 'So Good' has added calcium as well - so it is designed to replace milk in your diet.

http://www.sogood.sanitarium.com.au/

 

[roopy]

Another milk substitute i've heard of, but never tried, is almond milk.
I suspect it would taste pretty good, but it would probably be expensive. It would need added calcium to replace milk in the diet you would think.

 

[GuardDog]

might be bad for some people but there are worst things you can drink anyway training hard/heavy should burn the fats in milk

 

[roopy]

The most publicized person to go 'dairy free' in recent years was ex-President Bill Clinton.
He apparently had open heart surgery on his clogged cardiac arteries, and he went on a dairy free and largely vegan diet that included almond milk and fruit smoothies.
He has lost 25kg and is supposed to have reversed the damage to his arteries.
There are lots of stories about it on the net if you do a search.

 

[18to87]

There is a lot out there about dairy not being good for you. I tried rice milk, almond milk all that but just couldn't handle the taste. Now I just have milk sparingly when I feel like cereal which I am also trying to cut down on because grains are also getting a reputation as being bad for you.

All I can come up with is fruit + veggies + meat (mostly white) is the way to go. :crazy:

 

[Red Bear]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTn3eJG87IQ

 

[Angry_eel]

Its better than Soft drinks and Alcohol. Personally, I can never give up yogurt, even if it ends up killing me.

 

[simostorm]

Some ppl can drink litres of it and they are fine.. depends on you really, you may benefit by not having it.

 

[adamkungl]

I love milk. I get pretty bad hayfever, but tbh I'd rather live with the hayfever than give up milk, if it even has any effect.

 

[aqua_duck]

I usually go through about 2-3L of skim milk a week during my mass gain periods. The only thing about milk is even skim milk has about 5% sugar so if you're trying to cut weight (which I've never had to do) it might but better to have very small amounts of milk, say 150-200ml servings or leave it out all together and have your cereal dry or with water (quite boring I Know)

 

[Snoochies]

I recently gave up dairy and found the solution to a long problem I had. Apparently I was lactose intolerant but didn't know it. I was constantly bloated and I couldn't digest the milk properly. I was getting frustrated as I was working out really hard and had a great diet and all but couldn't lose a kilo to save my life.
Now that I have cut out milk losing weight has been alot easier and no more bloating and lost 2 notches off the belt in a month. Even during this festive season of having more bad stuff and more beer I'm still not gaining anything and the belt is loose.
It's something I wish I could have figured out along time ago.

 

[Geohood]

I've tried low fat Coles Soy Milk today which tastes ok. Im not convinced yet that dairy causes things like mucus and tonsillitis but if true, but would Soy milk have the same effect? Or are those side effects strictly against cow milk? Thanks

 

[roopy]

I've tried low fat Coles Soy Milk today which tastes ok. Im not convinced yet that dairy causes things like mucus and tonsillitis but if true, but would Soy milk have the same effect? Or are those side effects strictly against cow milk? Thanks

Milk couldn't 'cause' tonsillitis - that is a bacterial infection, caused by bacteria - but milk might make it worse if the tissue was weakened by already having an allergic reaction to lactose in milk (or something else in milk maybe - but lactose is the thing people are often allergic to). There is no lactose in soy.
Mucus is also caused by an allergic reaction.

The bottom line is, if you have allergies to milk products it could make those things happen, but if you are not allergic it won't.

If you are going dairy free, you really need to make sure you either have foods that have calcium in them regularly, or take a calcium suppliment. It won't effect you till you are old, but the reason you see some old people shrinking and breaking bones every time they fall is because they have not had a proper calcium intake, and dairy is by far the best source of calcium. If you are going with soy milk, get a good one with calcium in it.

People can only absorb small amounts of calcium, so you can't fix the problem by having a lot when you get old, you need to have calcium nearly every day of your life to keep your bones strong for life.

 

[Geohood]

Cool thanks. Well I compared the skim milk and skim soy milk and they pretty much have the same amount calcium so I'm sweet there.

 

[roopy]

Just on 'skim' soy milk - if it doesn't taste as good as the 'full cream' variety (I know there is no cream - just looking for a word to fit) i wouldn't bother.
The only reason you would do it is less calories for weight loss, because the fat in soy milk is all unsaturated, or the type of fat that doesn't cause heart and vascular disease, while the fat in milk is mostly saturated fat, or the type that can cause heart disease.
In short, you would probably lose vitamins and taste for a few less calories, but no other benefit.

 

[Direct]

You should do a bit more reading about soy milk before you select it as your cereal topper of choice, particularly given there are better alternatives like almond and rice out there. Here's something to get you started.

Effects of soy

If you're worried about not getting enough calcium, sprinkle some sesame seeds on your cereal in the morning and load up on your dark green vegies like Bok Choy and Brocolli and as well as your canned salmon and sardines.

 

[roopy]

You should do a bit more reading about soy milk before you select it as your cereal topper of choice, particularly given there are better alternatives like almond and rice out there. Here's something to get you started.

Effects of soy

If you're worried about not getting enough calcium, sprinkle some sesame seeds on your cereal in the morning and load up on your dark green vegies like Bok Choy and Brocolli and as well as your canned salmon and sardines.

That's a very poor article.
The anecdotal 'evidence' of one guy and the opinion of a GP backed up by a few uncited articles that seemed pretty inconclusive anyway.
Having said that, some vegetable oils do slightly raise female hormones, and there are studies showing that can reduce the risk of heart disease for some reason. People eat soy/linseed bread just for that effect.

 

[HevyDevy]

Let's face it - milk, cheese, cream, they all taste disgusting so the discussion is moot.