Busting the Milk Myth
Did you grow up drinking milk?
Did everyone around you consume milk in some way, shape or form?
Did everyone around you insist milk was healthy?
Did you assume I’m referring to cow’s milk?
If you answered ‘Yes’ to all the questions, you’re not alone! Drinking milk is the norm in most Indian households. Most people feel that milk is the way to keep their children ‘healthy’ and give them ‘strong bones’. How did this happen
In the 90s, India became the biggest producer and consumer of milk thanks to the Iconic ‘Doodh Doodh’ ad released by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). Follow it up with years of effective marketing from milk giants that promised us they were selling the purest & freshest milk without which your household could not stay healthy, malted beverage brands telling us we needed them and milk to grow ‘taller, stronger and sharper’ and the easy access and availability of milk, the whole country swooned and milk gained a strong foothold in our daily lives as a staple we should consume!
But, is this really the case? Do we need milk to stay healthy?
Let’s examine the facts.
We need Calcium for strong bones. That is a fact. But, who said milk is your only source of Calcium? Oh yes, Advertisers.
What better motivation is there than fear? Advertisers and marketers have scared us into believing that we need to consume milk as a source of calcium.
Are they to be believed? Definitely not!
Milk is NOT your primary source of Calcium. You will not become deficient in Calcium if you stop consuming milk and dairy products. A daily dose of exercise and a healthy diet with lots of lentils, greens & seeds will give your body all the Calcium you need!
The only milk humans were meant to drink is mother’s milk when we are babies. Cow’s milk (or any other animal’s milk) is produced for cows to feed their young. It is designed to feed a calf that will eventually grow up to weigh about 700kgs to 1,000kgs! Not a human who will probably weigh about 70kgs to 100kgs!
However, one may argue that if we were meant to drink mother’s milk, what’s wrong with cow milk?
To process dairy, the body needs to break down lactose and casein. Lactose is processed by the enzyme lactase and casein is processed by the enzyme renin. By the time humans reach the age of 3 or 4, both these enzymes are no longer produced. A clear sign that we are not meant to be consuming it anymore!
It is also worth noting that casein (the protein in milk) is the same substance used to produce industrial strength wood glue. Imagine digesting that without an enzyme to break it down! That’s not all, Cows milk has 300% more casein that in human milk!
From an evolutionary perspective, humans were lactose intolerant. It is only in the last 10,000 years or so, that humans have developed this habit of drinking something that cows produce to feed their young. Now, we have evolved to a point where a fair number of us can now tolerate milk and dairy.
But, does tolerating something mean you need it? Nope, it doesn’t!
In this day and age, there are several substitutes for cow’s milk! Almond milk, cashew milk, oat milk, coconut milk, hazelnut milk, etc. The list is endless! So if you need a daily or weekly fix of milk get testing and tasting!
Keeping all these points in mind, it is safe to say that people do not need to consume milk or dairy! We can be healthy without them. All the convincing advertising and efficient marketing is nothing but a myth!
