[SIZE=4][COLOR=green]Milk myths and misinformation[/COLOR] [/SIZE]
img:27:Kavita Mukhi While I was in Goa recently a friend called and invited himself over for a cup of tea with me. Had he wanted to have lunch or dinner I wouldn’t have panicked as I do, when someone wants to come over for tea or coffee. I’ve been forced to introspect: Why should a simple request for a cup of tea create such a flap? Particularly since I pride myself in running a perfect home where at any given point of time, everything is in stock. Yes, even tea and coffee including several types of herbal, green and biodynamic teas and organic coffee. Moreover raw sugar, jaggery, and golden sugar made from organic sugarcane are also always stocked in my kitchen.
Then why the panic, I wondered. After some introspection, I hit on the answer: because milk isn’t a regular part of my diet, the self-invitation meant I would need to run to buy it. I don’t drink milk because I find it difficult to digest, a common infirmity of Asians. Most people however, aren’t aware of its adverse effects and continue to drink milk while learning to live with the problems it causes.
But some ten years ago, when for the first time in my life I needed a doctor’s help, an ayurvedic physician insisted I drink a glass of milk every day. I was in such bad shape that I complied.
Half a cup was all I managed to down for about six months. That too with the addition of turmeric and pipplimul which negates the mucus forming quality of milk and makes it more digestible. I must confess that the prescription really helped me in an emotionally stressful period of my life. Even now when I’m overworked, haven’t had adequate rest and feel bushed, I down that half cup of milk.
Obviously I’ve come full circle from being a strong opponent of milk to becoming aware of its place in our diet. Therefore it amused me when an acquaintance of mine recently informed me that milk is harmful. Maybe the quality of milk available today is, but nothing taken in balance can ever be poison. I’ve learned this lesson from first-hand experience and through ayurveda.
The other valuable lesson I’ve learned from this ancient Indian science is to keep to regular meal timings. There was a time when I used to be so immersed in my daily activites that I’d forget to eat until hunger pangs forced me to. Not any more. Now at breakfast, lunch and dinner, even if I’m not hungry, I eat as much as my body will take. Usually I surprise myself because when eating at the appointed hour, I realise that the body is happy to receive nourishment. Food ingested at fixed time intervals digests best and therefore nourishes the body.
Another important lesson I’ve learned from ayurveda and something that is insufficiently stressed by nutritionists is the need to chew your food well, and eat your meals in a quiet and peaceful environment.
But back to the subject of milk. As an eco-nutritionist I still don’t advocate milk except for therapeutic reasons and certainly not to overweight people. Moreover even if milk is consumed for therapeutic reasons, make sure it isn’t homogenised (or so-called long life) milk, wherein fat particles are broken up to prolong its shelf life. Such milk is dangerous for the heart because the fat clogs the arteries rather than getting burnt off as in non-homogenised milk.
Be that as it may, my fundamental objection to milk as a general health drink or tonic is still valid. The nutrients of milk are not essential for human beings especially since after age three, we fail to generate the enzymes to digest it. It’s not well known that homo sapiens is the only species that drinks the milk of other animals. Obesity is one of the major fall-outs of this. If calcium deficiency is what you are worried about, oranges, sesame, raw green leafy vegetables and sea vegetables have plenty of it and in a more easily assimilable form than the calcium content of milk can ever be.
It’s also important to note in this connection that it isn’t just a question of ingesting a nutrient but also of having within us the capacity to absorb that nutrient, be it the rays of the sun or vitamin C. This brings us again to the irreversible truth that only if we ingest foods closest to their natural form and closest to us biologically, can nature provide us with the life force needed to keep us in perfect shape.
However, all this having been said, new research on foods suitable for different blood groups clearly indicates that some people are able to digest milk while others aren’t. So the best advice is to follow your instinct. But make sure your instinct doesn’t favour highly sweetened flavoured milk, which can hardly be described as milk and can create health problems such as obesity, diabetes and gastric disorders. The best rule to follow is to carefully listen to what your body, not what your intellect or emotions, tells you about milk and milk products, or for that matter any other food.
Breastfeeding mothers should also note that the animal milk they drink can be the greatest cause of colic in a child. It’s a myth that you need to drink milk to produce milk. Remember the cow doesn’t drink milk to produce milk which is meant to be for her calf, not for us. If for no other reason, we need to curtail our intake of dairy products because of the cruelty it visits upon cows and calves. Widespread adulteration of milk is another reason for caution. Moreover the contemporary reality is that most of the ‘fresh’ milk is reconstituted anyway. In particular vegetarians need to be aware that the manner in which milk is reconstituted these days is almost akin to ingesting non-vegetarian fare.
More on the perfect food, that is mother’s milk, another time.
[B](Kavita Mukhi is a Mumbai-based eco-nutritionist and CEO of Conscious Food)[/B]