Contrary to popular traditional beliefs, you can have a healthy balanced diet without dairy. What about the calcium? The reality is that you can look after your bones through a diet full of plant foods such as green vegetables (kale, spinach, collard greens), chia seeds and almonds, beans and lentils and sardines. It is very important, however, that we optimise our levels of vitamin D which, supports calcium absorption in the gut. Interestingly countries with the lowest dairy consumption like Africa and Asia have the lowest rate of osteoporosis.
Many individuals are intolerant to the proteins in milk such as the lactose and casein. This results in many health problems such as IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) with diarrhoea, flatulence and bloating. Intolerance to dairy can also contribute to many skin problems such as acne and eczema, respiratory problems like asthma and bronchitis and sinus congestion.
Dairy also contains powerful growth hormones such as IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) designed for the calves but are harmful to human health and may be a promoter of cancer, especially breast and prostate cancer.
So why not consider making the change to some of the truly delicious milk alternatives, it will be great for you and for the planet. As a nutritional therapist, my recommendation would be unsweetened almond milk and coconut milk as they not only provide a delicious alternative to dairy, but also contain many other benefits such as aiding weight loss, maintaining blood sugar levels and, supporting the well- being of the heart and brain. I generally do not recommend soya milk to my clients, especially if they have thyroid problems, and I shall be writing about the problem with soya milk in a future article in Chanctonbury Healthcare’s newsletter which you can read on our website https://chanctonbury-care.com/newsletter/
Sharon Sinclair
Nutritional Therapist
sharon.sinclair@chanctonbury-care.com
