The relationship between dairy and the west sends a convoluted message. Dairy products often evoke a sense of comfort in food as well as appealing to our reward senses. However the dairy industry and the products being produced are by in large not beneficial to our overall health and there are many leading experts who promote removing it from your diet entirely. The milk you drink today is far removed from idyllic scenes presented by the media, but aside from this the product is also laden with hormones. Often times when this topic is broached the counter argument is that we as humans have used milk in our diet for thousands of years, however this is a one dimensional view of the situation. Dr Ganmaa Davaasambuu p.h.d uses Mongolia as an example in her advanced study published by Harvard. There, in traditional herding societies, cows are milked for human consumption only five months a year and, if pregnant, only in the early stages. Consequently, levels of hormones in the milk are much lower. Modern cultivation of dairy is the issue itself as cows are milked about 300 days a year. In order to meet this demand, the cows are pregnant and they often produce dairy until a much later age than natural, meaning a high increase in hormones with over 10 times more progesterone and oestrogen. On top of large amounts of oestrogen and progesterone being present in the milk, Bovine Growth Hormone is also injected on a weekly basis into dairy cows in some countries to make them grow bigger faster, and produce more milk to sell. International bestselling book The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell is the largest comprehensive study of human nutrition ever conducted. It was launched via a partnership between Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventative Medicine and in it the relationship between dairy and disease is explored at length. It is shown that Bovine causes the chemical IGF-1 to be released. This has been linked to a whole host of diseases, including breast and prostate cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and gynecomastia. There are many other hormones present in dairy such as casein, which is found to promote cancers at all stages,and VEGF which has a high correlation to disease. If you also take into account the link between acidosis and disease there are quite a few arguments for adopting a dairy free diet. You may wonder why, if dairy is so dangerous, there is not more done to highlight the risks? This could be related to vested interests as the dairy industry represents 12% of Britains GDP. The good news is there are many fantastic resources available to help you on your journey and in my 4 years of being dairy free I have never found it a struggle to travel or eat out at restaurants. For British women leading the revolution I suggest following Deliciously Ella, Natasha Corrett and Amelia Freer.
Vegan Nut Cheese Recipe: Gluten Free, Dairy Free and Sugar Free.
- Take 1.5 cups of plant milk
- 1/2 cups of walnuts
- 1 tbsp of lemon juice
- 2 tsp of celtic or himalayan sea salt
- 1 tbsp agar powder
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1/2 cup boiled water
- 1/3 cup of walnuts roughly chopped
- 5 pitted medjool dates roughly chopped.
Take all of the above and blend until smooth, pour into a pan and bring to boil and leave for 10 minutes tops. Pour into “cheese moulds” and let cool for a while before popping it into the fridge to set for over an hour… Voila!