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Things That Make Me Go “Huh?”

EXHIBIT A:  DAIRY RELIEF

While working with an elderly woman for therapy at the skilled nursing facility, I noticed this empty packet on her breakfast tray.  It would appear that my patient is lactose intolerant, which means she produces insufficient levels of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar) into glucose and galactose.

This chewable tablet is taken for the purpose of being able to consume lactose– i.e. dairy products– without incurring the symptoms of lactose intolerance:  abdominal bloating, cramps, gas, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

What is milk?  Food for babies.

Once solid food is introduced, it’s the natural progression for mammals to wean off momma’s milk.  People do it.  Cows do it.  Goats and sheep do it.

It’s natural to stop drinking milk after infancy (including the early toddler years).  It’s normal to stop producing lactase, because you shouldn’t need lactase if you won’t be consuming lactose.

If you produce the lactace enzyme beyond the typical age of weaning, it’s called lactase persistence. Worldwide, lactace persistence is the exception, not the rule.

I grew up thinking it was normal to drink milk from cows.  This is because I was indoctrinated by my dairy-consuming culture to think this way.  I never questioned it because it was all that I knew.  It never occurred to me that humans drinking cow’s milk is actually quite bizarre.

Alas, the dairy industry is a propaganda machine.  So is Big Pharma.

Who concocted the idea that lactose intolerance– a normal biological process– should be considered a medical condition?  Dairy producers?  Drug companies?  Both?

Brilliant, huh?  Dairy producers are happy because they can keeping pushing dairy products on people.  And pharmaceutical companies are more than happy to supply people with just the right pill to “pop.”

Dear Lactose Intolerant People,

THINK about it.  You don’t need dairy products.  Milk from a cow (or a goat or a sheep or any other animal) is not a dietary necessity for humans.  If your body is telling you that you cannot properly digest lactose, then LISTEN and STOP.  It really is that simple.  And, not only are dairy products not necessary, but they are actually implicated in a variety of preventable human diseases.

There are also significant ethical problems with dairy, whether produced by small or large scale operations, and whether produced by conventional or organic dairies.

I haven’t consumed animal milk for nearly 4 years.  Weaning off animal milk is much easier than you might think.  Once you take dairy out of your diet, you might just say “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

I am happy to help anyone who needs help weaning off dairy.  Contact me.

In closing, taking a pill– Dairy Relief– to digest a substance that is completely unnecessary in the human diet just makes me want to go “Huh?”