Milk: It Does a Body Good?

When I was pregnant, I read Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven. It motivated me to eat healthier for about a month, maybe two, but I eventually caved and ate all the crap you're not supposed to eat. I was recently gifted the most ginormous bag of baby boy clothes from a friend of a friend (so generous) and also nabbed her copies of Skinny Bitch and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. So this has been my latest read.

Now, I know these books are crass and I ought to be reading books that are much more edifying, but I tell you what: these are the most attention-getting, amusing and informative nutrition books I've ever read.

I have blogged about my issues digesting milk and Liam's issues digesting my milk when I attempt to digest milk, so this information (which I originally read in Bun in the Oven) comes as no surprise, but how crazy enlightening (and obvious?!) is this? Be forewarned: Crass (with a capital C).

Excerpts from Skinny Bitch: Chapter 6: The Dairy Disaster

"Go suck your mother's tits. Go on. Suck your mother's tits. You think it's ridiculous? It is. Get ready to use your head.

When a woman gives birth, her body produces milk and she nurses her child.

Breast milk can grow an 8 pound newborn into a 24 pound toddler. Sounds pretty fattening, huh? It is. By design, it is intended to allow for the biggest growth spurt of a person's entire life. Breast milk alone can accommodate for a 300 percent weight gain in a twelve month period. When her child is anywhere from 12 to 24 months a mother stops breast feeding. Her milk dries up. Her child will never drink breast milk ever again.

Cows, like all mammals, are much the same. Their bodies produce milk only when they give birth. Contrary to popular belief, they do not need to be milked- ever. Their udders, like women's breasts exist even when there is no milk in them. There is one major difference, however. Cows' milk, by design, grows a 90 pound calf into a 2,000 pound cow over the course of two years. It allows calves to double their birth weight in 47 days and leaves their 4 stomachs feeling full. Sounds even more fattening than human milk, right? It is. It should be. Cows are bigger than humans. And the inner workings of their bodies are completely different than ours. Which they should be. They are cows. We are humans. Duh.

Mammals need the enzyme lactase to digest lactose (the sugar found in dairy). However, between the ages of 18 months and 4 years, we lost 90 to 95 percent of this enzyme. The undigested lactose and the acidic nature of pasteurized milk encourage the growth of baceria in our intestines. All this contributes to a greater risk of cancer because cancer cells thrive in acidic condtions...All species, including ours, have just what we need to get by. She (mother nature) did not intend for grownups to suck their mothers' tits. We don't need our mothers' milk as adults, just like grown cows don't need their mothers' milk anymore. We are the only species on the planet that drinks milk as adults. We are also the only species on the planet that drinks the milk of another species...."

It gets better as it goes on, but you'll have to buy it or borrow it from your library to read the rest. No wonder I can't digest milk.

In other news, a second dairy disaster was that Liam spit up in my mouth today. Yum.