Milk…it does the body good!
Milk! It does the body good! Or does it?
Yes. Milk is an amazing addition to our American diet! It is especially helpful for those with hemochromatosis as calcium blocks iron absorption. And it tastes SO good in its various forms of ice-cream, frozen yogurt, kefir, buttermilk and SO much more! If you can enjoy milk and milk products, do it! Those with high cholesterol, low iron or lactose intolerance have my sympathy because they cannot take advantage of this wonder food. In fact, I have a little story to tell about lactose intolerance at the extreme end of the spectrum.
In my home-village of Djibanar, around 1963 I watched a newly formed non-profit organization unload a jeep full of canned pork and beans and bags of powdered milk onto my parents’ porch. This was also the location of mom’s daily clinic. Though the pork and beans went untouched, the bags of powdered milk rapidly disappeared, packed on the heads of women whose backs held babies in bamburungos. And the village hugely enjoyed this addition to their menu of rice, peanuts, fish, millet, manioc and kutcha.
That is, until something very sad was noticed. The babies in the village were being brought to Madame Mac – the village medic who was also my mom. But the infants were in very poor condition. They were losing weight, vomiting, had diarrhea and were dehydrated. One baby, only a month old died. At that point, my mom began to investigate and found that the entire village of Djibanar had never had free access to milk or milk products, except for what their mothers supplied at birth, and only the more mature villagers were able to assimilate the lactose.
Upon this discovery, Madame and Monsieur Mac galvanized into action, hastily assigning us to our nanny as they left in the old 1957 lorry to gather up the village’s powdered milk supplies. Each family was counseled and advised to use the leaves of the moringa tree as a tea to restore the mothers’ milk supply and thus, the infants to back to good health… that is if their mothers’ milk had dried up due to not nursing any more. It was a slow, but steady recovery and one that I remember to this very day.
But, on the upside, I have another anecdote where milk saved the day for my eighteen-year-old daughter!
I noticed after her year of chemotherapy and radiation that my daughter was drinking every bit of cream she could find. So inspired by the conviction that her body knew best what it needed, we bought a milk cow and began to milk it. Needless to say, she would skim all the cream and drink it straight every morning -cups and cups of it!
And it worked!
She began to regain her color, and started to remember her previously forgotten elementary and secondary educational skills.
Curious, I researched and discovered that the brain is primarily fed with fat! At that time, it was thought that “chemo-fog” was due to what is sometimes referred to as chemo-erosion of the myelin sheaths in the brain.
Today, my daughter is healthy and a nurse-practitioner. And a partial thanks goes to Suzie, our cow! Photo author: Kim Hansen – Own work, CC by SA 3.
Two different stories you have illustrated here but they both attempt to drive home the point that milk is an awesome addition to our diet and the only way to ensure that we feed excellently well is to maintain the balance with our lactose tolerance. Milk is a great nourishment and filled with various nutrients that can supply our body and brain with the much needed fat. Though I do not know so much about milk before but I enjoyed reading this
Itis a great article and a great guideline for everyone – specially f or those with Hemochromatosisde .
One can not imagine how just milk will do so much for a person with Hemochromatosis.
Of course, milk is great for children and teenagers because it will help the growth of the body and will make the bones strong.
Wow!!! Such an informative piece! I always know milk to be very nutritious and needed especially for growing children but never knew it had this much power to turn the life of children around in such a positive way. Thankfully none of my family members is has lactose intolerance so we will gorge on this wonder drink without guilt. Thank you!
Very interesting article. I also do believe that foods can heal us. The milk that your daughter drank came straight from the cow. Do you think we’ll get the same benefits from milk that are sold in supermarkets? What’s your view on low fat and full cream milk? Is one healthier than the other?
Thank you. Yes. My daughter drank the milk, usually the same day her siblings milked, but she usually waited until the cream had come to the top, so she could skim it. I know that Braum’s here in the USA sells milk with out added hormones and is generally considered to be almost as good as straight from the farm. Low fat milk is not as healing to the brain and nervous system since the brain and nervous system require a great deal of fat. However, there are fats sold such as oils with a balance of Omega 3, 6 and 9 which can function as a healthy fat source for those drinking low fat milk due to high cholesterol or due to doctor’s orders.
You parents did an excellent and heroic job of saving those poor communities. We often take these things for granted. Milk is indeed good. I also have a story to share about the importance of millk. One day as we were kids playing netball on the school grounds, the weather changed, and suddenly there was a lightning that striked by sister. I thought she was dead, luckily there was a shop in the premises, and one teacher ran to get milk and forced her to drink it. She immediately regained consciousness, and was taken to the nearby clinick, A nurse confirmed that she was saved by the milk.
Interesting. I grew up in a complex where my father worked at the milk condensery and every day, without fail, a milkman would come and deliver 2 quarts of fresh milk to our home. My mom used to force us to drink off the day’s supply and I swore, as a teenager, as soon as I left home I would never touch the stuff. Well here I am forty years later and I have milk with my cereal and in spite of what others say I have my milk. This is because for several years I was just not well, from one deficiency to another and then in my thirties my niece came to live with us and she drank milk every day, and offered me some. Since I got back into the habit my health has improved significantly. I am not using as many supplements and I just feel better. Milk works for some people. Thank you for this article.
That’s very interesting…a milk condenser? I would be interested in knowing more about that!