Evil Dairy?

2

Replies

  • MaddMaestro
    MaddMaestro Posts: 405 Member
    Eh, I can't digest dairy well, but I would not call it evil. I still consume it, just not often. It's a good source of protein.
  • ElizabethHanrahan
    ElizabethHanrahan Posts: 102 Member
    Unless you have an intolerance or allergy, there is nothing "evil" about dairy. For ME, It is evil since I don't breath if I have it. But I don't mind anyone else eating or drinking it. I do wish it wasn't used as an additive is SOOOOOO many things though, makes shopping for food very hard and expensive for me and my family.
  • nicolepburgess91
    nicolepburgess91 Posts: 82 Member
    Well cutting out dairy was easy for me because over the year I've developed a lactose intolerance. I refuse to put out the cash for almond milk and I hate silk and all that other junk. I can't say it's made me lose any extra weight though.
  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
    I consider dairy the perfect food. It often has nice equal, or near equal, amounts of protein and carbs and the fat can be very satiating. Unfortunately, I can't have it due to a strong whey allergy and lighter casein allergy. Which really really stinks IMHO.

    By way of FYI - those that say "dairy doesn't like them" or dairy gives them "xyz" symptoms, that IS a dairy allergy. If dairy produces any sort of negative physical symptom one has an allergy to it. Nonetheless, I still consider it the perfect food and hate not having it. Like one other poster said, it's in everything and alternatives are expensive.
  • amorfati601070
    amorfati601070 Posts: 2,890 Member
    edited April 2017
    Well the dairy industry can be horrific in terms of how the cows are treated. Raping cows so they produce milk..yeah that's evil.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcN7SGGoCNI

    Some will call that video "propaganda" others will call it reality, people don't like it when they are confronted with the truth, and something that challenges their way of living. I'm sure not all dairy farms are like this but for mass production and to cope with supply and demand and keep prices low... a lot, if not the majority are. I'm more concerned about the environmental concerns associated with dairy and livestock. The world would be a better place without out it.
  • newtnest
    newtnest Posts: 37 Member
    Wow, great responses! It's my first community post, so thanks for participating!! I love how most of you ran with the "evil" descriptor
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    Wolfger wrote: »
    WTF would he compare us to animals?

    Uh... because we ARE animals!

    I beg to differ. Humans are one of a kind.

  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
    By way of FYI - those that say "dairy doesn't like them" or dairy gives them "xyz" symptoms, that IS a dairy allergy. If dairy produces any sort of negative physical symptom one has an allergy to it. Nonetheless, I still consider it the perfect food and hate not having it. Like one other poster said, it's in everything and alternatives are expensive.

    Actually, not. An allergy is an immune response to a protein. Intolerances can cause you to poorly digest different things (like lactose) but don't actually involve the immune system. If you get bad gas, that is probably an intolerance. If you get hives, that is an allergy.

    An "intolerance" causes an inflammatory response to something your body does not do well with. Eventually continuing to give your body something it is "intolerant" to leads to allergic reactions (an immune response) like hives in the long term. It may take awhile, but eventually the body will scream "uncle" and have a technical immune response. It's easier to heal the gut when it's in a state of "intolerance" then when it's a full on allergy (which takes YEARS of work to fix). So whether an "intolerance" becomes a full on allergy will 100% depend on if someone chooses to avoid dairy in that stage and works to heal their gut or decides they will still eat it and deal with the consequences.

    One might get "gas" from dairy, but what you cannot see is all of the internal physical inflammation that happens as a result of giving your body something it doesn't do well with. If one pushes the body long enough, internal inflammation will eventually either turn the body against itself (autoimmune) or become an outward immune response with physical reactions (hives, rashes, etc). We have BTDT with both of these issues over dairy in our home. Doctors we have dealt with that deal with severe food allergies consider an "intolerance" an allergy because of the propensity for them to become full out immune reactions more often then not. That may be their way to get someone to stop eating something the doctor sees as bad for them in the long run but that doesn't change them calling an "intolerance" an allergy. And I'm sure asking ten doctors about this you will get ten different opinions.

    Bottom line? Dairy is not evil and if some people have to avoid it that doesn't mean everyone should.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    edited April 2017
    By way of FYI - those that say "dairy doesn't like them" or dairy gives them "xyz" symptoms, that IS a dairy allergy. If dairy produces any sort of negative physical symptom one has an allergy to it. Nonetheless, I still consider it the perfect food and hate not having it. Like one other poster said, it's in everything and alternatives are expensive.

    Actually, not. An allergy is an immune response to a protein. Intolerances can cause you to poorly digest different things (like lactose) but don't actually involve the immune system. If you get bad gas, that is probably an intolerance. If you get hives, that is an allergy.

    An "intolerance" causes an inflammatory response to something your body does not do well with. Eventually continuing to give your body something it is "intolerant" to leads to allergic reactions (an immune response) like hives in the long term. It may take awhile, but eventually the body will scream "uncle" and have a technical immune response. It's easier to heal the gut when it's in a state of "intolerance" then when it's a full on allergy (which takes YEARS of work to fix). So whether an "intolerance" becomes a full on allergy will 100% depend on if someone chooses to avoid dairy in that stage and works to heal their gut or decides they will still eat it and deal with the consequences.

    One might get "gas" from dairy, but what you cannot see is all of the internal physical inflammation that happens as a result of giving your body something it doesn't do well with. If one pushes the body long enough, internal inflammation will eventually either turn the body against itself (autoimmune) or become an outward immune response with physical reactions (hives, rashes, etc). We have BTDT with both of these issues over dairy in our home. Doctors we have dealt with that deal with severe food allergies consider an "intolerance" an allergy because of the propensity for them to become full out immune reactions more often then not. That may be their way to get someone to stop eating something the doctor sees as bad for them in the long run but that doesn't change them calling an "intolerance" an allergy. And I'm sure asking ten doctors about this you will get ten different opinions.

    Bottom line? Dairy is not evil and if some people have to avoid it that doesn't mean everyone should.

    Any evidence to back any of this up? Never have I heard that an intolerance will lead to an allergy. An intolerance affects the digestive system, an allergy the immune system. The two are actually unrelated.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    My general feeling is that if someone is labeling a food group, food, or ingredient "evil" that says more about them than the substance itself. Some people have a need to demonize certain things in order to create a moral justification to avoid things that are otherwise harmless to them. This is all the more reason, IMO, to find ways to continue consuming it if you enjoy it, and achieve goals in spite of their suggestion of the nefarious nature of the substance...

    I can't like this enough. You see it so often amoungst those that eliminate foods for non medical reasons. Those that demonise fruit for example are doing so not because there is any evidence that fruit is bad for you (outside of medical reasons) but because it is the only way they can justify eliminating it to maintain their low carb diet. It is ironic though that these same people eat copious amounts of bacon and saturated fats from animal products which have been shown to be bad for your health.

    You see it moreso with some vegans and their attitude towards meat and dairy. They need to go that extra step from not eating these foods for ethical reasons to trying to convince us that these foods are bad for us.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Milk and whey protein make me bloat up a pant size or two. That's kind of evil. And it's pretty uncomfortable. There's really nothing in milk that I can't get nutritionally from other sources, so I don't use it. It's kinda gross (IMO) anyway, so no loss.

    I can handle aged cheeses in small amounts, though. And cheese is pretty amazing...
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    By way of FYI - those that say "dairy doesn't like them" or dairy gives them "xyz" symptoms, that IS a dairy allergy. If dairy produces any sort of negative physical symptom one has an allergy to it. Nonetheless, I still consider it the perfect food and hate not having it. Like one other poster said, it's in everything and alternatives are expensive.

    Actually, not. An allergy is an immune response to a protein. Intolerances can cause you to poorly digest different things (like lactose) but don't actually involve the immune system. If you get bad gas, that is probably an intolerance. If you get hives, that is an allergy.

    Agreed.
  • jennypapage
    jennypapage Posts: 489 Member
    i can't imagine a life without dairy. it would be so sad. The only bad thing for me is milk,and that's because i'm lactose intolerant. I still consume dairy every day (and lactose free milk), and lost 44kgs doing that.
  • newtnest
    newtnest Posts: 37 Member
    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    My general feeling is that if someone is labeling a food group, food, or ingredient "evil" that says more about them than the substance itself. Some people have a need to demonize certain things in order to create a moral justification to avoid things that are otherwise harmless to them. This is all the more reason, IMO, to find ways to continue consuming it if you enjoy it, and achieve goals in spite of their suggestion of the nefarious nature of the substance...

    I can't like this enough. You see it so often amoungst those that eliminate foods for non medical reasons. Those that demonise fruit for example are doing so not because there is any evidence that fruit is bad for you (outside of medical reasons) but because it is the only way they can justify eliminating it to maintain their low carb diet. It is ironic though that these same people eat copious amounts of bacon and saturated fats from animal products which have been shown to be bad for your health.

    You see it moreso with some vegans and their attitude towards meat and dairy. They need to go that extra step from not eating these foods for ethical reasons to trying to convince us that these foods are bad for us.
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    My general feeling is that if someone is labeling a food group, food, or ingredient "evil" that says more about them than the substance itself. Some people have a need to demonize certain things in order to create a moral justification to avoid things that are otherwise harmless to them. This is all the more reason, IMO, to find ways to continue consuming it if you enjoy it, and achieve goals in spite of their suggestion of the nefarious nature of the substance...

    Exactly. This has always been my stance on the whole thing. I was prompted to put the question out there, as once again I saw a video with a naturopath advising to cut out dairy. I just have never heard the scientific reason (outside of allergies, medical issues) for that train of thought. I'm going to keep eating it!!
  • menotyou56
    menotyou56 Posts: 178 Member
    I cut out all dairy. Uh...well except cheese..but..LOL

    Gotta have some extra sharp cheddar or pepper jack from time to time *GRIN*
  • dpwellman
    dpwellman Posts: 3,271 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    The only people I've really heard say to cut out dairy are vegans...and vegan propaganda sites often describe it as evil.
    I call them the dairy gestapo. . . .
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    Godwin's law has been invoked! Drink! (milk or booze, your choice)
  • domgetsfitter
    domgetsfitter Posts: 19 Member
    Some people have a sensitivity to it without realizing. I used to have dairy everyday but I found about a year ago that I was allergic and started cutting it out and feel great! But that's only if you know you have a sensitivity to it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    dpwellman wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    The only people I've really heard say to cut out dairy are vegans...and vegan propaganda sites often describe it as evil.
    I call them the dairy gestapo. . . .

    I think "Gestapo" is a really strong term. Using it for people who are trying to spread veganism, even if they are hyperbolic, doesn't sit right with me.

    Of course, I'm not the one using the term. It doesn't have to sit right with me.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Dairy is evil. The gelato I'm currently eating just won't go away quickly enough. I may have to eliminate more of it.

    Fighting the good fight! Valiant of you to take one for the team.
  • BlueSkyShoal
    BlueSkyShoal Posts: 325 Member
    Regarding cats, I've heard that a lot of them are actually lactose intolerant. That said, one of my cats loooves dairy. If I'm eating yogurt he will grab my hand and try to get to the spoon. (The other cat doesn't care about dairy.)

    Dairy is perfectly healthy. Some people do have ethical problems with it; a lot of vegans don't eat it because the male calves are turned into veal, so it indirectly "produces" a meat, so to speak. Personally I try to buy pasture-raised milk / cheese because being cooped up in a building your entire life just seems terrible. (I am not a vegan / vegetarian.)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited April 2017
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    Godwin's law has been invoked! Drink! (milk or booze, your choice)

    Even Hitler didn't drink milk.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Regarding cats, I've heard that a lot of them are actually lactose intolerant. That said, one of my cats loooves dairy. If I'm eating yogurt he will grab my hand and try to get to the spoon. (The other cat doesn't care about dairy.)

    Dairy is perfectly healthy. Some people do have ethical problems with it; a lot of vegans don't eat it because the male calves are turned into veal, so it indirectly "produces" a meat, so to speak. Personally I try to buy pasture-raised milk / cheese because being cooped up in a building your entire life just seems terrible. (I am not a vegan / vegetarian.)

    Another issue for vegans is that many cows used for dairy are slaughtered when they are no longer at peak production and the quality of life for those cows when they are engaged in milk production.
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