Is dairy actually bad for you?

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  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
    I have mentioned in these threads before that my husband is allergic to cats - gets runny nose, itchy rash, sneezing, weepy eyes.
    Above is a fact.

    Therefore nobody should have a pet cat - Not a fact.

    Well, he probably shouldn’t.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    The African Tutsis revolve their culture around their cattle and staple foods include butter and soured milk.
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
    GailK1967 wrote: »
    You can develop an intolerance or allergy at any time of your life, regardless of whether you've been eating it for years.

    IMO dairy is very tasty, relatively cheap and an easy source of protein for humans but NOT healthy or ideal. No other species goes and sucks on another species once it's weaned so why do we gobble the milk of other animals? The answer is because it's been heavily marketed to us and it tastes great especially with all that other *kitten* added to it. Hence why so many people do develop an intolerance to it at some point.

    We are biologically programmed to eat our own species milk (ie breast milk) until weaning age which should be around 2-6 years of age. After that we have absolutely no evolutionary or biological need for milk.

    Most animals, when given the chance, will drink another animal's milk.

    Pretty sure I saw an article.about a cat suckling hedgehogs.

    I didn’t see it, but I’d bet they were baby hedgehogs.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    aee69 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    If you're allergic to it and are lactose intolerant...otherwise, dairy is fine. I eat a moderate amount of dairy everyday and have no issues.

    Right! I don't have any food allergies, but I'm just so curious as to why people assume it is my dairy intake. Because I do get this comment a lot. And it's not like I eat obscene amounts of it either. But thank you! I appreciate your reply.

    Because it's a common allergen, and many people are lactose intolerant (some don't know it!). That's why dairy is one of the first thing to eliminate when you're troubleshooting for allergy. Developing new allergies is not too rare. I developed a mild egg allergy as an adult even though I've been eating them my whole life. Dairy is not bad for you, but if you're allergic it can be bad for you, just like any other allergen. It's not the dairy's fault, it's your immune system.

    Now, just because people jump to the most logical to them conclusion doesn't mean it's true for you. Have you introduced any new foods or started eating more of certain foods? Increasing vegetable intake comes to mind - takes a while to get used to the increased fiber.
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
    jseams1234 wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    WHY do we consume cow's and goat's and sheep's milk? Rather obviously because we can and in some areas learned it was a good source of calories and also a way to preserve food (cheese, fermented milk, as well as simply having the animals around for something other than their meat).

    Same reason we farm, even though cats (for one example) cannot, and why we can foods and smoke foods and otherwise preserve foods, even though cats cannot. Cats do other things (like convince us we should care for them).

    Like most animals that do not consume milk after baby-hood, cats become lactose intolerant as adults, but if they were given it regularly they probably would retain the ability to digest it (and this would apply to cow's milk too), and some cats aren't lactose intolerant. I would not give a cat milk, but given all the lore about cats and milk I wonder if back in the day when they were given it more regularly if more did not develop intolerance as adults.

    In any case, we KNOW that humans have developed lactose tolerance as adults (not all, but the vast majority from areas where consuming milk has long been common, which includes north and western Europe). You can even test for the relevant genes if you want to. So saying animals that are lactose intolerant as adults do badly with milk (and would with milk from their own species too) is not a sensible reason to say that humans who ARE lactose tolerant would do badly with it.

    What my boi anth professor told us way that most people have some degree of lactose intolerance. Maybe not enough to make them ill, but enough to cause them some discomfort, or some mostly unnoticed problems to their digestion. I think this article has the number at 61 percent being intolerant. I love cheese, but I treat it like alcohol and eat it in moderation. My boyfriend can chug those expensive full fat yogurts. No fair.

    http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2005/06/lactose-intolerance-linked-ancestral-struggles-climate-diseases

    I suspect that figure is a bit misleading - yes, I can well believe that 61% of the worlds humans have some lactose intolerance.

    But that would be because most asian people are lactose intolerant (as adults) and asian people make up the largest racial group in the world.

    A much lower percentage of caucasian people are lactose intolerant - of course there are some, and it occurs to various degrees and increases in the older population - ie people who were not previously lactose intolerant can develop a degree of it when older.

    If OP is getting symptoms of bloating, bowel issues, nausea etc - then, yes, worth a try of eliminating dairy for a few weeks and see if this helps - even if not previously intolerant.

    But no need for everyone who is tolerating dairy fine, to quit consuming it - either for weight loss or any other biological reason (non-physical ethical choice reasons aside)

    Oh, you are right. I was thinking that Asians count. Gosh, wonder where my half Asian son falls.

    I'm half Korean and I drink about a half gallon of whole milk a day. No issues. My son from my first marriage is 1/4 Asian and can drink milk no issues. My mother is full Korean and can drink milk with no issues. My wife is Chinese and she and her entire family can drink milk with no issues... If that helps. ;)

    How nice for you and your family! Many Asians aren’t so lucky. My son is Cambodian and it sometimes makes him sick. He still risks it tho :/