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Dear Dairy—Don’t Need You No’ Mo

Dr. Sebi, a pathologist, herbalist, biochemist, and naturalist said, “When much mucus goes to the nostrils it’s called sinusitis. When it goes to the bronchial tubes, it’s called bronchitis. When it goes to the female’s uterus, it is called endometriosis.  When it goes to the lungs, it’s called pneumonia.  If it goes to the prostate gland, it’s called prostatitis.  Mucus is the underline cause for all disease.”

Mucus buildup within our bodies is a giant contributor to disease.  By either eliminating or significantly reducing the intake of the top mucus foods, we can greatly improve our health.  The top two foods that are widely overconsumed in our Americanized diet are dairy and wheat (gluten).  The unpopular truth is we don’t need dairy and we could greatly do ourselves a favor by eliminating or reducing it.  And the very same goes for gluten.  Ouch!—I know right?  Trust me, coming from a native New Mexican who was raised on chili, cheese and tortillas, this was a sucker punch, too!  But, from my own experience, I had some serious tummy troubles and so this is why I am sharing these goodies with you. By reducing excessive mucus and phlegm in our body, we will have more energy, less likely to be sick, beat a cold and flu a lot faster, reduce sinus and allergy problems, skin problems, and our digestive system will function better. Hewow happy bowel movements!!! Overall, our gut will work better because it is cleaner from all that mucus build up.

First things first… what is mucus?

Mucus is actually a good thing in our body. It’s part of our defense system against bugs and viruses. The areas in which they live, are in the mouth, throat, sinuses, intestines, stomach and the lungs.  Read more here on how it can be a good guy.  But abnormal mucus results in disease.  

Dear Dairy,

I love you but my body hates you…

Dr. Milton Mills brings fantastic logic to our dairy consumption culture.  He talks about how human species have been on the planet for 100,000 some years, and from human evolution theory, we’ve been drinking milk from other species for roughly the last 6,000 some years.  So, it is safe to say, we don’t NEED milk.  We don’t have to drink cow’s or goat’s milk and its seriously absurd to think or to be told we need to drink another mammal’s milk.  Read his article Dr. Milton Explains Why Dairy Is Not a Health Food.  Also watch his video here.

Although it is true that babies to toddlers, have the enzyme lactase, that is able to breakdown the lactose (milk sugar) properly.  Anything beyond the children’s age (5 years old), we no longer have that enzyme, therefore have no way to properly digest lactose, the sugar found in dairy.  Our bodies can only break down single sugar molecules.  Lactose has two molecules linked together known as a disaccharide.  Since we lose the enzyme lactase as we grow older, we cannot properly digest dairy.  Looking at the scoreboard, most adults are lactose intolerant, specifically, 95% Asians, 74% African Americans, 73% Native Americans, 53% Hispanics and 33% Caucasians.  Looks like Mama Cow was mooing at us for a reason, afterall.

And for our babies, it has been said that ear infections and congestion are quite inevitable, or better yet, chronic ear infections are said to be common.  #ScuseMe?!  Chronic anything isn’t and shouldn’t be said to be common.  That is just lazy.  And antibiotics shouldn’t be such an easy go-to for anybody, especially our little ones.  Antibiotics are great if we absolutely NEED, like other prescribed medicine they are GREAT… but again, if we need them.  Heavy on the ‘need’.  Studies show that a single course of antibiotics can disturb the microbiome for up to 16months, depending on the lower end of dosage and shorter length of time being used.  Meaning, there can be a longer effect varying how much and how long antibiotics are used.  Read more here.  

Clearing up ear infections could be a lot easier than we think parents.  By eliminating milk and dairy altogether is usually the fix.  Dr. Carney has much to say about that in her article “Dairy Associated with Recurrent Ear Infections”.   Speaking from my own experience, I see this to definitely be true, for myself and for my baby whom I breastfeed.  For formula babies, trying different milk alternatives would be a great idea, or perhaps just using clean water.  Sadly, because milk is very much pushed by our old-fashioned food pyramid, especially in our babies and children, we think dairy is a glorious staple in their diet.  Reoccurring ear infections, or recurrent otitis media (ROM), are usually an indicator of a milk allergy, proven by this study here.

We’ve all heard it… “Milk does the body good.” But does it though???  It’s laughable to see how advertisements go out of their way to promote how milk is THEE source for calcium, like suspiciously pushy, when there are much better nutrient dense choices. A fantastic article, “The Scary New Science That Milk Is Bad For You” can better assist me here with my suspicious attitudes over our Food/Dairy industry.  Since 2005, dietary guidelines push adults to drink as many as three cups of milk a day, and for children -18 years of age to drink two and a half per day.  Remember, we lost the lactase enzyme around five years of age—we can NOT digest milk properly!

As always don’t ever just take my word for it, always do your own research and when in doubt… follow the money.  Aside from that, I don’t know about you, but I could do without the humiliating gas and constipation/diarrhea.  Oh, and let’s not forget about the hot-air balloon bloat feeling! 

What are some signs of lactose intolerance signs?

• Diarrhea 
• Nausea, sometimes vomiting
• Stomach cramps
• Bloating

Here are some calcium alternatives foods: 

• Soy milk
• Canned sardines
• Salmon
• Dry figs
• Tofu
• White beans
• Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, chia seeds
• Dark leafy greens (Broccoli, collard greens, kale, Brocolli rabe
• Edamame
• Okra
• Oranges
• Butternut squash, sweet potatoes
• Arugula

Fortunately, when there is mucus build up, the answer usually lies in our diet.  Eliminate the mucus causing foods and destroy mucus buildup.  #BaddaBeemBaddaBoom. However, it’s still not fun sitting and waiting for the buildup to go away, with all the coughing and hacking all over the place.  And if you’re a home remedy witch like I am, here are a few to check out…

HOME REMEDIES FOR RIDDING MUCUS:

• Throat mucus build up remedy
• Sinus home remedy
• Ear infection home remedy (kids and adults)
• Endometriosis home remedy  

Here’s a timesaver…. the common thread in all those remedies above revolve around anti-inflammatory foods, such as organic turmeric and ginger!  So, be sure to stay away from… wait for it… drum roll please… say it with me…. HIGH INFLAMMATORY FOODS!  I wrote a great blog covering an inflamed gut, caused from a steadfast diet of inflammatory foods, such as the American diet. Read “Chronic Inflammation: Body On Fire”.

The major takeaway from all this is, dairy—milk particularly, isn’t a need.  So many diseases can be PREVENTED, not just treated, but prevented from either eliminating or cutting back on this mucus food.  And even though studies continue to stack up against the pushy nutrition guidelines of our dairy needs, we are still the ones responsible for our own bodies.  It’s us who must pay attention to our body, it tells us what’s not good for us.  Remember, if we are repeatedly treating the problem, and not taking action to prevent the problem, then we are likely to keep reliving this nightmare until irreversible damage finally strikes.  Prevent, don’t just treat.

Dear dairy, we just don’t need you No Mo’!