I grew up drinking 2% milk but when I entered university, I started to notice that whenever I consumed it, my stomach would get agitated and make funny noises. The thought of lactose-intolerance entered my mind, but I thought that was crazy since I had consumed milk my entire life. Then I learned a number of things:
- Most people in the world are lactose-intolerant. Predominately people of European origin have no issues with it because their ancestors were exposed to it for a longer period of time than many other ethnicities.
- Cows are pumped with so many hormones that we have no idea what we’re actually drinking. My mom sent me an article last year where the FDA ruled that milk, even though it had been labeled hormone-free, could not legally advertise itself as that because it wasn’t (source)! Plus, isn’t it a little strange that humans drink the milk of cows?
- Realizing that the dairy industry is just as strong and influential as its notorious brothers/sisters: oil, energy, tobacco, etc. – and we all know how nasty those have been.
So, taking all of this into consideration, I got over my stubborness and decided to make the switch to soy milk earlier this year. I thought soy milk was completely safe, until I started reading rumors about it being a possible cause of “man-boobs” as well as being the cause of other unwanted health issues. Then I read that most of those rumors were being spread by the dairy industry! In the end, almond milk made my taste buds the happiest and I have stuck with it. Here are some articles I found informative on all these choices: Soy, Almond, or Rice Milk? Which Milk?
