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Cows Milk And Milk Alternatives -- Is Mares Milk Too Exotic? Part 1
by Núria Roig
Milk is a word that brings about impassioned arguments. Some defend cows milk like tigers; others demote it and do not give it a chance. You would think people are discussing a dangerous illegal drug.
To defend their position cows milk critics maintain that humans are the only mammals that consume milk in adult age. This has never convinced me, because except when we humans become aggressive, we do everything different from the animal kingdom.
In the first place we should keep in mind that milk is a food, and treat it as such. Before modern measurement methods broke down every nutritious substance to the smallest possible unit, people relied on traditional knowledge, real life experience, and their own body intelligence to decide if a food was healthful for them. Likewise mothers intuition regarding their childrens nourishment was accepted as the most natural thing on earth.
Dont get me wrong, research is necessary and very useful, but it is not absolute. It has an incidental byproduct, which is that regarding nutrition too many consumers prefer to rely blindly on general recommendations, become lazy, and forget that an essential part of staying healthy is listening to their own body signals.
Most adults tolerate one glass of top quality or organic milk a day quite well. However, any amount of milk can cause stomachache if you insist on drinking more of it than your system can take. But isnt it the same with all foods?
Cows milk is not the only good source of calcium, which seems to be the main worry. For example, dark green vegetables and the hiziki seaweed contain easily absorbable calcium. Real vegetarians need fifty per cent less calcium than those who eat meat every day.
If you love milk products, a reasonable compromise is drinking 8,5 ounces or 250 ml of warm cows milk a day, at the most, and the rest as fermented forms of milk like kefir. Or you can emulate Mediterranean who add some milk to their morning coffee and thats it for the day.
Lactose Intolerance And Cows Milk Allergy
In the Bible milk is a recurrent symbol of abundance. Today milk flows everywhere, but many adults suffer from lactose intolerance, which is the inability to digest this milk sugar easily, because the body does not produce enough of an enzyme called lactase.
Cows milk allergy is not so widespread, but when it affects children mothers have to find a healthy milk substitute that gives them peace of mind. To avoid milk allergy symptoms those who are allergic to cows milk protein should avoid any contact to milk.
Mares milk can be an alternative for adults suffering from cows milk allergy, lactose intolerance, or soy milk allergy. Parents should seek the advice of a doctor. Mares milk is popular in northern European countries, but in North America it is still difficult to find a supplier.
Mares milk is easier to digest than cows milk. Its protein composition is closer to human milk than to cows milk. It has a lower fat content, vitamin A and four times more vitamin C. It contains magnesium, potassium, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorous and sodium. Mongolian have drank lots of fermented mares milk and used it fresh for their salty tea for centuries. This could explain how they survived with only a few vegetables in their diet.
The Belgian farmer who first sold me mares milk was really enthusiastic about it. He told me that he had suffered from severe candida for many years and that he had cured himself drinking 250 ml or 8,5 ounces of mares milk a day. For a year and a half he traveled all the way to the Netherlands to buy his precious mares milk. Finally he himself established a mares milk farm and he is now selling mares milk succesfully.
I did not have such digestive complaints, but I wanted to taste it. And so I drank a glass of mares milk every day for one month. Its texture is indeed thinner than cows milk, and it is sweeter and very light on the stomach.
In northern Europe mares milk is already a substitute for acne sufferers who prefer not to associate dairy and acne. Why not try mares milk if you have trouble digesting cows milk, acne breakouts, skin complaints, or simply to add more variety to your food?
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