milk, does it really do a body good?

hopefull

hopefull

Cathlete
I am caught in a dilema. I hate, truly hate, milk. Just looking at the stuff makes me sick. I am afraid I've passed this aversion on to my children. I made my older ones drink milk when they were little. They didn't really turn against it till they were in thier teens. We do eat cheese, and a considerable amount of yogurt. I know, it doesn't make sense. My problem is this. My youngest will not drink milk, and she is just 4. She would drink it in a bottle, but as soon as I weaned her, milk became a fight that I lost. She eats two or more yogurts a day, and drinks a lot of water. It isn't like I am substituting the milk with soda and juice. (I do give her some apple juice that has calcium added.) I'm not convinced that milk is that necessary. I was wondering if you would share your thoughts on this issue. They are trying to force my daughter to drink milk at preschool. My daughter said she didn't want to go back to preschool today. I asked her why and she said "because teacher will make me drink milk and I will throw up." I don't doubt that she would, because I would. I just think that if your body is rejecting something so profoundly there must be something to it. Example: I love coffee with a passion, but when I was pregnant from day one I couldn't touch the stuff. I think my body was tellingme something. I can get Hope to eat just about anything else. I'm not saying at times it isn't a struggle, but milk is something I feel like I am torturing her with, if I force it. I know my personal feelings about the substance definately come into play here. Thanks for your thoughts on the issue. I wonder if some of the hype on milk isn't economically connected more than health connected. Hopefull
 
I hate milk also...yuck! Now it seems as if I'm lactose intolerant so all the better not to drink it. I have some skim milk in the fridge but my kids prefer using it for cereal or mixing with a little chocolate powder. that's OK by me!

Lisa
 
I think your daughter is old enough now that she can probably get by without milk. I hated milk when I was a kid and the only way my mom could get me to drink it was to pour it over cereal or flavor it with chocolate. I know they recommend whole milk up until age 2 or 3 because the fat is needed for neurologic development, but your daughter is well past that now.

I found this article from a children's hospital that you might find helpful.

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/yh/archives/2003/winter/milk.htm

HTH;) :)

Michele
 
I don't like milk either and I can't remember the last time my oldest son drank any. He will have milk on cereal but that's it. His pediatrician told me to have him take a calcium supplement every day and he would be fine. It is really hard (impossible in my case) to get kids to eat or drink things they don't like on any sort of regular basis.
 
Milk isn't necessary for health. Humans are the only animal that drink milk (and that of another species) after weaning.

Many people are lactose intolerant without knowing it. Even those who are not symptomatic will sometimes have a decrease in allergy problems from other sources when giving up dairy (this happened to me and to a roommate of mine as well).

Since your daughter eats yogurt, she's still getting dairy, and in a more digestible form (just watch the added sugar in that yogurt).

There are a lot of milk substitutes available that have added calcium, vitamin D, etc. to be simililar in nutrition to milk.

A 10-year-old vegan friend of mine likes Silk Enhanced soy milk (it's also got flax oil in).

FYI: many US dairy cows have mastitis (the result of being bred to produce large quantities of milk) and the USDA allows a higher percentage of PUS (a result of the mastitis) to be in milk than any other country does.
 
Milk is disgusting. I can't even stand the thought of drinking it and I can't believe I drank it for so long! YUCK!!!
I was afraid of not getting enough calcium but as it turns out, there are many ways to get calcium without eating or drinking dairy of any kind. I can't even imagine going back to it!! It would be like drinking pus. GROSS!!!!
 
I've heard the saying that the only thing milk is supposed to do is turn a 50 lb calf into a 300 lb cow in 6 months...I totally agree...Milk (and milk products) has a convenience food for centuries...If you think about it, wouldn't it make more sense to drink monkey milk? We're more closely related to them than cows!!

My daughter will eat cheese and yogurt, but doesn't like milk either...If it was up to the 2 of us, we'd be a diary free household (but DH is a MOUSE!!)...I've been cooking without dairy now for almost a month...In fact, I won't even buy it anymore...Jason has to buy it himself!

We DO eat plenty of things that contain calcium, so DD is still getting the calcium her little bones need, but I don't believe any of us NEED dairy...

MJ in MN
 
I Love milk.... yummmm.. especially skim... have ever since i was pregnant and my duaghter is now 19!

Be sure to get calcium... particulary if you are petite. I was told (when I turned 40) that i was HIGH risk for osteoporisis (sp). Also Love calcium in OJ.

I only now am starting the calcium tabs (after my dr.. telling me every year) :(
 
I would say that if your kids are getting the nutrients found in milk (especially the calcium) through other dairy products than I would not really worry....you should ask the pediatrician though, just to be sure.

JMO.:)
 
If she is eating a lot of yogurt I would watch out for all the sugar in most flavored varieties. They have a TON of sugar in them!! Go-gurts, for example, are considered a dessert in my house.
 
I'm with Robyn... I LOVE milk!

My entire family drinks lots of milk. We drink it for meals, and on cereal. We go through about a gallon a day for 4 of us. :)

I've always believed in the health benefits of milk. I raised my healthy 6'1" son on milk and he still drinks it!
 
Call the school and tell them your child is allergic to milk and to quit making her drink the stuff!!! Maybe that will get the teacher to stop forcing her to drink it.

I'd be paying a visit to that teacher if she were forcing my child to eat or drink something that made her sick. Grrrrr! x(

I am lactose intolerant and love milk. It sucks! But I found Lactaid and now I can have milk again. But not everyone likes it. You can get your calcium from other dairy foods and from supplements, just as long as you get it somewhere.
 
I can't get the idea of milking monkeys out of my head. I keep imagining a monkey dairy, with monkeys eating fruit in the trees, and someone rings a bell and they all come hooting and brachiating back to the barn to be milked. Please, make me stop thinking about this!
 
>I can't get the idea of milking monkeys out of my head. I
>keep imagining a monkey dairy, with monkeys eating fruit in
>the trees, and someone rings a bell and they all come hooting
>and brachiating back to the barn to be milked. Please, make me
>stop thinking about this!


O.K., how about "fresh monkey milk." You have your own monkey come to your door for a daily dose!

Is that image any better?
 
I can't tell you all how comforting it is to see so many milk-haters here on the Forums. I love yogurt and cheese, but I wouldn't drink a drop of plain white milk if you put a gun to my head.

I had a traumatic first experience with white milk when I was 6: my mother had always put Nestle's Quick chocolate flavoring into my milk (in fact, I thought you weren't allowed to drink milk without Nestle's) up until my first day of first grade, which was also my first exposure to The School Cafeteria. Our cafeteria still bought its milk in bottles, with the cream rising to the top, and I was absolutely mystified when my tablemates tore into their bottles and started chugging away at this foreign, un-Nestle'd white stuff. I thought (in my six-year-old translation) "When in Rome . . . ", pulled off the cardboard top of the bottle, and took a bit swallow . . . of almost pure milkfat cream.

I'm having a flashback as I write this, so I'll leave the anecdote on that note. 38 years ago and I'm still dealing with it.

A-Jock
 
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