Ok, I'm going to give you a fact about the government-generated nutrition guidelines (food pyramid, My Plate, etc): like all laws and government decisions, they are highly influenced by lobbyists. They require extensive compromise in order to be "approved" by the various politicians (protecting the interest of lobbyists who are giving them money) that are involved in the process. The politicians may consider advice from nutrition experts, but the final product is influenced by many more people--people with a financial stake in the outcome.
So, what are the implications of this? Let's consider milk. Why are we supposed to drink milk? Because the government tells us that it is important for strong bones. It is the drink served exclusively in schools. I have kids tell me proudly that they drink 4-5 glasses of milk every day, because they and their parents are so convinced that it is the key to good health.
Where is the evidence that milk strengthens bones? It doesn't exist. In fact, long-term health studies show that people who drink the most milk throughout their lives have the highest rates of bone fracture later in life. Osteoporosis is virtually unheard of in countries where people don't regularly drink milk.
Why? Milk is acidic. It throws off the pH balance in your body. In order to correct this, your wonderful body needs to find an acid neutralizer to fix the problem before it reaches and causes damage to your kidneys and urinary tract. So, your body voluntarily leaches calcium from your bones in order to neutralize the acidifying milk, resulting in a net loss of calcium after drinking milk.
The dairy people have done an excellent job convincing the American public otherwise. Their "Got Milk?" ad campaign has thoroughly permeated our culture. It is very influential to see all those famous, beautiful, happy, beaming people with milk mustaches, isn't it? It must be good for you. In fact, they have a spiffy website with stylish graphics and a whole new campaign, complete with a female narrator with a foreign accent, to make milk your go-to bedtime drink.
Using our common sense, let's consider the facts of nature. Cows make milk to feed their enormous 100lb calves. Once the calves get old enough, they are weaned from their mother's milk and eat an exclusively vegetarian diet rich in nutrients and calcium (in an ideal world, of course; these days factory farms feed cows all manner of unhealthy and unnatural things to fatten them faster). Like cows, human babies drink their mother's milk and then are weaned, and under natural conditions would not ever consume milk again in their lives.
Why are so many people lactose-intolerant...not just individuals, but entire cultures and races of people? Because humans are not supposed to drink milk after they are weaned as babies. That is a fact.
In addition to leaching calcium from our bones, milk also contains an enormous amount of sugar and is high in calories. It is not a health beverage. Also, in our current factory farming climate, milk is just chocked full of chemicals and steroids and hormones that are extremely detrimental to health, particularly the health of the vulnerable children who are guzzling so much of it.
What is the alternative? Almond milk is a great option. It has twice the calcium of cow's milk, and contains many more important nutrients like potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin A, and iron. It is also low in fat, cholesterol-free, low in sodium, and low on the glycemic index. And it's mildly alkaline. I find almond milk to be much richer and pleasant-tasting than soy or rice milk (it is less processed than these options, also--it is made by simply blending almonds with water and salt). It is also very easy to obtain--I see it in every grocery store and "big box" store in the area. And it's vegetarian, and cruelty-free.
So, drink your [almond] milk, friends!
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