Important knowledge - Milk

[Cherry]

Milk is a complete healthy food for humans. Milk is poison in well packed bottles and cartons. Which is the truth? Whom should we believe? Scientists and researches are hot on the trail of the truth. Perhaps now we need to turn to traditional wisdom for an answer.

Ayurveda, the science of healthy eating has its own take on this situation. Though it does not take a positive or negative stand on this, (Ayurveda is not chemical research based, only a science of types of human constitutions and what suits each type best... thereby setting out a system of food intake as medicine for a healthy body), it does recommend in what form and for whom milk is best for consumption.

Ayurveda declares milk to give mass, sweetness and coolness to meal, so it is supposed to be calm and beneficial for nursing mothers. It does help to strengthen the heart in some constitutions but also accumulates phlegm in certain others, adding congestion where it is not needed.

Modern Ayurveda scientists maintain that western researches have found milk harmful more because of their mode of intake. If taken cold, unspiced, homogenized, combined with unsuitable foods and in excess...it will definitely be bad for health. The secret to milk being a healthy food lies in the way it is consumed, prepared and stored.

To start with, Ayurveda recommends raw (never pasteurized or homogenized) milk. Boiling it before serving is also a must, because it denatures the protein in milk, making it easily digestible since it is broken into amino acids. The addition of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and black pepper can also help balance its cooling qualities.

Ayurveda maintains that while pasteurization does cleanse milk of the bacteria it starts out with, the process does nothing to offer by way of making milk more digestible, nor does it actually do away with the risk of potential contamination in other ways. Under the circumstances, modern processing of milk only takes away from it, making it more harmful that healthy. Unless milk is boiled well, anything at a lower temperature only serves to cause the partial breakdown of milk proteins, making them almost impossible to digest cleanly for the human system. Homogenization also does nothing to enhance the healthy properties of milk. This may lead to tendencies towards arteriosclerotic clots, causing severe heart problems. Then milk is blamed for it...when actually it is the processing that milk undergoes that is to be blamed.

Homogenization only serves to make it easier to pack, store and retail. So, the process has utility for the organizations that want to make profit by retailing milk, and it obviously overlooks the health issues. If these are the only objectives of processing and selling milk, obviously consuming a healthy food is not a priority. We can safely say that the cow's milk whose virtues were extolled by ancient sages and seers, and who pronounced it the complete food, is not the same milk that we are getting to consume today, so it will not have the same properties, nor the benefits.

Hence in this ancient Indian science, milk should not be tampered with, preferably boiled with spices, and not stored for too long.

Besides, Ayurveda recommends goats milk over cow's milk, since it is less mucus forming and easier to digest than cow's milk, also has much less tendencies to forming allergens than cow milk does. It is actually useful for calming and healing the stomach chemicals. It is rivaled in Ayurveda only by buffalo milk, especially for its excellent calming abilities.

Ayurveda recommends consumption of milk, if one really wishes to, in specific forms. One good idea is to boil milk with a half teaspoon of grated nutmeg, or 2 teaspoons of clarified butter (ghee) and one teaspoon of coriander powder. Another option is to boil a cup of milk and a cup of water with a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger and three or four cardamoms then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir with half a teaspoon of ghee just before drinking (drink while still warm). This drink will induce a calm sleep and help in digestion too.

If one is still sensitive to cow's milk, it's a great idea to switch to soya milk. It has a lighter nature than cow's milk and can be a much better beverage for people of all ages. It also cooks easily in recipes, and even promotes building. Besides it carries all the building properties of soya foods, not only the cleaning properties that dairy foods provide.

[lukewatson43]

hiiiiii
WOW.. i did not know more about mike.that is a great article.In these days i left the drinking milk,but reading this i will start today.
thanks for share this important tips.

[aaryanlehan]

I always knew milk had many essential properties which is why we are suggested to drink. But this post has many more things which i never knew about. Thank You for the information, that was pretty handy.