Healthy Eating – Three Reasons To Rethink Including Milk in Your Diet

Are you a fan of cow’s milk? If so, it may be time to rethink the inclusion of cow’s milk in your diet. While milk is an excellent source of calcium, many drawbacks you need to be aware of can come from cow’s milk.

Milk contains several different carbohydrates including:

  • lactose
  • glucose
  • galactose

and other oligosaccharides containing a small number of simple sugars. Lactose gives milk a sweet taste and gives rise to approximately 40% of the total calorie count.

Let us take a closer look at what some of the drawbacks are and how they may be negatively impacting you:

1. The Sugar Content. Let us begin with the obvious – the sugar content. Taking in too much sugar from any source is never good for your body, and milk is full of it. With over 10 grams of sugar per cup, it adds up quickly.

If you drink the standard recommendation of three glasses of milk a day, that is a whopping 30+ grams of sugar you are consuming. This much sugar is more than anyone needs, especially if you are looking to prevent or manage Type 2 diabetes.

2. The Lactose Content. The next issue is the lactose content. Lactose is the sugar found in milk, but it also causes other problems. For many, lactose leads to…

  • gas
  • bloating
  • diarrhea
  • stomach cramps, and many other undesirable digestive symptoms. While you can take lactase to ease your discomfort, this is far from ideal. Most people tend to do better on a lactose-free diet plan.

3. The Hormones. Finally, there may be hormones in the milk you are consuming. Many farmers are using hormones as they want to raise large cattle: these hormones may then be transferred to your body as a result of this.

The hormones given to the cattle can lead to problems with your hormonal levels if you are not careful. They may also be responsible for inflammation and other health concerns for you.

As you can see, cow’s milk is not exactly ideal. Will the odd glass here and there hurt you? Likely not. But drink a few cups a day, and you could be looking at having a few health problems if you are not careful. Instead, try unsweetened almond or coconut milk. Both are superior choices, contain no sugar, and are lower in calories as well. They will comfortably fit into your diet and can be used in recipes in place of the usual cow’s milk.