Before my son turned one I gradually started to wean him off of breast milk by reducing the number of feedings each day. I didn’t know what I would supplement the night feeding with. As a Chiropractic student I have learned a lot about dairy products and how they aren’t as good for you as the industry portrays it. I’ve heard about how milk has a bad effect on many toddlers. Some experience dizziness, nausea, and diarrhea. I definitely did not want my son to go through that but I was raised that milk is good for your body. Weren’t we all raised like that? Milk is thought to be an essential part of your diet. Not anymore. Research studies have shown that milk can actually be a bad thing. In a published research review, Francesco Maria Ergo writes in “Why is type 1 diabetes increasing” about how animal studies have confirmed the theory that cow’s milk is linked to diabetes.
“In fact, Johnston & Monte (2000) demonstrated that early ingestion of cow’s milk formula increased the incidence of diabetes in BB rats. They noticed acceleration in the development of the disease and a significant decrease in the mean age of onset. But what makes cow’s milk a triggering factor? A variety of studies have reported the association between antibodies against five major proteins present in cow’s milk (caseins, α-lactalbumin, γ-globulin, albumin and hormonal constituents) and the development of type 1 diabetes, but anti-BSA antibodies are the ones showing the highest disease specificity” (Egro).
In my college days I worked as a research assistant in a type 1 diabetes lab at UCSF. Little did I know how bad cow’s milk can be and how negatively it can affect one’s body.
So what’s next? Before knowing the link to diabetes but still thinking about the digestive issues, my husband and I sat down and discussed the pros and cons about cow’s milk. We didn’t want our son to be the odd one out and we wanted him to get all the right nutrients. Milk is a common product to give to a toddler so we thought why not? So we decided to give our son organic whole milk. I urge you if you cannot buy all organic food, the one important product to buy organic is milk. You do not want to give your kids milk containing hormones and antibiotics. A link to the article is posted below which discusses how cows are injected with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone so they can produce more milk. Due to that these cows end up getting mastitis from the increased milk production and are put on antibiotics. My yoga teacher once said how regular milk is now a poison in our country. It’s unfortunate but true, you do not want to give your child milk full of hormones that may cause cancer in the future. So the word organic on your milk box is definitely important.
After several weeks of having milk bottles my son began to have symptoms that I’ve heard to watch out for. Yup, full blown diarrhea. At twelve months he sleeps through the night most of the time (knock on wood so it doesn’t stop), but this was different! He woke up two hours after I put him to sleep. I really thought it was odd so I went to check on him. He pooped his diaper and was crying so hard. It sounded like a pain cry. As a mom you know it, you can tell the difference between cries. And this was only from having 2 ounces of milk, boiled, and diluted with two ounces of water. He doesn’t have a milk or dairy allergy, milk just upsets his tummy. It is not only so important to have something that contains so many vitamins and good fats in a toddlers diet but something that soothes him to sleep as well. Since I used to breast feed him right before bed we had to transition to something else before bed and milk wasn’t cutting it. We switched to hemp milk, and no he will not get high from it. Hemp milk is such a great alternative; it contains the right amount of nutrients without the upsetting of the tummy. It has more fat than any of the other alternatives to milk such as almond, soy, and rice milk. Fat is important for a toddler as they are developing their brains. We bought him unsweetened vanilla hemp milk and he loves the taste. Current research links the consumption of milk to type 1 diabetes, as well as iron deficiencies. Of course as with anything consult with your pediatrician if you have any doubts or special nutrient needs your baby may have. We choose hemp milk, what your’s toddler drinking?
http://livingmaxwell.com/organic-milk-the-most-important-organic-product-to-buy
http://jme.endocrinology-journals.org/content/51/1/R1.long
You can also make your own hemp milk at home! http://mywholefoodlife.com/2013/02/14/homemade-hemp-milk/
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