Is your MILK making you SICK?



No more cows milk for me!(I still love you Mr. Cow)

I’m going to finally admit it, I’m a bit of a milk fanatic-I just LOVE the stuff!!

I drink milk at LEAST 2 times a day; whether it be with my cereal or as an icy, tall glass along with cookies, I consume a good amount of milk. However, not too long ago, the nutritious drink that makes me so happy (at that time it was Organic Valley 1% Milk) started to cause health problems.  

I noticed that I was becoming extremely ‘mucousy’ and getting colds more often.  Of course at first, I did not relate these symptoms to my milk intake; I simply thought that between the weather & me not taking good enough care of myself that I was just becoming more susceptible to illness.  In fact, it wasn’t until my hard coughing (and attempts to clear mucous from my airway) began to keep me awake at nights that I became alarmed. The mucous would be so thick that it would be difficult for me lay down and breath easily; this is when I decided it was time to see the doctor.

At the ENT (Ears, Nose & Throat doctor) a few test were taken and I found out that my issue may be caused by an allergy; however the idea of milk being the guilty party was still not mentioned, though the doctor did tell me to cut back on dairy and excessive sweets just as a precaution.  Knowing that I like to keep things as natural as possible, my doctor will not suggest a prescription unless absolutely necessary, so he recommended that I drink a cup of hot  tea each night before bed and that should help to thin out the mucous. This suggestion helped—for a moment, then I was right back to square one with sleepless nights & uncontrollable coughing.  

It wasn’t until my husband came to me with his observations that things changed for the better.  He told me that he’d been watching me a little closer since I started not feeling well and disclosed to me that (in his opinion) I was drinking too much of the wrong milk! He shared with me that had been doing some research and discovered that my condition may be due to my body/immune system ‘rejecting’ the milk.

Cow’s milk consists of hormones, they are not necessarily being put there-but are usually naturally formed (just as they are in human breast milk), and these hormones can be an irritant to some folks.  It was with this information that he concluded that my body was probably trying to rid me of mucous caused by my milk intake, by inducing coughing.

That day we decided to try a little experiment; I would replace my Organic Valley milk with Rice Milk. Certain Rice milks do have a few downfalls, such as not being high in calcium or protein-but nothings perfect; on the flip side rice milk is superior because it does not come from an animal (duh), tastes great, is lactose-free, fortified with vitamins & minerals and is vegan friendly (which we like here). 
Final analysis: After about three weeks of drinking rice milk I was seemingly mucous-free! I was sleeping comfortably and no longer tirelessly attempting to cough up mucous. Rice Milk was the answer to my problems. It’s been about a year since we’ve switched to Rice milk and those terrible symptoms have not plagued me since!

What kind of milk do you/your family drink?  Have you ever considered giving rice milk a try?