Should You Ditch Dairy?

It’s a great source of calcium and other key nutrients, but some experts recommend avoiding it altogether. Here’s the plain truth about dairy

- EMILY A. KANE, ND, LAC

Q I definitely feel better not eating processed wheat. What about milk products? Are they all bad for me too?

The main problem with milk in the U.S. is that it mostly comes from cows raised inhumanely and fed an extremely high-glycemic diet—GMO corn mash and stale pastries from nearby supermarkets. This makes the lactose content of American milk shockingly high. And food products made from such milk, including cheese and ice cream, aren’t any better.

Managing Milk

Humans have been consuming milk for centuries without the chronic irritation-frequently caused by standard American milk products. So what can you do to enjoy dairy products safely? Here are a few suggestions:

Know where your milk comes from. Choose milk products that came from happy cows that lived in a pasture full-time. Go with local, small farms where the cows don’t stand all day with machines hooked up to their udders. Always buy organic, and even better, look for dairy products from grass-fed cows.