🐄 The Dairy-Free Diet 🐄

The Dairy-free diet has been around for forever. About 65 percent of the human population has reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy. Which is over 5 billion people, or about 214 million of the 330 million people in the US. Typically people of East Asian descent have the highest rates of lactose intolerance affecting around 70 to 100 percent of the people of that descent. If humans have such a high rate of intolerance for dairy products, why are we consuming so much of it?

Humans don’t require milk after infancy. The gene that allows human adults to digest milk only evolved around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Which in evolutionary time, is no time at all. That is also why the majority of humans on the planet have an intolerance for it.

The reason this gene even came about at all is because in Europe at that time (8,000-10,000 years ago) there was widespread famine, and milk would have been a super food to the malnourished at the time. Also the rise of agriculture and domesticated animals would have allowed for more easy access to milk. Which all explains why the mutation spread so quickly.

Today, people of european descent typically have the easiest time digesting milk but we don’t really need it in our diets. We aren’t under the evoltuionary threat of famine, or malnutrition. And with technology advancing exponentially we no longer require dairy to be included in foods that we love. Such as ice cream, butter, cheese, milk, mayonnaise, creamer, the list goes on. There are dairy alternatives for every possible dairy product out there.

Not to mention the strain that the production of dairy does to our planet. The animals that are used for dairy production are treated like machines and thrown out when no longer usefull. Calves are ripped for their mothers, bulls are slaughtered, the methane that cows produce is warming our planet and destroying our ecosystems. Going Dairy-Free would lessen the demand for dairy, and potentially reduce the impact factory farming has on the planet.

I am going to write a whole post about factory farming and the negative impact it has so I'm not gonna go further in that topic on this post but if you wanted to learn more about the negatives of factory farming on your own here are some good documentaries that cover it really well. Cowspiracy, Food, inc. Rotten, Speciesims. There’s probably a lot more but these are some of the most famous.

As far as health benefits it’s pretty significant however it should be noted that different people have different reactions to going on a dairy-free diet. For many, it clears up acne, gives them more energy, and makes them feel “lighter”. Typically it leads to weight loss, improves digestion, and actually improves bone health in comparison to people who consumed milk.

If you are apprehensive about going Dairy-Free don’t be. Most people are lactose-intolerant anyway so the majority of the people on the planet have been living dairy-free for a long time. Also the consumption of milk in the US has gone down significantly every year since the 1970s and the consumption of dairy alternatives like soy and almond milk are on the rise. It’s so much easier than people think and even the smallest effort can have a huge impact on improving our planet.

Whatever you may choose, I just hope that it’s healthy for you and our planet.

“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

- Mahatma Gandhi