About 2 months ago, Lila was having night terrors at least 2x a week. It involved about 3 hours of her waking & crying, us rocking and cuddling, sleeping with her etc. It was getting ridiculous. Chris and I would go to bed wondering if tonight was going to be another sleepless night. My best friend told me her son had night terrors also around Lila's age and suggested I try giving up cow's milk and eliminating other dairy products after 2pm. I was willing to try anything. So I switched Lila to almond milk (same calcium & vit D as cow's milk) and eliminated all cheese & yogurt after 2pm.
She has not had a night terror in 2 months!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? I absolutely HAVE to believe that it really was the cow's milk that was causing these horrible sleepless nights. Ironically, about 3 weeks ago we were eating sausage and pepper sandwiches for dinner. Lila begged for a piece of provolone so I gave it to her. That night she had a night terror. Unbelievable.
Honestly, I have to say that Lila has been in a much happier mood in general since giving up the milk. It's really unbelievable.
For us, this was the only problem I found with cow's milk, but I know others that give up cow's milk find they have less congestion, less ear infections, skin rashes disappear, and in general just feel better! We all like the almond milk (I actually like it better) so I think we will just stick with it.
Here is a quote from an article I read online. Kind of grosses me out and definitely turns me off of milk.
Rense.com defines cow’s milk as, "An unhealthy fluid from diseased animals that contain a wide range of dangerous and disease-causing substances that have a cumulative negative effect on all who consume it." All cow’s milk contains fifty-nine active hormones, scores of allergens, fat, cholesterol, and measurable quantities of pesticides, herbicides, blood, pus, bacteria, and viruses. You also have to consider that the milk you drink contains trace amounts of whatever the cow had eaten previously. Your milk also may have been from a diseased cow, which you could easily get sick from. Diseases such as diabetes, influenza, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, heart disease, and cerebro-vascular condition have all been linked to the consumption of cow’s milk.
All I can say is do your research and if you find that you or your child has allergies, congestion, upset stomach, etc consider giving up dairy and see how it improves. You may find a world of difference!
This discussion will lead me to my next post... check back in a few days!
you must have a really smart best friend;)
ReplyDeletei do... she's pretty amazing!
ReplyDeleteanother thing i recently heard that grossed me out too is that milk and other food producers are allowed to add chemicals that are considered part of the "processing" and then they don't have to list them in the ingredients. I read about this in Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". I can't remember all the specifics, but basically, real milk color is unappetizing, so they dye it "milky white" but the dye is an unreported ingredient and it's not good for you, obviously. After reading this post today, I have to say... I think I'm done with milk. I only add it to my coffee. But still... I can add Almond milk and be happy I think.
ReplyDeleteAlso, found this interesting link - http://www.ethicurean.com/2009/03/10/mpcs/
Jen, I have to ask... what about cheese and ice cream?
I could be converted to goat's cheese and be happy. And I should try the coconut milk ice cream.
But if you ban it altogether, wow! What a TOTAL lifestyle change - pretty much no more eating out.