Lactose intolerant?

Ever think you were lactose intolerant? I did. Which totally sucked because I love cereal. I could eat it breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The funny thing was no other dairy product attacked me like milk. People say, “you can grow out of milk”.  Somewhere around the early nineties’ I could no longer stomach milk. It just tasted sour to me.

But one day, (when I was frustrated because I just wanted some Coco Pebbles) I decided to try organic milk. Lo-and-behold, I did not get sick, it did not taste sour, and I ate a huge bowl of chocolaty deliciousness.

That got me wondering why and when did milk change?
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The “when” appears to have been 1993. The why, seems a little convoluted to me. It appears the FDA approved nationwide to feed milk cows a steroid hormone called rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), also known as rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin). FDA allows the use of the protein hormone rbGH to increase milk production in dairy cattle. Thus, hormones can increase the profitability of the meat and dairy industries. Because rBGH use results in more cases of diseaese, dairy farmers tend to use more antibiotics to combat the infections, the residues of which also may end up in milk and dairy products. These residues can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and contribute to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria, further undermining the efficacy of some antibiotics in fighting human infections. Furthermore, recent research has shown conclusively that the levels of a hormone called “insulin-like growth factor-1″ (IFG-1) are elevated in dairy products produced from cows treated with rBGH. Canadian and European regulators have found that the FDA completely failed to consider a study that showed how the increased IGF-1 in rBGH milk could survive digestion and make its way into the intestines and blood stream of consumers. These findings are significant because numerous studies now demonstrate that IGF-1 is an important factor in the growth of cancers of the breast, prostate and colon. Let’s not even get into the pesticides used in the feed these animals eat.

Who knows what the long term affects will be of feeding growing kids these steroids. All I know is as soon as they started adding hormones and antibiotics I started getting stomach aches after I drank milk.

I can only drink certain organic milk without getting sick. And it tastes like the milk I grew up with before it was changed in 1993. I’ve tried the alternative milks, and they just don’t taste right. So if you find you can’t drink milk, but you’re fine with all other dairy products, then try organic. And FYI, not all organic brands are the same. Certain brands can give me a stomach ache, too.

Things to read
http://animalrights.about.com/od/animalsusedforfood/f/AntibioticsrGBH.htm
http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/dangers-of-cows-milk/
http://foodsafety.suencs.com/231
* I wanted to add: there are also some ice creams I can't eat. Certain brands I have no problem but they're typically the expensive brands, and I don't eat cheese too often. I've never had a problem with cheese though.*

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