In addition, to health problems, there are also ethical issues in the dairy industry. Not many people are aware that cows are continuously inseminated in order to produce milk and their babies are traumatically removed the next day after they are born.

What happens next to those scared baby calves?

If they are ‘lucky’, they are either castrated without anaesthetic and get to ‘live’ or in most cases, they are slaughtered.

What happens to the mother cow? 

She is slaughtered after just four pregnancies at the age of five when she would naturally live to around 25 years old! It’s sad, isn’t it? Can you imagine such horror? I cannot picture having four continuous pregnancies, each time having my baby taken away the day after it was born. How do you think it would feel to experience this four times in a row? We would be unlikely to perform well, both mentally and physically. Just writing this paragraph gives me goosebumps. I am so glad I do not eat dairy anymore due to those ethical and health reasons.

So, what do you drink instead of dairy?

There are plant-based kinds of milk made of rice, soya, almonds, hazelnuts, and hemp… In the past, I used it either for myself or as a follow-up milk for my son, packaged organic rice milk. I used it quite a lot as it is a healthier alternative to dairy milk, however, do not forget the fact that all boxed/packaged beverages are pasteurized/heated. The pasteurization process is based on the use of one of the following time and temperature relationships – High-Temperature Short-Time Treatment (HTST). This process uses higher heat for less time to kill pathogenic bacteria. For example, milk and juices are pasteurized at 161°F (72°C) for 15 seconds.

So, what is healthy milk?

The best choice is freshly made milk using raw (not salted, not roasted!) pre-soaked nuts or seeds as it contains high levels of vitamin E, calcium, protein, magnesium, potassium, iron, amino acids, zinc, essential fatty acids, and more. So it’s highly nutritious and tastes delicious!

What is the reason for pre-soaking nuts and seeds?

The reason for pre-soaking is to remove the enzyme inhibitors. What are they? The enzyme inhibitors prevent the nut/seed from breaking down before germinating in the soil.

They are difficult to digest by our bodies and cause us to feel bloated). Pre-soaking time of most nuts and seeds is about 6-8 hours to increase their nutritional value, you can also sprout them for an additional 12 or even 24 hours. Just make sure that you soak the nuts/seeds in water, rinse 2 times daily and discard the soaked water.

How do you get the milk out of the nuts?

All you need is a good blender and a strainer in a form of a nut milk bag or even a cheesecloth will work too. I now use Vitamix and I love it and cannot believe I lived so long without it! My big regret is that I did not get it much sooner. Especially at a time when my son was a baby/toddler as I could have made fresh nut milk and smoothies then, instead of buying packaged/boxed rice/soya milk.

If you can, please try to aim for quality, organically grown nuts and seeds as they are grown without pesticides and therefore have a higher nutritional content.

What is actually plant-based milk?

• Plant-based milk is so-called for its white dairy-like appearance and its similarity in taste and uses to cow’s milk.

• Plant-based milk freshly made is not the same (nutrition- and taste-wise) as pasteurized packaged milk.

• Plant-based milk is a great alternative to cow’s milk.

• Nut milk is made mainly from almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and/or coconuts.

• Seed milk is a great replacement for people with nut allergies.

• Seed milk is made from hemp, sesame, or sunflower seeds.

• Nut milk makes a great base for ice cream.

• Freshly made nut milk, without anything added to them, is purely made from nuts and water. Likewise, seed milk only contains seeds and water. Nothing else. They are delicious drunk in this way, or you could add natural sweeteners or flavorings.

• Plant-based milk is very nutritious, filling, and delicious.

• Pure nut milk will keep for a few days in the fridge. Those with added fruit will go off quite quickly.

• Plant-based milk can be drunk on its own or by adding fruits. When doing so, as far as food combining goes – if you eat nuts and fruits together, they ferment in the stomach which can lead to you feeling bloated and gassy. Because the fiber is removed through a nut milk bag and the nuts are not whole but in a milk form, this is less likely to happen, or at least not as intensely. As well as nut and seed milk, you can also make milk from oats, rice, soya, and/or quinoa.

So, now you know why I don’t drink cow’s milk. After removing dairy completely from my diet, my health improved (better digestion, skin, and higher energy…). I hope you found this article helpful and perhaps inspiring. And if you are considering replacing dairy from your diet and do not know how to go about it, reach out, I am happy to advise.

Lenka

The post Why do I drink plant-based milk and not cow’s milk? appeared first on Lenka Pagan.

I define mentoring as a professional relationship in which an experienced person (the mentor) assists a less-experienced person (the mentee) in transforming on a personal and professional level. A mentor is someone who has been there and done it. They have experience in the area you are looking to grow in and have previously solved the challenge you are wanting to solve.

Not everything in my life has gone always smoothly but I have been fortunate enough to have great mentors who were willing to take me on and provide meaningful opportunities for growth. These mentors have taught me about what is important in my life.

Now, let me introduce to you one of them – my wonderful mentor Anita Koch who made the biggest impact in my life. She is a holistic health coach, successfully runs a Lifestyle Centre in North Carolina and has transformed the lives of thousands of people from all over the world. I can still recall the first meeting with Anita very clearly. It was at a chiropractic clinic in Florida, where we both lived many years ago, and where she was running health programmes.

At that time, I was very ill, desperate to get well and so confused about my illness and what I should or shouldn’t do. I believe that as a mentee you need to listen and trust your mentor and put things into action. I decided to join Anita’s programme and things started to change rapidly on weekly bases.

I also had the honour of meeting some of her other mentees who succeeded in a battle with illness, and I was totally blown away to hear such inspirational stories and that assured me that I was in good hands. I wanted to get well too and therefore I took all her advice seriously. I trusted her because I could see my progress from the early days.

Anita showed me another perspective on life, she offered a different solution to my health problems. Through her knowledge, I gained clarity. She also showed me how to live and keep a healthy lifestyle. She lent me some wonderful books about alternative health.

At that time many years ago, it was a new thing. She was confident that I will get well again after changing my diet and quitting some bad habits, such as taking painkillers and using harmful products.

She advised me on how to read food labels, how to identify good ingredients from the bad ones and how to prepare nourishing meals from scratch. I followed her advice, reorganized my kitchen, bought ethical products and applied all her teachings to my life. And I never looked back. I recovered from my illness in 3 months and have not been ill since.

Anita’s message “You don’t have to be sick!” had inspired me so much that I wanted to pass it on and transform people’s lives too. I arrived at Florida to study management and left a few years later as a completely new person and excited to further study health, nutrition and yoga.

You can imagine how much I am grateful to have met this wonderful person, my mentor Anita, who completely changed my life.

I suggest that all of you, lovely people, explore what area of your life could do with a mentor and work with him or her.

Enjoy the journey!

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