Hello, lovelies!
Allow me to burst these milk bubbles.
Is cow milk bad for your child?
Let start with, milk is not bad for your kids except your child has lactose intolerance or allergic to it. Lactose intolerance is when the body can’t digest lactose (the sugar in milk). It could cause damages to their digestive lining if you don’t stop giving milk to a child with lactose intolerance. So, do not remove milk from your child’s diet because a social media nutritionist says is bad for your kids. The reason I don’t like regular intake of milk is its hormonal effects. Choosing grass-fed milk means the cow is fed with grass and not grains which can probably be a grain sprayed with GMO. Organic means the cow is not raised in an over-crowded or kept in dirty or unsanitary conditions they walk freely and source for food around.
Do your child really need cow milk to grow?
Sorry to burst these bubbles, the answer is NO, you don’t need to subject your child to cow milk.
Over the years, dairy industry advertisements made our parent believe milk is the only healthy choice for kids; like is the source of calcium, iron, vitamin D, good for bones, etc. Therefore, every parent made it a necessity in their child’s diet. Their brainwashing became a generation thing.
The question new age parents are asking now is Do my child really need milk to get adequate nutrients? No, your child does not need cow milk to get his required nutrient. Many children drink little or no cow milk but still get the calcium, iron, and protein they need. There are many milk alternatives your child can enjoy without missing the cow milk but the grams of these nutrients in alternative milk are not as high as cow milk. To make it balance you need to pair it with other foods rich in these nutrients.
Let’s look at this meal idea:
Rice served with vegetable sauce, fish and a cup of tiger nut milk. Isn’t that a balanced meal? The leafy green is rich in iron and calcium, and protein from fish while the tigernut also contains calcium, protein and fibre. We don’t need to be brainwashed, that does not mean you can’t give your child cow milk when you feel like it but not taking it all the time as if all their nutrients depend on it as dairy advert portray.
African mums, you need to know that cow milk is not suitable for a six to twelve months old baby I mean, this is too common among African mothers. If you read labels you will see it is indicated. There are lots of baby milk to choose from in the market and if they are too expensive for you to afford dear mum ignore them is not compulsory or mandatory. My 2 years toddler does not take milk from 6 to 2 years except breast milk and nuts, seeds and grain milk.
So, try different foods to meet your child’s required nutrients not by spending your money on cow milk all the time because a company advert says so.
EFFECT OF COW MILK ON CHILDREN
Hormones
Cow milk contains high levels of hormones and growth factors, including estrogen, mama this is not good for children most especially teenagers it can play a wild card in their hormones.
Think of teenage acne, we normalize it in Africa without looking for the root cause. If your child has rapid acne, you may want to stop dairy to see if there will be changes. We all know that acne can cause physical scarring and emotional distress.
Allergy
Allergy symptoms vary and can include an itchy rash, swelling of the lips and face, stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation, a runny or blocked nose, and eczema. In Africa, we attach all eczema to nappy rash or hereditary without looking into the root cause and all runny nose to cold weather or infection and so on… When this issue becomes constant we need to look for the root cause. It could be allergy seafood, egg, peanut and cow milk are the most common root cause of this sickness therefore, cow milk allergy should be seriously considered when treating this sickness. Consult your child paediatrician for proper examination.
Milk Alternatives
Oat
Tigernut
Cashew
Almond
Walnut
Coconut
Peanut
All these are milk alternatives if your child is allergic to cow milk or you just want to have a mixed diet for your child like me.
African Foods rich in calcium and iron
Spinach
Ugu
Waterleaf
Green (Amaranth vegetable)
Oziza
Betterleaf
Sorghum leaf (poroporo baba)
Pearl millet
Sorghum
Guinea corn
Beetroot
Egusi seed
Pumpkin seed
Peanuts
Cashew nuts
Bambara nuts
The lists are endless.
Dear mamas and papas, I hope this article helps clear your doubt about milk. Cow milk is not the only source of nutrients your child needs for growth, balance it by giving alternatives sometimes.
Love you!
