Do you really need to drink milk?

Source: The Times of India - Tuesday 11 April 2000, By Pritish Nandy, interviewing Maneka Gandhi | FW by Chandrasaker

Ayurveda actually lists milk as one of the ‘five white poisons’. She has stirred a hornet’s nest with her campaign against milk. Even hardcore veggies have attacked Maneka Gandhi and religious leaders have openly come out to contradict her. Curiously, on her side now is global research and modern science, of which she has been a long-term critic. They are the ones who are defending her now.

You have come out very strongly against milk. Why are you so hostile to it? There are three reasons.

  1. People’s health is compromised by milk and its products
  2. Cruelty to cows and
  3. Pollutants in milk

Would you like to explain why you think milk is unhealthy?

There is this belief that milk is a complete food and an important source of protein, iron and calcium.

  • Milk has no iron, however it also blocks its absorption.
  • The ability of the body to absorb calcium from milk is barely 32%. Whereas the body can absorb, 65% from cabbage and 69% from cauliflower.
  • Milk has less protein than most vegetables.

Even if we assume it contains more protein, it would be useless for human beings. Because human beings require only 4 to 5 percent of their daily calorie intake in proteins and the daily consumption of Indian bread (Chapattis) and potatoes would give more protein than the requirements.

So milk is not the best food in the world as it has been touted for generations?

Milk is very difficult to digest particularly for Asians and Africans. Why do I not eat plastic? The reason is: I have no enzyme to digest it. We do not have lactose in our body and so we cannot digest lactose. If we cannot digest milk, how do we get any of its ingredients?

Apart from this, milk has something called the IGF-1. All cancer studies show that when IGF-1 rises in the body one gets cancer. All the IGF-1 in milk stays in the body, making you prone to cancer. It is also a very strong cause of asthma decease. In fact, doctors recommend asthma patients to avoid milk and milk products.

The problem with doctors is that they learn no nutrition in medical colleges. So they have a limited knowledge of food. Their knowledge of nutrition comes from the same source as yours and mine: Grandmothers and teachers. Add to this the confusion caused by our local religious leaders, particularly the ones who espouse vegetarianism.

What is specifically wrong in milk? What is specifically harmful?

The calcium contained in milk actually becomes a health hazard as undigested portions of it are deposited in the urinary system and become kidney stones. Another condition that milk aggravates rather than alleviates is osteoporosis or bone loss. Studies have shown that it is excess protein rather than lack of calcium that causes osteoporosis. So the more milk you drink, the more you are prone to osteoporosis. Countries like Sweden that have the highest milk consumption also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis.

Another misconception is that milk helps ulcers. Ulcers are caused by the corrosion of the stomach lining. When you drink milk it gives you immediate pain relief. But that is only temporary. Milk actually causes acidity and further destroys the stomach lining.

Also, ulcer patients who are treated with dairy products are found to be 2 to 6 times more prone to heart attacks. This seems only logical because milk is designed to be the food on which a calf increases its body weight 4 times over in one month! It is so naturally high in fat that it leads to obesity, the cause of all modern diseases. Ayurveda actually lists milk as one of the five white poisons.

Indians have been drinking milk for centuries. All of them did not fall sick.

It depends on what you call illness. Most people disregard arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, headaches, and indigestion as normal for the body and cancer as an act of God.

By looking at milk as evil, are we not turning our back on our tradition and culture?

For thousands of years people thought the sun went around the earth. Copernicus was the first person who said it did not. There was a huge backlash against him. In the past in India there existed a tradition of Sati (cremating widow with her husband’s dead body) and thugee and opium eating. Should they have been continued?

I have written a book on Hindu names for which I had to read every single Hindu scripture (sastra). Nowhere is there any milk drinking mentioned. There is ghee (liquid butter) mentioned and that too for havans (fire). Unfortunately our memories are short and the things we are most adamant about are those we know the least about. Dr. Spock was the guru for child nutrition, now apologizes for having advocated milk and says that children must be kept away from it.

Dr. Kurien has described the dairy industry as the gentle industry. You claim it is just the opposite?

The dairy industry is not gentle. The fact that supplies cater to demand makes the cow the ultimate victim. It may have been gentle when each household had its own cow and treated it as a member of the family. This is no longer true.

How is milk produced now in India?

The cow is forced into yearly pregnancies. After giving birth she is milked for 10 months but will be artificially inseminated during her third month. So she is milked even when she is pregnant. The demanded production of milk is more than her body can give. So she breaks down body tissues to produce milk. The result is an illness called ketosis.

Most of the day the cow is tied up in a narrow stall usually wallowing in her own excrement. She gets mastitis because the hands that milk her are rough and usually unclean. She gets rumen acidosis from bad food and lameness. She is kept alive with antibiotics and hormones. Each year 20 per cent of these dairy cows are sent illegally by truck and train to slaughterhouses. Or they are starved to death by letting them loose in the cities.

It is no secret that the slaughterhouse in Goa was constructed by Amul Dairy. No cow lives out her normal life cycle. She is milked, made sick, and then killed. Even worse happens to her child. The male calves are tied up and starved to death or sent to the slaughterhouses. It is not by chance that a calf is no longer called bachda in India. It is called katra, which means one who is to be killed. Even Dr. Kurien admits that in Mumbai every year 80,000 calves are forcibly put to death.

But milkmen (doodhwalas) love their cows. They live off them.

Have you seen how cows are milked? In the villages they practice phukan, a method of milking a cow. A stick is poked into the cow’s uterus and wiggled, causing her intense pain. Villagers believe this leads to more milk.

In the cities they are given two injections of oxytocin every day to make the milk come faster. This gives her labor pains twice a day. Her uterus develops sores and makes her sterile prematurely. Oxytocin is banned for use on animals but it is sold in every cigarette shop around a dairy. Every illiterate milkman knows the word. In human beings, oxytocin causes hormonal imbalances, weak eye sights, miscarriages, and cancer.

Recently Gujarat started raiding dairies for oxytocin. In one day they found 350,000 ampules in just Ahmedabad!

You mentioned pollution in milk. What does that mean?

The ICMR did research on milk for 7 years and took thousands of samples from across India. What did they find?

  • Large amounts of DDT, poisonous pesticides called HCH. Under the food adulteration act only 0.01 mg/kg is allowed of HCH.
    They found 5.7 mg as an average!
  • They found arsenic, cadmium and lead. These cause kidney damage, heart diseases, brain damage and cancer.

Their findings were based on 50,000 samples and the report was released at a press conference. What did Dr. Kurien and the Operation Flood people have to say? “More samples should have been taken!”

Other things put in your milk is sewage water, vegetable oil, and liquid soap. In some cases earthworms are put in because they excrete slime which increases the density of the milk!

You have said that drinking milk is drinking the cow’s blood?

Milk and blood come from the same source: the body cells of the cow. Every time you drink a glass of milk, remember it comes from a sad, suffering mother whose own child was killed and who herself will be killed when she dries up.

Won’t the stoppage of milk lead to thousands being unemployed?

A large number of people are dependent on smuggling, thievery, begging, drug pushing, gun running and terrorism. Do we buy their products to help them?

What is the substitute for milk?

What is the substitute to a placebo? Anything else such as soya bean milk, all green vegetables, and lentils (dal). My son has never drunk milk in his life. He is 6 feet and has never been sick a single day!

Author: Priyadarshini Somasundar

Priyadarshini is an Engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication. She used work for Dell, Later shifted to Chennai after marriage and worked in Ericsson as system analyst. I have always been passionate about our tradition and curious to know about our ancient wisdom and practices, which made me join this group.

Learn the ancient ways to cure Earache, Eye burn, Boils, Exhaustion (Heat), Gum Bleeding

There are various way to cure Earache, Eye burn, Boils, Exhaustion, Gum bleeding. At our whatsapp group, we have plenty of parents sharing their age old home remedies to each other. We have made an attempt to collect all those and share it for anyone. Apart from the information we share from our group, We have gone little deeper into ancient siddha, ayurveda and unani script and shared few remedies.

When you try these do share your feedback and or if you have any more tips so share it at comments

Effective Remedies for Earache

Garlic

  1. Take 2-3 cloves of garlic. Peel off the skin and cut them into small pieces. Add 100 ml. of sesame or mustard oil and boil on a slow fire for about five minutes. Strain and when it becomes cool, drop two drops in the aching ear.
  • Can be used two times a day.
  1.  Make a mixture of one teaspoonful of onion juice and half teaspoonful of honey. This mixture is also helpful in earache.
  • Two drops in each ear can be used two times a day.
Effective Remedies for Eye Burn

Pink Rose & Water Droplet

  1. Put 2-3 drops of pure rose water into the affected eye. It also helps in itchy eyes and reduces the redness in the eyes.
  • This can be used two or three times a day.
Effective Remedies for Boils

Onion

  1. Apply cooked onion as a poultice on the boil.
  2. A paste of ginger powder (one teaspoonful) and turmeric powder (one teaspoonful) is also good to apply on the boil. Either the boil will be suppressed or a head will appear so that the pus can be drained out easily.
Effective Remedies for Exhaustion (Heat)

Tender Coconut

  1. Drink one glass (250 ml.) of coconut water or grape juice.
  2. Take 3-4 pieces of dates and cook them with one glass of milk or water. Eat the dates and drink the milk or water. It is also good to blend them in a mixture before taking. This drink is very good and give instant energy.
Effective Remedies for Gum bleeding

winter remedy

  1. Squeeze the juice of half lemon into a cup of water and add one teaspoonful of honey. This drink should be taken every morning.
  2. Massaging the gums gently with coconut oil also helps.

Learn the ancient ways to Cure Flu

By Photograph: Frank C. Müller, Baden-Baden - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0
By Photograph: Frank C. Müller, Baden-Baden – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0

are various way to cure Flu. At our whatsapp group, we have plenty of parents sharing their age old home remedies to each other. We have made an attempt to collect all those and share it for anyone. Apart from the information we share from our group, We have gone little deeper into ancient siddha, ayurveda and unani script and shared few remedies.

When you try these do share your feedback and or if you have any more tips so share it at comments.

  • 2 or 3 times a day, Drink a cup of warm water with few drops of honey or lemon. This soothes the symptoms and at the same time loosens the phlegm.
  • Once a day prepare a decoction by boiling a 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds in ½ of warm water. Continue boiling the seeds, till the water reduces to one third of its original quantity. Then, add a 1 tsp fresh ginger juice to this concoction, along with a few drops of honey, just to make it more palatable
  • Consume 3 to 4 tsp of the mix, that is  equal amounts of honey and onion juice daily till the flu lasts.
  • Mix a 1 tsp turmeric powder in a glass of warm nati milk. This helps strengthen the liver and alleviates the symptoms of flu. Daily 2 to 3 times a day.
  • Ginger tea has an excellent effect on the body and helps alleviate the symptoms of the flu. Use 2 to 3 pieces of ginger to prepare this tea.

Homemade Recipe For Lactating Mothers

Learn the ancient technique to increase lactations from ingredients available in kitchen.

By AzoregOwn work, CC BY-SA 3.0

On the occasion of breastfeeding week, I am happy to share an age old recipe taught by ancestors.

Ingredients

  1. Adi maduram ( licorice) 10 gms
  2. Ajwain 1 cup
  3. Chitirattai (lesser galangal / kulanjan / blue ginger) 15 gms
  4. Cloves 15 gms
  5. Dal chinni 15 gms
  6. Dry ginger 200 gms
  7. Elachi 15 gms
  8. Ghee 300 gms
  9. Hing 10 gms
  10. Honey 100 gms
  11. Javitri (mace) 10 gms
  12. Jaiphal 1 small piece
  13. Jeera 15 gms
  14. Khus khus 15 gms
  15. Mustard seeds 15 gms
  16. Palm jaggery – ¾ kg
  17. Pepper 15 gms
  18. Saboot dhaniya 25 gms
  19. Tippili (long pepper) 50 gms
  20. Turmeric 10  gms
  21. Val milage (cubeb / kabab chinni) 15 gms

Method

  1. Dry roast all the ingredients separately and allow it to cool
  2. Then grind it into a powder. I make in chakki
  3. Then seive it so that the powder is evenly mixed
  4. In a khadai add half liter of water and add the palm jaggery
  5. Boil it till the jaggery is fully melted
  6. Then strain it twice to take out the impurities
  7. Wash the khadai and put the strained jaggery syrup in it and allow it to boil for five minutes
  8. Add ghee and once the ghee starts melting, add the powder little by little and mix it, stirring continuously. Keep the flame low.
  9. Now mix it nicely till all the lumps is gone and cook for ten minutes
  10. Now add little ghee again if necessary.
  11. You can see one shine in the ready mixture.
  12. It should be in pouring consistency.
  13. Now add honey and mix well.
  14. Switch off the gas
  15. Transfer the ready mix in a steel container and allow it to cool down
  16. Once its cold it will becomes little thick

Lactating mothers should have twice a day along with hot milk.
It helps in increasing the milk supply and also helps in digestion.

Author: Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Lakshmi Bharadwaj, known as OJAS in whatsapp group, is a home-maker and mother of three lovely kids. She comes with a rich tradition that follows home-remedies, which makes her a passionate towards ancient knowledge in Ayurveda naturopathy and herbs. She is one of the sincere and senior member of swarnaprashana Whatsapp parenting community. She has been constantly guiding new parents and with her continuous selfless efforts on various social and educative platforms. In 2015, She was the Parent of the month for her exceptional guidance in home-remedies to many parents in our whatsapp community.

War Against White Food

By Stefan KühnOwn work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Thanks for amazing response about the reviving food we eat. Now, we are aware of the fact that, we just need 20% of food (including water) twice a day to stay healthy. Let us explore further…

Today, we are bombarded with plenty of artificial and chemically processed food. It is a great myth that, healthy food is not in market or expensive, such as organic or natural farming food. With this false assumption, people consume processed food or fall victim to marketing campaign. They hardly know a fact that, they are opening doors towards non-communicable disease such as, diabetes, heart attack, cancer and so on.

Now, Rather than getting to the various food that is good to eat, let us explore the food, that we should completely avoid. The reason is, it does not makes sense to eat the good food, and we also consume the food that is harming us. It is like taking pure milk and a drop of poison.

Many  parents in our whatsapp group constantly ask, what are the remedies to regain or live a healthy lifestyle. The answer is not found in those rare or expensive food, but rather avoiding certain food, does the magic. You will be surprised to see there are plenty of food options that is econimical and healthy.

To lead a holistic healthy lifestyle, we need to avoid 5 white food ingredients. They are: 

  1. Refined Sugar – Replace with Palm Jaggery, Brown Sugar
  2. Table Salt – Replace with Rock salt and Pink Salt
  3. Milk – Sukku Malli Water or coconut milk. 
  4. Polished Rice / – Unpolished, traditional Rice. Say no to hybrid rice.  
  5. Maida – There is no replacement for this, you can use Millets powder to some extent.

Just by switching these simple five elements, you will notice  tremendous health benefits in short time. It is very important, to adopt these lifestyle changes ASAP, to our children.  It is a big topic to discuss on each “White” items which I will blog later…

We got this wisdom from members in our group who has dedicated his life to revive ancient food of India. In case if you like to switch to a healthy lifestyle, do check here and encourage them.

Author: Velu Jayaprakash

Velu Jayaprakash is a social entrepreneur, product manager, techy, photographer, meditator, father of two angels, ancient wisdom seeker, holistic adviser and Soul coach. You can reach him at velu.jayaprakash AT gmail DOT com

Celebrating Benefits Breastfeeding week, Aug, 1st – 7th.

breastfeeding info graphic poster

Breastfeeding is a divine mothering tool.It’s a natural facet of motherhood that ensures optimal nutrition to cocooning the newborn with emotional connectivity.

This can be achieved by providing proper information, guidance and support by families, health professionals, employers and the social community.

To bring this awareness to light, we are celebrating BREASTFEEDING AWARENESS WEEK from August 1- 7th through our whatsapp community and Facebook media. This is a call for expectant and new mothers and their families to join hands to receive and share as well their stories and experiences supporting each other. We will be also be joined by doctors and healers sharing their knowledge to support the cause.

What are you waiting for join here!

Author: Velu Jayaprakash

Velu Jayaprakash is a social entrepreneur, product manager, techy, photographer, meditator, father of two angels, ancient wisdom seeker, holistic adviser and Soul coach. You can reach him at velu.jayaprakash AT gmail DOT com

Ancient way to test the mother’s milk

By Ken Hammond ([1]) – USDA
It is amazing to see, how our ancestors were able to measure the quality of mothers milk with simple tools and balance their vata, pitta and kapha. In the olden days, the other would simple do the following test to product a healthy milk for their infants.

Few drops of milk is poured into a vessel containing water. Depending on the consistence of the milk, like the way it floats, settles, froths, striates and colours, the nature of the imbalance is understood.

Vata Dosha

The milk floats in water and froths. It may cause diarrhea.

Pitta Dosha

The Milk striates and displays yellow colour. It may cause neurological problems.

Kapha Dosha

The Milk feels heavy, slimy and settles at the bottom of the vessel. It may cause cough, respiratory problems, including indigestion and worms.

Balanced Dosha

Normally mixed well with water.

Therefore, it was well understood, the infants health is completely depends on the mothers feed. Hence mother have take proper balanced diet.

Useful Tips
  • Morning the mother can have a pinch of Pepper, long pepper and dried ginger (without skin) it is commonly called as Thrukadugu chroonam with little honey.
  • Evening the mother can have a pinch of Todikai, Amla and kadukkai, it is commonly known as Triphala.
  • If your shows a pitta or kapha doshas, then regular intake of 3 to 4 cups of pomegranate juice will help. people with Vata imbalance should avoid it.
  • Shatavari helps a lot to maintaining quality and quantity of milk.

Author: Velu Jayaprakash

Velu Jayaprakash is a social entrepreneur, product manager, techy, photographer, meditator, father of two angels, ancient wisdom seeker, holistic adviser and Soul coach. You can reach him at velu.jayaprakash AT gmail DOT com

Simple and smart ways to spot adulterated food

Generations back, everyone had their own backyard and everything was home grown which used no chemicals or any adulteration items.But now, be it milk, paneer, tea or oil, nothing comes in its purest form. Until the time it reaches you, it is adulterated and it then becomes harmful.. Read on these simple tricks and stay away from adulterated food..

Forwarded by : Lakshmi || Source : Unknown

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 2

  1. Tea: The chai you are drinking isn’t coming straight away from the Assam fields.
    Fake check: In order to check whether the chai powder is pure, put a teaspoon of it in cold water; if the cold water turns brown then your chai is adulterated!
  2. Frozen peas/green peas: We stock frozen peas in our refrigerators because they come in handy. However, some packets consist of a dye compound called ‘malachite green’, which can trigger stomach related ailments.
    Fake check: Take water in a kadhai and put some peas and stir. If the water turns green, then immediately discard the packet as they are unsafe to consume.
  3. Cinnamon sticks: You can find out if you have bought authentic cinnamon sticks.
    Fake check: Smash the sticks with your hands, if your hands get coloured then they are authenticate, if not then they aren’t.
  4. Turmeric root: Even if you’re crushing the turmeric roots and consuming it, the roots can be fake.
    Fake check: Take a turmeric root on paper and pour cold water over it. If the root leaves colour, it’s a polished one and is impure.
  5. Apples: A polished apple will not keep you away from the doctor, but will take you to one. Did you know that apples are polished with wax to give them a ‘fresh’ look?
    Fake check: To see if your apple isn’t wax covered, take a knife and slowly scrape the skin of your apple. If the knife extracts white, then that’s wax!
  6. Black Pepper: Even pepper can be adulterated with mineral oil!
    Fake check: An adulterated pepper would shine and emit kerosene smell.
  7. Cumin seeds: Cumin seeds (jeera) are very essential part of cooking as we use it in our tadka daily. They can be coloured with charcoal dust.
    Fake check: Crush the seeds in your palm, if your palm turns black then they contain charcoal.
  8. Milk: Our milkman not only fools by adding water to it. Milk can be adulterated with detergent and synthetic milk too.
    Fake check: Mix 10 ml of water and milk in the same proportion. If you notice foam or lather, then the milk contains detergent. To detect synthetic milk, boil the milk. If a yellowish lather forms, then the milk is synthetic milk.
  9. Coriander powder: There could be sawdust in your coriander powder.
    Fake check: Put some coriander powder in the water, the flakes of sawdust will float on water.
  10. Coconut oil: Coconut oil can be adulterated with other cheap oils.
    Fake check: Put the coconut oil bottle in refrigerator, the solidified layer is coconut oil, whereas the liquid oil is an adulterant.
  11. Honey: To find granules of sugar is not a foolproof way to check the purity of honey.
    Fake check: Take a cotton wick and dip it in honey. Then try to burn it. If the wick burns readily then the honey is pure, and if it crackles then it’s not.
  12. Paneer: That paneer in your paneer mutter is not really paneer. It’s starch. Paneer is one of the most adulterated items in our country.
    Fake check: Take water and put a cube of paneer and boil it. Once it cools down, put some drops of iodine solution on it. If the paneer turns blue, then the starch is present in it.
  13. Chilli powder: Did you know you could be eating brick instead of chilli powder? That’s because crushed red brick looks exactly like chilli powder and therefore it is put in your masala.
    Fake check: Put a teaspoon of chilli powder in a glass of water. If the solution emits colour then your chilli powder is adulterated.

Author: Priyadarshini Somasundar

Priyadarshini is an Engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication. She used work for Dell, Later shifted to Chennai after marriage and worked in Ericsson as system analyst. I have always been passionate about our tradition and curious to know about our ancient wisdom and practices, which made me join this group.

Garbhini Paricharya – The Ancient Art Conceiving, Pregnancy and Post Delivery – 2 of 3

 

The journey of the man begins in the womb of the mother. The pregnancy is a life changing event for both the mother and child and it leaves a huge impact for rest of their lives. Garbini or pregnant lady is said to be carrying two lives in one body. As this tiny new human body starts growing inside the womb it depends entirely on the mother for its nourishment. Ayurveda says that the purusha or human body grow from the ahara rasa or the food. So the food and actions of the mother should be in such a way that it caters to the need of mothers well being  and the growth and development of the foetus.

Continue reading “Garbhini Paricharya – The Ancient Art Conceiving, Pregnancy and Post Delivery – 2 of 3”