Okay Milk, What's Your Deal?

So imaging that you're sitting down, and you just got done making an awesome PB and J and take one bit and realize something is missing. Where is the cold glass of milk?  Perfect to top it off, right? I am not so sure. So think about milk for a second, now where does it come from? Well that's easy, a cow
dummy-head. A better question is "why are we drinking the milk of another animal?" That is a great question,  let me elaborate on why we drink any milk at all. We are considered mammals, a characteristic of being a mammal is drinking milk from your mother. We are the only species that actually drink milk from another species, would you drink milk from a monkey, horse or giraffe? I hope your answer is no, but you have to realize that is just outrageous as drinking milk from a cow and have the same correlation, which is none.  I know I'm the bad guy, raining on your milk parade.  Here is another fun fact about mammals, we can only effectively break down lactose, commonly known as the sugar in milk, while we are babies. This fact mean at some point after you stop drinking milk from your mother, we stop producing lactase, the enzyme to break down that milk sugar. Based on these two facts it means, every single person is lactose intolerant to some point. Interesting? I think so.


So your next question is even if I wanted to give up milk, how am I going to get my calcium? First, let's talk about calcium, calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the recommended intake is 1,000 mg a day for adults. Ninety-nine percent of the body's calcium is stored in bones and teeth for structural support. While dairy products are the most obvious source of calcium, there are other foods that can provide your daily dose, according to the USDA. Here is a great list of foods that actually have more calcium than milk and are more beneficial overall 


1)  Soy or almond milk.
2)  Sardines which have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. But the little fish also give you 325 mg of calcium.
3)  One half cup of firm tofu contains 253 mg of calcium and only 88 calories.
4)  Salmon offers 181 mg of calcium per three ounces.
5)  Collard Greens, a half cup of collard greens has 178 mg of calcium and 31 calories.
6)   Fortified ready-to-eat cereals can provide from 236 to 1043 mg of calcium. 


Incorporate the list into your diet, but please done cry over spilled milk.