“Give us this day our daily milk”

While a continually growing number of vegetarians decide to leave milk to those who actually need it and can handle it better than most – which is, babies, people with calcium deficiencies, and kittens maybe – some doctors argue that there are benefits to milk that no one seems to have thoroughly thought of before coming up with a thing as outrageous as a seeds-and-oils only diet. 🙂

Milk has been around man since time immemorial. One may even argue that there have been milkwinners in our ancestors’ families for as long there have been breadwinners. Given the weather conditions that made it impossible to preserve, it came in variants such as sour yoghurt, butter and cheese.

Then, the Pasteurization method pioneered in France in the 1860s paved the way for milk to become an important part of Western European and American diets, but the usage curve has taken an unexpected fall since the 1960s when the vegan diet came on the scene and really changed things for some.

Still, there are undeniable benefits to milk consumption that doctors and nutrition experts can attest for and vegans themselves admit, though choosing to replace it with more nature-friendly beverages like almond, rice, coconut, or soy milk.

Milk is a great source of quality protein, calcium and vitamin D, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins. It prevents osteoporosis and bone fractures, not to mention that you can use it in all types of smoothies, oatmeals, coffee recipes and even soups, making them smooth and frothy.

Some claim that milk is important in preventing weight gain, while recent studies have shown that an intake of dairy products has been associated with neutral to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke.

So even if we’re not especially interested in some of these benefits that milk seems to offer, we can consider taking milk back as a worthy, loyal companion to our lives – as long as the moral dilemma is solved, of course.

Because there is, of course, some sort of moral dilemma involved here too.

In 1815, for example, William Lambe, a London physician, argued that “milk eating and flesh-eating are but branches of a common-system and they must stand or fall together”, and there are many today who agree with him.

There are also some supporters of veganism who haven’t left milk out completely and have managed to incorporate it into their diet to make the most of what this “good, old, rich Earth has to offer”, as Charlie Chaplin, a vegetarian himself, once put it.

We don’t want to make anyone left out, so we must take all arguments and opinions into consideration when deciding if milk is, indeed, good for human consumption or not. And to make everyone feel welcome and included. 

Lest we forget, someone has even thought of naming our galaxy the “Milky” Way and that must mean something, doesn’t it?