>Dear Rachele, thank you so much for redressing the balance on the
>subject of Ayurvedic medicine.
>
>I also welcome your comments about milk and health. I want to see
>a balanced and intelligent discussion about milk & health issues on
>this mailing-list.


The following are clips from a book on Maharishi Ayurveda, and they go
along very well with my family's personal experience.

 "According to Maharishi Ayurveda, the body's counterpart to pure joy is a
subtle substance called 'ojas' which is extracted from food once it is
perfectly digested....Ideally, any food you eat is turned into ojas.  At
the breast, a baby naturally turns his mother's milk into ojas, but it
would take a remarkable digestive tract to produce ojas from three-day-old
leftover pizza.

Ayurveda calls foods turned into ojas with the least effort 'sattvic" or
pure foods. Many foods are on this list and it does include milk.  This
knowledge of Ayurveda is more than 5000 years old, and it considers milk
one of those foods that are very good for physical strength, a good mind,
good health, and longevity.

"Milk is currently unfashionable among health-conscious people who tend to
link it to digestive problems, allergies, and high cholesterol.  Ayurveda
holds that most of the objections to milk have to do with consuming it
improperly.  Milk should be boiled before drinking, which makes it more
digestible.  It can be drunk hot, warm, or cool but never ice cold,
straight out of the refrigerator.  Milk should not be taken with tastes
that conflict with it [milk is a sweet taste according to ayurveda]
(pungent, sour, salty) but only with other sweet foods (such as grains,
sweet fruits, and cereals).

"Sweet foods aside, it is recommended that you drink milk alone rather than
with your meals, since it is easier on your digestive traact."

Ayurveda also considers different body types and heavier people or people
with high cholesterol would do better with low fat milk.

"If you still have trouble digesting milk after it is boiled, or if it
seems to create mucous congestion, try adding two pinches of either
turmeric or dry ginger before boiling (adding a little raw sugar will cut
the bitter taste of the turmeric).  These measures remove most of the
current objections to milk, which Ayurveda traditionally considers an
excellent food for bodily strength, longevity and peace of mind.  Cow's
milk is favored above others as the most sattvic."

As for our own experience, I am lactose intollerant and can handle small
amounts of milk boiled with ginger and turmeric just fine.  Or I am fine
with a small amount of milk cooked into baked goods. Our family never has
cream sauces or cheese as those are quite heavy and difficult to digest.

Our son has a milk allergy and even the Aurvedic doctors would not
recommend milk for him.  We have done other Ayurvedic procedures with herbs
to strengthen his digestion and his sensitivities to wheat and rice
(congestion) totally disappeared when he was about 2 (3 years ago) after
only one month on the herbs.

My husband has no sensitivity to milk and would not get up his nightly cup
of milk for anything, as he finds it wonderful--strengthening, and he
sleeps much better.  (However, if one does have a cold, etc. milk is not
recommeded.)

We are very fortunate in our community because we have a wonderful dairy
(called Radiance Dairy).  There milk is rBGH-free and totally organic
(meaning the cows are fed only organic feed.  The milk is pasteurized but
not homogenized (another thing that clogs up arteries, etc. since the fat
in milk is not meant to be broken up into little pieces). This is the only
milk we would consider drinking.

It is really too bad western society has gotten so far away from natural
foods.  This is where so many of the problems lie.

Rachele Shaw
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