2024-11-10 06:07:00
Milk – there is hardly any other food that has been so hotly debated in recent years. Does it make you feel happy now or does it give you a stomach ache? There are a lot of opinions and half-truths about the fact that I also became very insecure. Is she healthy or intolerant? The answer to this is very nuanced.
Ayurveda values milk
In Ayurveda, milk is considered Rasayana. A Rasayana is something very special. A Rasayana is something taken as a preventive measure. It is a food that prolongs life and improves ojas. Rasayanas strengthen the immune system and performance – they are elixirs of life. There are only three naturally occurring rasayanas: cow’s milk, ghee and pippali, the Indian long pepper. All other rasayanas are often made from herbs and minerals over months of work. Cow’s milk is therefore a valuable food in Ayurveda.
Not all milk is the same
What is sold as cow’s milk in the supermarket is not what Ayurveda means. It is already written in the old classics of Ayurveda that milk should only come from cows that are kept appropriately (when did the unnatural animal husbandry start?) and that one should only drink the milk from the evening milking. Because the cows don’t move at night and that would add even more kapha to the morning milk. Ayurveda is very differentiated.
Premium milk in dark bottles
If you follow these recommendations, then only fresh milk from the Demeter organic farm next door in the evening comes into question. That would be raw milk. But who has a yard like that as a neighbor?
The only practical option is fresh, organic quality milk, which is sold in dark glass bottles. Preferred milk is packaged raw milk. It is neither homogenized nor pasteurized. It has not been heated above 40 °C, which means it only has a short shelf life. But it is the product that comes closest to the Ayurvedic understanding of cow’s milk.
Recommendations for your milk consumption
Ayurveda recommends consuming only a small amount of cow’s milk per day. It should never be drunk from the refrigerator, but should always be boiled and then drunk warm and with spices. Cold cow’s milk is difficult to digest and produce Or!
Cow’s milk is not considered a drink, but rather a food. She should never with salty foods or sour fruitsn can be combined.
Never combine with fish or meat
The combination of fish or meat with cow’s milk is considered particularly unfavorable and produced Or.
If you like to eat muesli with milk for breakfast, be sure to warm the cow’s milk beforehand. Cold milk extinguishes Agni, the digestive fireand your lovely breakfast ends up as Ama, the metabolic waste. These are the basis for diseases. However, it is better than cold cereal Ayurvedic porridge in the morning.
The plant-based alternatives to cow’s milk
I don’t consume cow’s milk at all, I eat a vegan diet. When my stepdaughter did an internship on an organic farm and told me that the cows there were also kept relatively close in the stable, that the horns of these cows were burned out painfully and without anesthesia (this is not the case with Demeter cows!) and that too When the calves were taken away from the organic cows so that we humans could drink their milk, something clicked in me and from then on I could no longer drink them or eat dairy products.
Instead of cow’s milk, there are new products on the shelves almost every week, all made from plant-based raw materials. I can only recommend organic soy milk because only then can you be sure that it does not contain genetically modified soy. There is even soy milk from local organic soy production. This is particularly responsible.
- For Vata constitutions We recommend the calming versions made from oats, rice or almonds.
- For Pitta constitutions Coconut drink, almond or rice drink are suitable.
- Kapha-Typen In principle, you should not consume cow’s milk or its plant-based alternatives. However, small amounts of rice or soy drink are suitable. Aldi has a very pleasant organic rice/soy milk. I’ll gladly take that.
Milk, the advertising does it!
You definitely remember the advertising slogan “Milk cheers up tired men”. You just have to repeat a claim often enough and it will be believed. But is that true? No! Cow’s milk has a calming effect and, when drunk warm in the evening, is said to help you sleep. This is also an ancient Ayurvedic recipe.
So why should we drink a lot of it? Because Germany is one of the largest milk producers in the world. The dairy industry, politics and advertising have joined forces and have been claiming for decades that lots of cow’s milk is healthy, strengthens bones and makes small children grow up. In nature, however, mother’s milk is intended for small children. The cow’s milk is actually intended for the calves, for the same reason.
The discussion about what is advertising, what is scientifically proven or what is healthy is so heated that I cannot allow myself to make a judgment here. A lot can be proven scientifically if you do it cleverly – and depending on who the client is and who is funding the study. All I know is that cow’s milk, as we can generally buy it, has nothing to do with what Ayurveda recommends.
The immune profile is crucial
In the past, people drank the milk from a specific cow. Today, what’s in a tetra pack comes from hundreds of cows, each with their own different immune profile. This means that the human immune system is overwhelmed, especially that of children. In addition, it is now completely normal for cow’s milk to contain antibiotic residues and traces of pus, even if that is not allowed.
You can’t do that on cow hide: pasteurize, homogenize, heat, cool, separate…
After milking, cow’s milk is pasteurized, homogenized, heated, cooled, separated, etc. Twenty to thirty different operations are necessary to produce the product so that it is easy to package, transport, store and sell in bulk.
In order for cows to produce milk at all, they must be kept permanently pregnant. And they need a special concentrated feed that no longer corresponds to their natural diet. 200 years ago the best, award-winning performance cow gave 2000 liters a year. Today a standard cow produces 8,000 to 10,000 liters per year.
The fact that this increase in performance comes at the expense of animals and nature cannot be explained away. So if you want to enjoy milk in the Ayurvedic sense, then choose organic milk of premium quality if possible. Ayurveda recommends drinking cow’s milk only in small quantities, in as natural a form as possible, boiled and then drinking it warm with spices. Ayurveda does not recommend anything else.
The Ayurvedic properties
The properties of cow’s milk are sweet, oily, slimy and slightly cooling. It has a calming effect. Even though it is warm, it cools Pitta and calms Vata. For Kapha constitutions, milk consumption is only recommended in small quantities.
To fall asleep, Ayurveda recommends a cup of hot cow’s milk, flavored with a Cheese Telofel and to taste a little cardamom, turmeric, ginger or a tiny pinch of nutmeg. But please do not use honey, as it is toxic if heated to temperatures higher than 40°C.
There doesn’t have to be or shouldn’t be more cow’s milk per day.
Warm greetings from the Ayurvedic treasure trove, your Lisa ♡
If you would like to learn more about Ayurveda and food, then I recommend my book Flow, Flow, Flow with Ayurveda. It is an easy introduction to the big topic of Ayurveda:
Here I have another link for you Milk in Ayurveda. If you can get donkey milk, camel milk or buffalo milk, you can read there whether this is a good alternative.
I wrote this blog post with a lot of love and attention. If you find this useful, the Ayurveda Treasure Chest would be happy to receive a small donation. This finances the server costs, technical support, the correct dispatch of the newsletter and the image rights.
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Atures above 40°C. This is a traditional Ayurvedic preparation meant to promote relaxation and restful sleep.
In Ayurvedic philosophy, food is considered medicine, and the quality of ingredients plays a significant role in overall health. If you prefer not to consume cow’s milk, there are numerous plant-based alternatives that can suit different body types, or doshas, including Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, as outlined earlier.
Ultimately, the choice of whether to consume cow’s milk or its plant-based alternatives should reflect personal beliefs, health needs, and ethical considerations. Regardless of your choice, Ayurveda emphasizes the importance of consuming food that aligns with your individual constitution and fosters balance in both body and mind.
