1. It has been 28 years since I gave up drinking milk altogether. In this series of articles I intend to write how I discovered that milk is not good for my health, why I think milk is neither necessary, nor good for grownups. I will also write about the ill effects of milk on our health; and how the cattle industry is contributing to ecological imbalance, global warming and climate change etc.
2. The foundation of my ‘milk theory’ is creation, and the law of nature. There is perfection, as well as undisputed wisdom, order and purpose in God‘s creations, so that His creations will be able to propagate, adapt themselves to the changes in their environment, and survive in this planet earth. He guided His creations through their instinct, which is God’s silent voice; and they always know exactly what they are to eat or not to eat, simply through this instinct. They don’t need to go through any formal schooling or learning system, but in many respects, they know much better than human beings. As examples, let us consider how the migratory birds and the sea turtles traverse the continents and the oceans without any document or instrument to guide them, except their own instincts. The infallibility of this animal instinct is one important foundation stone for my milk theory.
3. So, my ‘milk theory’ or, in other words, ‘why I don’t drink milk’, may be briefly described this way: As per the scheme of creation, milk is meant for infants only; and therefore, after being weaned off mother’s milk, no mammal ever returned to mother’s milk, or milk of other mammal mothers. As the infant is being weaned off mother’s milk, and gradually introduced to its normal diet, its digestive system simultaneously undergoes significant transformations. The ‘lactase’ enzyme in the infant’s digestive system dries up soon after the weaning is completed, and since this lactase enzyme is necessary for digesting lactose in milk, it can no longer digest milk properly. At the same time, the mother’s milk also dries up completely soon after the weaning is done. All these are happening as per the genetic programming installed by God in all mammals at the time of creation.
4. So, the question of that baby or someone else continuing to drink milk from the mother till adulthood does not arise at all. This is true of all mammals, including human beings. This transformation in the infant’s digestive system and its inability to digest milk after the weaning is known by all other mammals through their instinct; and therefore, they never go back to their mother’s milk, or milk of other mothers. This animal instinct is always right, because it is the means by which the Creator communicates with them and guides them. Many doctors know that adults cannot digest milk properly; and they simply termed it as ‘lacto-intolerance’. They never question or go deep into the real issue: that is, why the best and most complete food (i.e milk) during the period of infancy becomes indigestible for adults; or why adults become ‘lacto-intolerant’.
5. The logic my milk theory runs like this: Since there is infinite wisdom and perfection in creation, why should human beings
need milk after adulthood, or after our mother’s milk dries up? Or why should human beings, who are the highest order in God’s creation, need someone else’s milk or other animals’ milk after our mother ceases to produce milk? Does it not mean that God says ‘Enough is enough’, and thus shuts off your mother’s milk? We know that all other mammals, after being weaned, never go back to drinking milk, and they are healthier and stronger than most of us, human beings.
6. Earlier, I was also in the habit of drinking milk. It was the writings of Maneka Gandhi, which I used to read from newspapers, which gave me the initial ideas for developing my milk theory. While her statements are mostly based on survey reports and test results in laboratories; my milk theory is based on the ways of nature, or natural laws. I also read from magazines and internet etc, many writings which say that milk is not good for adults. But surprisingly, none of them had gone deep into the root cause of this fact, except discussing the problems related to lacto intolerance and pollutants in milk etc. I will try to explain from the angle of creation why milk is not good for adults. I also want to make it clear that whatever reports and opinions I quote in my writings are not the basis for my milk theory. I only quote them by way of validating my milk theory and its postulations.
7. My writings on this milk theory touch upon many other aspects of modern lifestyle, particularly about “What is wrong with our modern diet and lifestyles”. Because as an off-shoot of my milk theory, I also write about the modern lifestyle and diet, and how we have moved far away from nature, or the ways of nature in our lifestyle and diet; and how these are responsible for many of the problems and concerns being faced by the world these days, such as modern lifestyle diseases, and global warming & climate change etc. The title of the series of articles I am writing now may also run like this: “The advantages of natural way of living”, or “Restructuring our lives in sync with the laws of nature”, because these are the cornerstones of my milk theory, as well as my thinking on how the various global concerns can best be tackled.
8. However, I chose “Why I don’t drink milk” as the title of my writings; because in my view, the proper understanding of my milk theory, as well as the adverse impacts of milk consumption by people all over the world is necessary to discover and understand what is wrong with our modern diet and lifestyle, and also the need for restructuring our lives in sync with nature.
Lalthara, IAS (Rtd),
former Chief Secretary, Nagaland.
