milk vs soymilk

[eve]

I was quite surprised today in a phone conversation with my friend Joy, when she thanked me for helping her adult daughter conquer the lifelong problem she's had with difficult breathing, blocked nose etc. I asked how her daughter managed to conquer the problem, and Joy asked how I could have forgotten recommending that she try soymilk instead of milk on her cereal, in her tea, etc. Seems that both Joy and her daughter now take VitaSoy instead of milk. :) I had completely forgotten, partly because substituting soymilk for cows milk is the first thing I usually suggest, and the suggestion isn't always acceptable.

[RedWellies]

That's great, Eve. I got my mum to use soya milk to see if her asthma improved. She didn't think it had (but she lives with 3 hairy dogs!) but said she felt much better. She eats several vegan convenience foods too (sausages, pies, etc.). The nurse she sees at the asthma clinic was pleased with her change of diet.

[Lorrs]

My brother has lots of problems with ears and nose so swapped to soya milk not so long ago and it has improved things a lot. I have similar problems and cutting out dairy made a difference with me as well.

[Sluggie]

Going vegan completely cured my asthma and allergic rhinitis. If I'd realised it was the dairy, I would have ditched it 25 years ago. I must have used a forest of tissues in that time. Ugh.

[VividHazE]

I changed to being Vegan and away from dairy 6 months ago. Soy milk just tastes nicer, when I put it in my tea it sweetens it and even tastes nice when it goes cold! When I used to use cows milk that never used to happen.

Pretty much every choice I've changed to vegan i've felt better for it! This is a really great forum I just found it. I don't know any other vegans in Northern Ireland.

[cobweb]

That's great, eve :) .

Some friends of ours have a daughter who has a permanently blocked nose and the most horrendous excema, particularly on her hands. I am sure she has a dairy allergy but they just think I am propagandering pro-vegansim :(

[Marrers]

My mum had stiff knees and when I suggested she try not eating butter they got better straight away. (She used to have bread with thick wedges of butter on at least once a day.)

[pat sommer]

Sometimes, Cobweb, I don't denounce dairy completely (or I would hit a brick wall; rather mention alternatives to the scary state of 'modern dairy production', ie goat's milk, soy, oat etc. Then leave a selection of cartons to try...

Okay, the goat bit is hypocritical but anything to get parents of a suffering child to try new things. I am guessing that they will see an immediate difference when they try the right option!

[HappyVegan]

You guys are so lucky! My sinus and allergy problems cleared up a bit when I cut out dairy but not completely. Though, now I'm starting to cut out wheat/gluten as well and it's starting to completely clear up. But I'm finding cutting out wheat to be harder than going vegan lol!!

[coy division]

I actually hate soy and rice milk; soy milk makes me bloat, and rice milk acidifies the body from what I've read. Ever since I cut out dairy, I've been avoiding dairy substitutes as well. Can't remember the last time I had a bowl of cereal ... oh well.

[howdawg]

How about hemp milk coy? Or almond or any of the others..

[MarkAnthony]

That's excellent news!

I've found a surprising number of omnivores who actually prefer the taste of soy milk to cow's milk. It all depends on what your tastes are really. I've never particularly liked cow's milk, could never drink glasses of it on its own or anything (actually I still can't with soy) but I do much prefer it on cereal and in tea and stuff. Omnis who love the whole creamy thing tend to prefer cow's milk. When I was omni I drank skimmed milk, so that's probably why I prefer soy milk now.

[Russ21]

That's great, eve :) .

Some friends of ours have a daughter who has a permanently blocked nose and the most horrendous excema, particularly on her hands. I am sure she has a dairy allergy but they just think I am propagandering pro-vegansim :(

Interesting...my friend's infant brother suffers from terrible eczema and all they drink is full fat dairy milk and they use loads of margarine!

May tell them today that it could be an allergy to dairy.

[Cherry]

My niece used to have bad eczema when she was little, but it was only when she was older and got REALLY bad pains when her parents discovered (via doctors, hospitals and allergy testing) that she couldn't have cow's milk.

I wonder why doctors don't suggest a dairy-free trial more routinely when children have eczema.

[Otter_]

I was diagnosed with dairy allergies when I was not yet 1... Dairy has never really been a part of my diet.

[frank language]

I was diagnosed with dairy allergies when I was not yet 1... Dairy has never really been a part of my diet.
Lucky you; I had torrential nosebleeds when I was a little kid, and nobody had a clue that it might be dairy-related. I didn't quit until I was 38.

[mexicanpotato]

Up until I completely cut out dairy products, I had horrible allergies and I had to take a steroid nose spray (which I hated). Now that I've cut out dairy, I haven't had any problem with allergies.

[LuVegan15]

I'm pretty sure that the reason people suffer so much from allergies and asthma after consuming dairy products is becuase of the protien, casein, which produces alot of mucus in the body. Casien is also the glue in which you use to stick lables to jars, wooden ferniture together, plastics together etc. Yummy, huh? I don't think it's becuase of people being allergic as such from dairy produce, more the elements and chemicals contained inside the milk.

[moonlite]

I used to be congested ALL THE TIME before I stopped drinking milk. Actually, I don't know if it's the whole vegan diet or just the milk part, but somehow after I started eating vegan a few weeks ago I can actually breathe! And the weirdest thing is, I didn't even KNOW that I was congested. It was like I lived that way for so long that it just became normal. It was only after I went vegan that I realized how plugged up my sinuses had been all the time, and how clear they feel now. I'm so glad for rice milk and soy milk... :)

[rianaelf]

Well milk is for babies so no wonder so many problems!
How on earth are our bodies sopposed to mature properly if we keep feeding it stuff that is meant for the first year or two of our lives, actually a calves life if it's cow's milk.
Just doesnt make sense, never has and never will :p