Got Milk?

[rabidsamfan]

Yes, I'm spammy today...

My doctor wants me to get more calcium into my diet. Oh, boy...

Like a lot of grownups, I thought I'd reached the age where drinking milk gave me problems. Digestive difficulties, as it were. Too long an interruption in the milk-drinking habit had reduced the native flora or fauna or whatever lactobacilli are to an insufficient population.

I've changed my mind. Now I think it's the milk, not me. And this is why -- I can drink some milk without any unpleasant repercussions at all.

So, I invite y'all, if you're in the same boat, to try this experiment.

1) Find a store that keeps its milk in enclosed coolers. Something where you have to open the door to get the milk. Especially if it's a small enough cooler that you can see the back wall of it. That usually means a bodega or other very small venue, but what you want is a store that keeps the milk consistently cold. Those huge open coolers at the big grocery stores are right out. Don't even bother.

2) Check the brands they carry and look among them for a local dairy, or if you can't find a local one, a dairy which has a very short cow-to-bottle distance.

3) Bonus points if the dairy doesn't use growth hormones.

4) Take home some of that brand, keeping it as cold as you can (use an insulated bag if necessary) and then keep it in the cooler part of your refrigerator (not on the door!). Never leave it out on the counter.

5) Start with small portions, and work up.

Then let me know how it goes. I'd love to see if this works for someone else.

*goes back to drinking her milk*

Comments

[lame-pegasus.livejournal.com]

Cheese and yoghurt work, too, if you need more calcium. Or green vegetables, like broccoli and beans.

[unhobbityhobbit.livejournal.com]

Heh, wow, that's almost the complete opposite to what we do. We get the milk delivered, so it's on the back of a milk float for most of the morning and then it's outside for longer if we forget to bring it in (which doesn't matter so much in winter because it's nice and cold, but has lead to the milk going sour before we even opened it in summer).

No idea where the milk is from, really. But I do trust the providers.

And then we keep it in the door of the fridge. Or we leave it out if it's going in tea or coffee (no point in cooling it down if you're going to put boiling water in it). But then we're all fine with drinking milk, never really stopped.

[ansostuff.livejournal.com]

Overnight I stopped drinking milk ten years ago. Now I can have it in small portions once in a while and sometimes I crave it but very rarely. Norway is a little enough country that we don't have many dairies that sell their produce separately and not through the main deliverer, Tine, but there is a couple. The coolers never grow too big though, hence the number of people available to consume the produce, but I agree with you. Milk should always be icy cold.

*hugs*

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

I know it's a bit of a schlep from where you are, but you might want to go up to Harvest Co-Op (Central Sq, right at the T stop) and buy organic milk, in glass bottles, kept in a closed refrigerator case. That's where I'd go to get milk that meets these specifications. It's not *that* much more expensive, either.

[stillwaters11.livejournal.com]

Heh. I was drinking a glass of vanilla-soy milk as I read your post.
Because of various family needs, my fridge currently holds 1% milk in a regular translucent plastic bottle,the vanilla-soy, and a lactose-free milk.
All three have 30% of the daily calcium per cup. The soy took a bit of getting used to, but I really like it now.
I remember seeing a news story on how dairy products sometimes sit out at room-temp for hours in back rooms before they're refrigerated, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was the quality of the milk that affects a lot of people.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Experiment won't work for me. I'm 44 and I still chug the stuff straight from the cow. (Though now these days I'm splurging and getting the organic non-hormone family-farm milk with the cream floating on the top of the bottle.)

Can't stand non-fat, the nasty way it picks up all the flavors in the fridge -- at that point just drink water.

[frankymole.livejournal.com]

There's also cheese as an option (for calcium). I find dietary supplements easier.

[slipperieslope.livejournal.com]

A good restaurant is aware of the chill factor and are very careful to keep milk very cold for taste purposes. I can detect 'blinkey' milk, as my Mom calls it, long before it goes bad. I always, always get mine from the local dairy's store and they pride themselves on their fresh milk. Calcium is critical at every age.

[siouxieq.livejournal.com]

Have you ever tried Lactose Free milk? It's "chemically modified" if that's a problem - the lactose is turned into glucose and galactose by an enzyme.

I decided a year ago that I should drink more milk but found that I had become lactose intolerant, to the point that half a cup of milk on cereal made me sick all day. I tried all sort of milk, including soy (but am worried about soy and links with cancer), and then found a brand that makes lactose free everything (butter, cream, sour cream, milk). And it is something that you can use normally and people won't turn there noses up at.

It's a great alternative and it is all UHT - but this brand is Australian so I am not sure if you will have the same sort of thing on your side of the pond.

[dreamflower]

I've never stopped drinking milk, though I switched from whole to skim about 20 years ago. But I love dairy products. Milk. Buttermilk. Cheese. Ice cream. Cheese. Milk. Sour cream. Butter. Cheese. *sigh*

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

I have milk issues (as I know we've discussed, lol), but I know that I do eat yogurt and cheese a lot! I'm one of those weirdos who eats cereal with yogurt! :D

[melilot-hill.livejournal.com]

That sounds interesting and very plausible. I never stopped drinking milk, though, so I can't try it.