Since the word "diet" automatically brings to mind weight loss in our society, it’s not surprising that people could confuse the original milk diet with a weight loss method. (I say "original" because the dairy industry is calling a their new weight loss plan a milk diet. Yes, the one where you add three servings of pasteurized, homogenized, denatured dairy to your SAD diet--a far cry from the real milk diet.)
The focus of the original milk diet--or milk cure, as it’s also known--was on healing the body and resolving health issues. And, in my opinion, this may be exactly why the milk diet is well-suited for individuals aiming to lose excess fat weight. Why? Because even though the milk diet wasn’t designed specifically for weight loss, it has the ability to target the root cause behind unwanted weight gain.
If you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed I adhere to a slightly unorthodox approach to weight loss: it’s not all about calories or exercise or even macronutrient ratios. It’s about the fact that your body gains too much fat weight when it’s out of balance. I’m all about bringing the body back into balance so it can let go of the excess fat, and so you can finally achieve a healthy body composition.
So, how does the milk diet come into play here? In a few different ways:
It gets you away from refined sugar. No fructose-laden desserts here. Just pure, fresh raw milk - which tastes so great you probably won’t be craving sugar anyway (I’m certainly not, and that’s a big surprise considering my history with sugar cravings).
Raw milk is very nutrient-dense. We’ve all heard the term "overweight but undernourished." Well, on an all raw milk diet, you’re getting a very complete - and highly digestible - package of vitamins, minerals (including trace minerals), macronutrients, enzymes and more. Your body won’t be wanting for any nutrients on this diet.
Calcium equals weight loss. At least, so says modern science. Several studies have shown that eating a diet rich in calcium can help you lose weight, especially fat weight and specifically abdominal fat. And you have to admit: you can’t get more calcium rich than a gallon of milk per day.
Get some real detoxification. Stop chugging watered down maple syrup and cayenne pepper, and please stop popping those ridiculously harsh colon cleanse pills that send your digestive system through the ringer. Back in the day, the milk diet was known for its powerful detoxification benefits. And frankly I think it’s time to bring back a detox method that won’t kill you in the process.
The milk diet is very nourishing to the kidneys, the liver and the digestive system. It can also strengthen the circulatory system, and can even improve perspiration. All of these systems play a key role in detoxification. Get these systems in good health and your body can handle its own detoxification quite well.
Restore lean body mass. A consistent thread I’ve noticed in literature on the milk diet is that patients commonly experienced the gain of muscle mass during the milk diet, despite the fact that many of them were on bed rest during the diet. The specific components in milk, as well as its digestibility, make it an excellent food for building lean mass like muscle and bone. And as I’ve mentioned before, lean body mass combats fat.
Basically, if you’re like me and believe you need to be healthy to lose weight (and not the other way around), then the milk diet just makes sense. A nourished body is the foundation of achieving a healthy body composition, and I think the milk diet can be a part of that if you’re willing to try it.
Can’t (or won’t) go on an all milk diet? No problem. Raw milk is a nourishing food, even if you aren’t downing a gallon a day. So, in an updated (and way more healthy) version of the dairy industry’s so-called milk diet, how about drinking three glasses of fresh raw milk every day? Now that’s nourishing. And if it helps with weight loss, all the better.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Cheeseslave today.
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