Mum thinks cow's milk is essential?!
I told her that there are other sources of calcium, such as fortified soya products, and even apples. I've researched it, but there's no convincing her.
I currently take a vegan supplement.
What should I do about the situation? I don't want to hurt anybody.
Answers: Mum (who's omni) said that if I went vegan, I would lack calcium. She's upset about me going vegan. My Vegetarianism doesn't bother her.
I told her that there are other sources of calcium, such as fortified soya products, and even apples. I've researched it, but there's no convincing her.
I currently take a vegan supplement.
What should I do about the situation? I don't want to hurt anybody.
Same problem here :\
If theres no convincing her its hard. Im kinda lazy to show her the research because I love my diet and Im getting a supplement. The fam on my dads side seem like theyll never grow up and stop bugging me about being a vegeterian cutting out all my dairy. They just dont seem to understand and are strange around this different way of life. I tell them Im perfectly secure and they just need to try to understand. Sure theyre comments get to me but I got to let it go and just do my research. If theyr not going to stop(If your mom will never be convinced) Just say that theres no need to repeat your self. If theyr going to be ignorant then they can stop bugging you about the whole thing. Hope I helped :]
P.s u seriously r lykke my fav yahoo bud hhaha-we gotts lots in common!
it doesn't surprise me that you don't want to hurt anyone...you're in the vegan/vegetarian forum and you ARE happy, after all. but i think if you feel strongly about it you should kindly let her know that you have made a personal decision and that you hope she will choose to support you. maybe she would think differently if you went to a nutritionist or a doctor's visit together so they could explain to her that there are other ways to get calcium. it would take a bit of effort on her part, but i'm sure you mom loves you and the fact that she's supportive of you being a vegetarian means that part of her is willing to trust your choices. good luck!!
Scottie, you should print out some research from the computer that states animal protein is actually detrimental to calcium absorption.
Suggest that she read a couple books on the subject like, "Diet For A New America" by John Robbins or "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell. Both of these books touch on the Calcium and Osteoporosis point.
Either way, you are old enough to make your own decisions. If she doesn't think you'll be getting enough nutrients, then let her think that, but prove her wrong. There's nothing wrong with little disagreements between family. After a while she will forgot why she was mad in the first place.
Good Luck To You!!
Soy drink that is fortied with calcium is good. I drink it every day! Buy cheese that doesn't have Rennet in it. But, broccoli has calcium, and tofu. Try cooking some vegetarin for your mother and see if she begins to like it.
You might want to point out that there are many people all over the world who are lactose intolerant, and they can't drink cow's milk for health reasons. If cow's milk is truly essential, why aren't lactose intolerant people dying off like flies?
It's hard to discuss veganism with older folks; many are so set in their ways. I'm not sure that there's anything you could say that would convince her. So just tell her that you're happy and healthy, and you'd appreciate it if she could respect your food choices.
Hope this helps!
Arrrgh, my grandma's the same way! Luckily I dont have to see her all the time though. But everytime I DO, she preaches me on this.
Here is an answer on another girl's question on milk. You could simply tell her acouple of these facts...
Even a calve will die 3 to 6 months when fed only pasteurized cow milk, who it was MADE for. What makes you think it is any better for humans? Raw milk is very hard to find now days, and even then its unnatural to the human body..its imbalanced minerals create an unfavorable response to us. It is actually a calcium depleting substance because it has too much phosphorous, which is why the milk producers go the extra expense to add vitamin D, to help cloak the calcium loss.
Think about it...
What other species on Earth still drinks milk after it grows teeth? Not only that, but what other species drinks ANOTHER species milk? None.
Human milk = meant for human babies.
Cow milk = meant for baby calves.
And so forth...
e.i
Homogenized milk - Scars artery walls, causing cholesterol to attach itself, which eventually leads to heart disease
Good luck Scottie!! :)
No, thats not true! If you have soy or rice milk you can live healthier. Well just tell her that and if she doesnt like it tell her that you'll drink it once a week and if you really dont like it or feel wrong tell her that you need to stop and go back to soy milk and rice milk!
You simply need to point out to her that mammals produce milk for the sole purpose of feeding their own infants until they are able to digest solid food. No other species on earth drinks milk past infancy. And no species drinks the milk of another species. Except us. Why would that be? It seems to me that common sense ought to tell us cow's milk is not essential to adult humans.
I suggest to anyone considering a vegan diet to see their doctor regularly for blood tests and also see a dietitian to make sure they are eating properly and understand exactly how to eat. When your mum hears from a professional dietitian that you're eating healthy, she might simmer down a bit. That's what worked for me. She's only trying to watch out for you.
Hiya Scotty, hope you had a good day at uni. The way I would go about persuading a Mum is to show her how utterly serious you are. Work out how much calcium you need and where you can get it (remember Soya milk needs to be the fortified kind if that’s going to be your main source) there are plenty of foods that have calcium in; broccoli, almonds, tofu etc. Draw up a diet sheet of exactly how you are going to achieve the correct amounts every day for 6 weeks. Put it on the fridge and talk her through it, show you have done your homework and you absolutely know your stuff - blind her with science. Viva has tonnes of info here about milk http://www.milkmyths.org.uk/ and I love this one http://www.rense.com/general26/truth.htm which has gems such as;
"BACTERIA
Cow's milk is allowed to have faeces in it. This is a major source for bacteria. Milk is typically pasteurized more than once before it gets to your table... each time for only 15 seconds at 72°C.
To sanitise water one is told to boil it at 100°C for several minutes. That is a tremendous disparity, isn't it! Keep in mind that at room temperature the number of bacteria in milk DOUBLE around every 20 minutes. No wonder milk turns rotten very quickly.
PUS
ONE cubic centimetre (cc) of commercial cow's milk is allowed to have up to 750,000 somatic cells (common name is "PUS") and 20,000 live bacteria... before it is kept off the market.
That amounts to a whopping 20 million live squiggly bacteria and up to 750 MILLION pus cells per litre. The EU and the Canadians allow for a less "tasty" 400,000,000 pus cells per litre.
CHOLESTEROL
The cholesterol content of those three glasses of milk is equal to what one would get from 53 slices of bacon. Do you know of any doctor who recommends that much bacon per day? "
My mom had a real hard time with me going vegetarian 18 years ago because she thought that I wouldn't get enough iron. Once she saw that I was fine, she lightened up. When I became vegan it wasn't a big deal and she saw the health benefits she wanted to be vegan too.
The dairy industry has spent a lot of money convincing people that they have to have milk. The fact is many cultures don't eat dairy products and have fewer cases of osteoporosis then countries that do.
All you can really do is make sure you get enough calcium to meet your needs and try not to let your mother's worries get to you. You know it's nonsensical to assume that we *need* the breastmilk of another species long after we have been weaned from our own mother's milk, but it's deeply ingrained in our culture. You might try pointing out to her the correlation between dairy consumption and osteoporosis rates; there is a great chart in "Diet for a New America" showing how the nations that consume the most dairy have the highest rates, whereas the nations that consume the least have the lowest rates.
"Mom, do I look like a calf? Then why are you feedling me cows' milk?"
j/k, but I sometimes wonder if a vegan kid should ask that of his/her omni mom who has been suckered by the dairy industry propaganda.
Actually, studies have shown that consumption of cows' milk actually causes calcium depletion because of the high protein content.
Go to www.vrg.org and find sources of calcium. Print it out and put it on the refrigerator. If you have a source of income, buy your own fortified soy milk. Heck, even orange juice comes fortified with calcium nowadays.
Maybe you should ask your mom what it would take to convince her to stop giving you bovine lactations.