A MOTHER’S CRY

I don’t know about you but I have a very special bond with my mother from as early as I can remember.  Was it the gentle way she spoke, the awareness she had regarding my sensitivities, how she took a keen interest in caring and nurturing me or was our bond strengthened due to my mother’s perseverance to save my life as a new-born?  I believe it to be a combination of all these things.

I know my mother has a special bond with each of my siblings – the bond and love is different for each of us.  She has formed bonds with each of my seven sisters in different ways – she has a special bond with my brother because he is the youngest boy but with me, I feel our bond is different.  As my bond with my mother is strong with each of her children – so is the bond that is created with every mother for her newborn child.  Now, imagine if that bond is broken, imagine if you were not even give a chance to bond with the person that has given you life.  It would be devastating.

Each time a baby animal is removed from her mother – this special loving, nurturing and tender bond is broken.  I can’t imagine the anguish and pain the mother and newborn go through once they are ripped apart from one another.  Here are some facts about cows and their newborns:

• Calves are taken from their mothers as soon as two hours after birth.
• Calves are fed a commercial milk replacer that is made from dried milk powder or they are fed milk that has been deemed unfit for human consumption.
• Just as human mothers bond tightly with their newborn babies – mother cows have been reported to bellow for hours or even days after her calf is taken from her.
• Multiparous females (those giving birth for the second time or more) have higher levels of oxytocin than primiparous (those giving birth for the first time).  This means that with each subsequent birth, a mother cow presumably grows more and more bonded to her calves, and it likely becomes more and more emotionally traumatized for the cow each time a baby calf is taken from her.
• Just as the mother forms an immediate bond with her calf, the newborn calf also has an immediate bond to his or her mother and is healthier the longer it gets to bond with its mother.

Knowing the above – how can we knowingly subject a mother and her baby to this emotional distress?  Can we justify the distress and emotional pain the mother’s and babies go through for our own satisfaction?  Is the unhealthy, nutritious-free cheese and milk worth this trauma?  Female calves are born to endure this same cruelty the mother goes through and as for the males – they are subjected to a cruelty of their own due to its tender meat as veal.

It is known that milk from a cow has no nutritional benefit to humans.  In fact her are some truths about milk:

1.  In observational studies both across countries and within single populations, higher dairy intake has been linked to increased risk of prostate cancer.
2. Observational cohort studies have shown higher dairy intake is linked to higher ovarian cancer risk.
3. Cow’s milk protein may play a role in triggering type 1 diabetes through a process called molecular mimicry.
4. Across countries, populations that consume more dairy have higher rates of multiple sclerosis.
5. In interventional animal experiments and human studies, dairy protein has been shown to increase IGF-1 (Insulin-like Growth Factor-1) levels.  Increased levels of IGF-1 has now been implicated in several cancers.
6. In interventional animal experiments and human experiments, dairy protein has been shown to promote increased cholesterol levels (in the human studies and animal studies) and atherosclerosis (in the animal studies).
7. The primary milk protein (casein) promotes cancer initiated by a carcinogen in experimental animal studies.
8. D-galactose has been found to be pro-inflammatory and actually is given to create animal models of aging.
9. Higher milk intake is linked to acne.
10. Milk intake has been implicated in constipation and ear infections.
11. Milk is perhaps the most common self-reported food allergen in the world.
12. Much of the world’s population cannot adequately digest milk due to lactose intolerance.

More information and references to the specific studies can be found via:

http://nutritionstudies.org/12-frightening-facts-milk/

There are healthier and more ethical choices than dairy, plant-based alternatives such as; almond, cashew, soy and coconut milks.  These are more nutritious for you and absolutely cruelty-free.  What we must do is unlearn all the lies that have been told to us about the benefits of milk and eating meat.  Most of these lies come from corporations who want to profit from these lies.  It is our responsibility to seek the truth and to gain awareness is the plight of those animals who are less fortunate than we are and ultimately pay the price with their lives for our ignorances.

Isn’t time we allow the bonding process between a mother and her baby instead of ignoring their cries?

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!