Milk, Sleep, & Ojas (Immunity)- What do they have in common Ayurvedically

Ayurveda considers milk to be an ojas (immunity) building food.   However, in today’s day and age milk has become somewhat of an enemy to many, and at the very least is a controversial subject.  So what is the problem with many of the milks we purchase in the supermarket today that makes it hard for us to digest?  The main problems stem from the fact that today’s milk is overly processed: Hormones, chemicals and antibiotics are often added, it undergoes unnecessary homogenization and the wrong type of pasteurization is done.  We need to look for milk that is vat pasteurized as this type of pasteurization doesn’t damage the milk proteins because it is a slow, safe heating process of the milk at temperatures of 135 degrees for 20 minutes.

I always recommend that you check out the milk at your health food stores and look for milk that is organic, with no added hormones, chemicals and antibiotics and that is non homogenized.  Today most of our milk will also go through an ultra homogenization process that renders it impossible for our bodies to break down.

So milk is an ojas building food and we just have to be sure that we purchase the best milk we can if we don’t have access to a trusted farm.  For more information on milk and the detrimental effects of homogenization, check out my blog from April of last year HERE.

The last component above is sleep and you might ask what does sleep have to do with milk and ojas.   When ojas is depleted because of stress, lack of sleep, and poor digestion amongst other things, our body breaks down and our ojas (immunity) will suffer.  This might show up in our systems as exhaustion, insomnia, stiff joints,  and a reduced ability to fight off colds.

We often find in modern medicine that the traditions our families have espoused have true quantitative value. It should be no surprise then that for thousands of years, milk before bed has been used to aid in sleep so that we may get the rest necessary to enhance our immune system by building our ojas.  Another example of how milk and sleep can work together harmoniously to help build ojas and heal from the inside. Look under the recipes section of my blog for a wonderful Bedtime Tumeric Milk to try before bed or click HERE.

Make The Most of Your Milk

As you know I love the unhomogenized milk we can now get at Whole Foods and I am playing with a dairy farm to try raw milk.  I like milk and always have and I know dairy gets a bad rap at times as our culture seems to love to eliminate whole food groups.  I realize some people are lacto intolerant but many of us get gas or bloating from foods and blame it on dairy without being tested or without looking at the whole picture.  I personally have had many clients switch to unhomogenized milk and it has made a big difference.I was also one of those people until recently that used skim milk just because.  During my studies I came to realize many things and one of them is that skim milk is not the best for me.  I just came across another study and wanted to share a piece of that study with you, so here goes.

 Heating wet foods above 118 degrees F destroys the naturally occurring, beneficial enzymes. As a living food, raw milk contains enzymes that assist in digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Fermenting the milk into yogurt further activates beneficial enzymes, rendering the product even more digestible.

In particular, raw milk contains the enzyme lactase which helps breakdown lactose. Additionally, an enzyme in the butterfat called lipase aids in fat digestion and assimilation of the fat-soluble vitamins.

Pasteurized milk is heated to 170 degrees and ultra-pasteurized milk is heated to 280 degrees. This prolongs the shelf-life of the milk at the cost of destroying the health-giving qualities of the milk. There are no live enzymes left in pasteurized milk… it is a dead food. As a result, the digestive system must furnish all the enzymes required to digest it. Often, if the diet consists of all cooked foods, the body’s enzymes stores are depleted and digestion is impaired.

The butterfat in raw milk separates to the top… just like butterfat should. The butterfat is primarily saturated–the most healthiest and most stable fat to consume (if you are still stuck in the utterly false mindset that saturated fat is bad for you, then get thee a copy of Nourishing Traditions immediately!). If the raw milk is from cows in pasture, this butterfat boasts anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties.

The practice of homogenization further mutilates the chemical integrity of milk. The fat globules are pressurized so that they become small enough to be in suspension throughout the milk, without separating into cream. This makes the fat and cholesterol more susceptible to rancidity and destroys the colloidal structure of the milk.

Even worse options are reduced fat, low fat and skim milk. The body requires removed butterfat to absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K in the milk. These vitamins are even more unavailable to the body in low fat/skim milk. Skim milks often contain dry milk powders and additives to compensate for the loss of flavor and texture with the butterfat. The consumption of skim and 1% milk has been shown to cause more weight gain than whole milk (here’s the study).