Fio: Thanks for your oh so eloquent post on how those of us who don't consume dairy don't nec substitute "other" milks. It is difficult for cold, processed cereal eaters (my husband for one in the beginning--18 years ago) to imagine someone not having milk. I don't eat boxed, processed cold cereal (never have), but love my once or twice a week hot cooked oatmeal (and Kasha or other whole grains) made with Tofumoo. That is pretty much the extent of my substituting of "other" milks in my own diet. The rest of my liquid is water or calcium fortified OJ. It is truly the rare American who doesn't get enough protein--even in low income populations if they are eating traditional ethnic diets (rice and beans, corn and beans, soy and rice, rice and vegies, peanut butter and wheat=complete proteins), so I'm not that concerned about that IF I've reviewed a patient's diet. I'll admit that I have seen some pretty horrible diets in my nutrition students (who must fill out a 3 day diet log to be computer analyzed)--many exist on Dorritos, Diet Pepsi, pepperoni sticks, hot dogs, and beer. Fortunately, once they've gone through pregnancy (or perhaps it is just my patient population who tend to be Bradley childbirth graduates having followed Brewer's high protein diet), they don't need that much work in this area. My big issue with my own kids after they naturally weaned (3.1 yrs, 3.3 years & still nursing at 2.75 years) was to make sure they were really getting enough calcium. Because I too had be raised with this societal message "If you don't drink milk, your bones will crumble" concept, I push a couple of servings of calcium fortified orange juice (which is actually more absorbable than the calcium in milk); and when their diet is less than perfect, they love those chewy chocolate flavored Viactivs. At the urging of our family practitioner, we have all had bone scans done and in every case (there are 5 of us) our bone density is above the 98th percentile for their age group. And no, we don't necessarily come from "good stock" as our grandparents (big milk drinkers) all had osteoporosis--one starting to show in her early 40s. I absolutely agree that it is sickening to see kids consuming all the soda (even in baby bottles labelled Pepsi and 7-up) and sugar ladened Kool-Aid type drinks. Our kids drink a ton of filtered water and I encourage my patients with nursing toddlers not to give apple juice, but water if they want something in a cup. If you, or anyone else, has references about the deleterious effects of cow milks, please email me privately as well as to the list. I'm expanding my existing bibliography on this topic and would be happy to share it or post it. BTW, There is some outstanding anthropologic work on the bone structure and tooth damage of civilizations once they change from hunter-gatherer to agricultural and dairy consuming. TIA! Warmly, Chris --Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC [log in to unmask] €€€INFANT CUISINE AND MOTHER CARE: LACTATION CONSULTING & PERINATAL CARE€€€ *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html