No More Dairy. Wait, What?

Alright, ladies and gents. Let’s chat.  I need to tell you about my past love for dairy.

I used to drink milk every night at dinner, devoured cheese at every meal, ate cheese for snacks and would add it to anything possible. I also had bad acne, not so good digestive issues, and continuous inflammation issues. I simply was just getting older and dealing with the stress that comes from being a parent. I told myself that dairy was not the issue because there was no way I would ever give that up.

SO I THOUGHT.

My first few attempts at stopping dairy failed. I wasn’t prepared to give it up. I didn’t think I could give it up. I just wasn’t ready. Mentally I wasn’t there. I lasted for about 15 days.  Unfortunately for me, it took chronic pain for me to put a hold on my milk consumption.   But more on that coming up, just keep reading 🙂

Why is it so hard to stop eating?  Dairy is a real addiction- Aka ‘Dairy Crack”.  If you have ever stopped to think about addictions you know they are hard to break right?  Dairy is no different.  But I can promise you once that ‘crack’ (sorry, had to) is out of your system and you start to feel amazing, you’ll recognize what dairy was doing to you.

Maybe you are asking yourself ‘why would anyone cut dairy from their diet?’.  Some people may not have to. BUT I would have never known what dairy was doing to me if I didn’t take a 30-day break from it. Dairy can be the underlying cause of countless health issues and for many people is doing more harm than good.

Here’s why.

(Now please note, I am not a doctor, just someone who has high health standards, researches a lot, and has learned a lot through my nutrition course)

1. It is a high inflammatory food resulting in digestive issues, bloating, gas, constipation, and acne.
2.  It is an acid forming food. You may have heard the phrase alkaline vs. acidic, if not, check out this article here. Our bodies like to maintain a neutral pH balance. Milk and other animal products are acid forming. The problem is most foods we eat are already acid forming so dairy is certainly not helping.
3. It is LOADED with hormones and antibiotics. Dairy cows are overproducing milk for the wants and needs of the market resulting in mastitis in the cows. When a cow gets mastitis, they are treated with several rounds of antibiotics.  There are supposed to be systems put in place that a cow can not be milked during that time but nobody is watching what all dairy farms are doing 100% of the time.  All those anti-biotics flow right through their milk, and into your milk, cheese, yogurt, and so on that is consumed meal after meal.

Where is dairy hidden?

If you are really serious about cutting dairy out of your diet for good, there are other names of dairy to watch for.  They include whey, ghee, kefir, and so much more.  Check out this list!  Sometimes, it just doesn’t simply say ‘milk’.

How I stopped.

SO back to that chronic pain I was having in late 2016/early 2017…. I was out of commission for a bad back and then a bad knee.  What a pain to live with that for probably 4 months before I did something about it

March 13, 2017, I started my 30 days to healthy living-bound and determined to heal myself with food. I stuck with it and didn’t know how the course of my life would change. Suddenly my inflammation was gone, digestive issues were clearing up, and I was feeling SO good. It is important to note that I also cut out other high inflammatory foods at that time so it was a combo of everything. However, around day 45 I added a little dairy back into my diet and I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life. It was not fun. It was then that I realized that dairy and I did not mix well together.

SO, is dairy bad for me? Yes. Is it bad for you? I don’t know but there are two ways to determine if it is,  One way is by eliminating 100% of dairy from your diet for at least 30 days and keep track of how your body reacts. The second way is with an at-home food sensitivity test.  Your results will come back in about a week and then you will know if you have any reactions.

Sounds good and all right? BUT how do you eliminate dairy for 30 days?

– Mentally accept it. Tell yourself you can do it- because YOU CAN.

– Learn about other alternatives.

What are your alternatives?

Experiment and find which one is your favorite ‘milk’; coconut, almond, cashew, hemp, oat, and rice.  You have a ton of options, try out a few and see what you think.  Here are just a few non-dairy ways to get calcium into your diet.

– Almonds

– Kale

– Oranges

– Spinach

– almond or coconut milk based yogurts

*FYI- Kite Hill brand for dairy-free yogurts and cream ‘cheese’ spreads is our favorite.

If I can live without dairy, I promise you can too 🙂