The allergy/sinus/asthma stuff has been driving me crazy. CRAZY!
It’s been so annoying to wake up every morning with what feels like a cold. This has been happening for quite a while and has led me to consider some big changes.
I’m seriously considering leaving New Zealand a few months early and skipping out on winter here. While it will suck to be away from Kepa again it is probably what is best for both my health and sanity.
I’m also doing something a bit radical right now: going dairy free.
You see, I consume A LOT of dairy. I LOVE drinking milk and drink usually two glasses a day. That’s on top of eating cheese – I’m slightly obsessed with Laughing Cow – and sour cream and plenty of yogurt on a regular basis. I’m a dairy addict.
Several people mentioned that cutting out or cutting back on dairy could possible help with my breathing issues. I honestly had no idea about this because I’ve loved dairy so long and so hard that I turned a blind eye to the research that shows what it does to your body. However, I would love to do anything to eliminate these problems that affect my life every day, so I’ve decided to experiment for two weeks with eating no dairy and see how it affects me.
Benefits of Going Dairy Free
I’ve been looking into it more and there are a lot of potential benefits from going dairy free.
- clearer skin and less acne
- preventing milk allergies and reactions
- healthier digestion
- weight loss
- reduced exposure to antibiotics and hormones
- improved sinuses and congestion problems
And more! The more I read about dairy free diets and people who have gone dairy free, the more I was convinced it would be a great thing for me to try.
Going Dairy Free
Milk and lactose can be sneaky and get into food in lots of ways. Here’s a list of dairy ingredients that I will be avoiding on my dairy free experiment in addition to typical milk and cheese restrictions that are obvious.
- Acidophilus milk
- Casein
- Caseinate
- Curds
- Galactose
- Ghee
- Lactalbumin
- Lactate
- Lactic acid
- Lactoglobulin
- Lactose
- Malted milk
- Nougat
- Potassium caseinate
- Rennet
- Sodium caseinate
- Whey
My Dairy Free Experiment
I started yesterday my own personal dairy free experiment. I’m blogging everything I eat while I continue this experiment.
At first I was confused… “What do I eat?” which led to the realization of exactly how much dairy I consume on an average day. A lot.
It’s going to be really tough but I’m excited to see how it affects my body and learn new ways of eating and cooking (like creamy avocado and spinach pasta).
If you want you can follow along more closely on my food blog.
Update: The dairy free experiment is so, so over!