With all of the healthy and weight loss fads, it's hard to advocate for what actually works. Recently, I have heard of people swearing off dairy, and completely cutting cold turkey from all the cheese, milk, and yogurt in the world. While I can't assure you that cutting dairy has helped me drop 10 pounds, I can put into words how much of a difference dropping the utters and trading them for almonds has made in my life. Being someone who has been dairy-free for long enough to see my body change, I believe it's something the world should know about.
Let's start with the facts:
We Didn't Need Dairy In The Past, And We Still Don't Now
The paleo diet is a new fad where people mimmic the way cavemen and cavewomen ate in the primal days. While I don't follow the paleo diet, I do believe that their unprocessed, natural diets were what made them so strong and allowed them to survive in all conditions. Dairy wasn't consumed by the cavemen, though they did consume foods that had similar fats as we have in dairy. However, that is the point-- to mimmic fats. There are several other dairy-free products that we can consume today that contain the same types of fats in dairy such as coconut oil.
Milk Isn't The Only Thing That Has Calcium
Calcium is an essential mineral to our diets. Kids are brought up being encouraged to drink a full glass of milk a day in order to "grow big and strong" and to have healthy bones. However, leafy greens are more rich in calcium than dairy products. Drop the glass of milk, and pick up the kale and collard greens.
Got Milk? Yes, And Then Some
Most people are under the misconception that because milk is pasteurized, the only thing that is in the milk cartons they are drinking out of is milk. Wrong. I won't get into the details about how 1 in 6 cows suffer from mastitis, however, these odds mean that there is a certain amount of blood and pus in your tall, cold glass of milk. Though the USDA is fully aware of this and is monitoring it, it's still very much there and allowed to be there.
What I Can Attest To: Physical Evidence of How Your Body Responds
Skin: I've never battled with severe acne or anything of that sort, but I noticed my skin being far less inflamed-- must be the lack of excess hormones I have now that I have halted my dairy intake.
Digestion: My stomach has all sorts of issues. I suffer from several different conditions that involve my intestines, and I do take medicine for it. I'm not lactose intolerant, however, since I stopped eating dairy, I have had less and less issues and episodes where I've needed to take my medicine, leading me to believe that there is a universal upset between our bodies and dairy. Those who are lactose intolerant just have it worse.
Exercise: I feel and look less bloated. I always wondered why after my workouts I looked and felt more bloated than when I started. However, I realized that now that I am not chasing my 3 mile runs with chocolate milk, and substituting for raw protein shakes and fruit, dairy is no longer expanding my stomach!
Alternatives
Yogurt: Try going for the dairy free yogurts. You can substitute your Siggis, Yoplait, and Danimals with SO Delicious coconut yogurt, or Silk's soy yogurt.
Cheese: Honestly, this is just something that can't be replaced. RIP mac & cheese bites, gone but not forgotten.
Milk (to drink and to bake with): I'm not a huge fan of soy products because of the connection it has with hormones in the female body, but I am a huge fan of nut milks. I drink cashew milk and mix it with cinnamon for something sweet, or use almond milk with cereal, for baking and in smoothies.
Ice Cream: God bless Ben and Jerry's. In case the Facebook ads haven't come your way yet, Ben and Jerry's has created four killer flavors of vegan ice cream all made with almond milk. There are other brands as well, but I'm holding out for my dairy-free Chunky Monkey.
It's hard to tell you to give up your midnight McFlurry, or your 3 a.m. Papa Johns cheese pizza. However, I wouldn't misguide you. Once you get past your FOMO of all the crappy junk food, you will notice the amazing benefits being dairy-free will impact how you look and how you feel.
