Dairy-Free? Say what?!

You are all probably thinking….she done lost her mind. Perhaps I have LOL. Isn’t that picture above hysterical??!! I hope it got your attention! Well as you all know my journey first started with going gluten-free (8-10 months roughly) . Well…… now I have decided to go dairy-free as well. It has been 2 months since I have transitioned and let me tell you its worth it!!! Alright alright I am getting too excited. Let’s back it up and rewind a bit. I know you probably wanted to know what made me do the switch.

Alright, so remember when I spoke to you about gluten-free diet and my skin? (if not go read my blog post about 🙂 ) Well, my skin did improve and so did my GI signs but it was as good as I knew it could be. Not to mention every time I had dairy I noticed I would still bloat a little (not even half as much as I did with the gluten) but still obnoxious to have to deal with. I also would have a very noisy stomach…and you guessed it….. #2!!! LOL (gross….oh well not sure what else I should call it to make it seem less gross?) Hey hey hey what can I say I am a veterinary technician poop is a natural part of my vocabulary…. You should see my work emails… all about the poop….bout the poop…. no solids…… hahhahaha.

Okay okay sorry. I will try to stay on topic. ANYWAYS, to try to alleviate these symptoms I tried Lactaid pills. In the beginning I did find they did help a bit. However, I think I was just consuming too much dairy and although I was taking the pills just wasn’t cutting it all. I would still bloat, have a noisy stomach, and have GI signs (maybe I’ll just say this instead if #2?) haha. As I work very long shifts this just wasn’t practical for me to have to use the bathroom every hour. I decided to take action.

I did a lot of research regarding dairy-free living and what it really meant to do so. It took a lot of mistakes and product trials before I got it right. It also took a lot of courage to try new things and learn to reprogram my mind to accept the new tastes. Believe me when I say I was ADDICTED to cheese! I had it with everything and anything!! It was a very sad day in the Ortiz house when I looked at my cheese in the fridge and said “NO MORE!”. Sigh. Such a sad day. Okay, back to this! So changing the milk to almond milk was easy. Almond milk actually tastes really good and I was already transitioning. I started with 1% milk, then lactaid milk, then switched completely over to almond milk. (I am by no means saying this is what you have to I am just saying these were the milks I tried before going dairy-free completely.

I guess before I proceed on talking about different products I should probably explain a little bit more about dairy intolerance/ dairy allergy. Now I know I do not have a dairy allergy as I am still able to digest it and had it forever up until the last 2 months.

A dairy allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, is an abnormal response by the body’s immune system to milk and products containing milk. Cow’s milk is the usual cause, but milk from sheep, goats, buffalo and other mammals also can cause a reaction. (A true dairy allergy can be life threatening and you will usually have more severe side effects when you have it. Ranging from vomiting to anaphylaxis (body goes into shock).

Dairy intolerance (lactose) People with lactose intolerance are unable to fully digest the sugar (lactose) in milk. As a result, they have diarrhea, gas and bloating after eating or drinking dairy products. The condition, which is also called lactose malabsorption, is usually harmless, but its symptoms can be uncomfortable.

Now the lactaid pills are supposed to help you digest the lactose in dairy. However, since I still have breakthrough symptoms I decided to eliminate all cow’s milk protein from my diet. So that means ….all dairy! (milk, butter, cheese, cream cheese, pudding, whey , casein, yogurt, etc. ) The first couple weeks was very hard as I didn’t really know what I could eat or not eat. Did a lot of research and took a very long time to find good dairy-free products but I achieved it 🙂 Even found really good dairy free ice cream 🙂 Look at my God. Isn’t He so good?! Nothing is impossible for Him!

“For with God nothing will be impossible” –Luke 1:37

Alright, so let’s get to the benefits of this sacrifice! I noticed about 1 week in that my skin became so SOFT! Like y’all I am not joking smooth like a baby’s butt!!! My bumps were getting better. My acne was  A LOT BETTER!! It had improved on the gluten-free but nothing like the gluten-free/ dairy-free combo! I barely break out anymore. I also visited my dermatologist and he prescribed adapalene for my skin so I have been using this as well to help with my hormonal acne but even before starting this my skin had really cleared since the dairy was out of my system. I am so happy I could dance around my room (too bad I hurt my back today and can’t 😦 but that’s a different story for another day!)

I am a happy camper and I am so happy I gave up dairy free foods. I feel more energized now, my skin looks great and I just feel great! No more noisy belly or GI issues!  I am sure the hormones in dairy was not helping my acne at all. Cheers to clean living! Comment if you have any questions or if you want me to write about anything else. I encourage you/ challenge you to try this! Yes, restaurants are twice as hard to find, sometimes you have to eat plan burgers with fries, but it’s all worth it 🙂

Below are some alternatives I now enjoy 🙂

Cheese: Chao Cheese, Daiya cheese (block cheese and shredded cheese)

Yogurt: Coconut milk yogurt, Soy yogurt, almond milk yogurt (kite hill brand)

Cream cheese: Tofutti better than cream cheese imitation cream cheese

Milk: almond milk, Soy milk

Mac and cheese: Amy’s gluten-free dairy free mac and cheese

Pizza: Daiya’s cheese pizza (gluten-free/ dairy free)

Ice cream: Ben and Jerry’s Chunky Monkey non dairy (made with almond milk)

one last advice if you try to go dairy-free:

READ INGREDIENT LABELS CAREFULLY!

Your girl,

Eli ❤