Unlike the rest of the world, the typical American diet is saturated with dairy and dairy by-products. Many reputable sources have linked our excessive dairy consumption with high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, heartburn, digestive bloating, joint pain, sinus congestion and believe it or not, osteoporosis.
For the last 8 years, our family (4 of the 5 of us are dairy intolerant) has been mostly dairy free, so we have some experience with it. We didn’t eliminate it all at once and in fact, it is still not 100% gone from our diet. Maybe you have thought about eliminating or significantly reducing dairy in your diet too. If that is the case, here are a few places to start.
- Eliminating or finding a milk substitute is an obvious first step. Lactose free milk works if you are only sensitive to lactose. It still contains casein, a milk protein, which can be an issue for some people. In that case, almond or coconut milk works. We use coconut milk in place of creams in our recipes.
- Cheese, cream and butter based hot dishes have to go. You know, those comfort foods like lasagna, mac and cheese, and scalloped potatoes. They’re gone. If you are going to commit, you have to commit.
- Find a new treat to replace ice cream. I know – for many of you this is the most difficult. But, again, you can do it. On occasion, our family still cheats and goes to Cherry Berry for frozen yogurt .
- For butter, substitute coconut or olive oil with extra salt and seasoning every chance you get– even with baked potatoes. Don’t use margarine as a substitute, but that is another article. J
- Start looking for dairy in food labels. Watch out for lactose, casein, milk powders, and whey. Like sugar, these ingredients are in most processed foods.
This is just a start. Try these ideas for a few weeks and pay attention to how you feel. Use it as a reason to explore new foods and recipes. If you are like us, you will find that you feel better dairy free and often times feel miserable after a dairy laden meal. Here is another time you should “listen to your gut.”
P.S. If you are worried about not getting enough calcium. No worries — there are many plant based calcium sources such as figs, oranges, sunflower seeds, leafy greens, broccoli, sweet potatoes, white beans, and nut milks.