Ice cream. Yogurt. Cheese. Ice cream!!!

All foods I LOVE and miss. I was a daily ice cream eater. I loved yogurt for breakfast and snacks. I thought the more cheese the better. So why in the world would I give it all up??? Simple, all these foods make me feel BAD!

But I would have never known that this was the reason for my body aches, burning joints, fatigue and seemingly random nausea if I hadn't had my son (more on that in a minute). Since I was 17, I've been to multiple doctors seeking an answer for my health issues. They pretty much could only rule out that I didn't have lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy or fibromyalgia. Great! So thankful I don't have these health issues BUT what did I have? Best they could tell me....mitro valve prolapse and restless leg syndrome. The answer prescription drugs....at 17.

Fast forward a few years and I wised up and tossed the drugs. I was tired of being brain dead. (That whole thing is a totally other blog!)

Then a few more years and I was a newly crunchy mom with a little boy who loved to nurse. But he also gagged and choked. Terrifying for any new mama! So I consulted with a few crunchy friends who thought we were dealing with silent reflux due to a dairy intolerance. The fix....to go dairy free.

It was.pure.torture! My ice cream! My cheese! What could I eat??? Initially I attempted to substitute foods. I tried rice milk ice cream, almond milk ice cream and coconut milk ice cream. Coconut milk was by far the best but was spendy. I tried soy shreds which come to find out aren't dairy free. But beyond that they were basically just salty and didn't really melt. So after a while I gave up and just started eating other things and stopped trying to substitute things. You know what? Now I LOVE pizza without cheese. Especially veggie pizzas! So much more flavorful. Same with tacos.

The amazing thing about all this....my health issues almost completely went away! No more burning joints, no more jumpy legs, no more belly problems. Why had NO doctor addressed the most basic of factors....diet? (I think I know why but again, that's another blog post!) So my son nursed 2 1/2 years and I stuck with avoiding most dairy.

Then during my pregnancy with my daughter I added some dairy back in. Mostly yogurt. It was even the first thing I wanted after she was born. I hoped that baby girl wouldn't have the same issues. For a while her symptoms weren't as obvious. Then she began to completely empty her tummy after nursing. I finally decided to get stricter again and see where it got us. Once again, it fixed the problem! She's 14 months now and still has reflux if I indulge too much.

So between my babies and my personal health, I attempt to avoid obvious forms of dairy. When I don't, I pay for it. I succumbed to an ice cream cone Friday night and woke up Saturday with body aches, burning joints and over all yuckiness. One day I'll learn!

Through this journey I have mostly concluded that while yummy that our bodies aren't made for cows' milk. Cows' milk is for baby cows. I would even venture to say that way more people have dairy intolerances than they realize. I would have never thought that cutting dairy would "cure" me. So I definitely suggest that everyone give dairy free a go just to see if it improves anything for them. As a side note, it takes 2-3 weeks for all dairy to get out of your body. So it is a little bit of a commitment but it's been way worth it for me!

So anyway, I hope to post some dairy free recipes on this blog. Some will just be dairy free by nature but some will be adaptations from dairy recipes. Be looking for Poppy Seed Chicken and Creamy Potato Soup!

Just because it's dairy free doesn't mean it can't be Yummy-FULL!!!