I am well aware that how to eliminate dairy products is the hardest suggestion that I make. It is also the lifestyle change that has the most potential reward for you. It’s that important. Take this section very seriously.
We are talking about the following products:
- All milk. 1%, 2%, whole milk, skim, low fat or no fat, cream, Lactaid milk, Acidophilus milk or goat milk.
- All cheese. Swiss, cheddar, Parmesan, etc.
- Ice cream.
- Sour cream, cream cheese and cottage cheese.
- Creamy salad dressings. French, Thousand Island, Roquefort, Blue Cheese, etc.
- Yogurt.
You must also inspect all packaged, canned, bottled and prepared food in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards and read labels. Look for five words: milk, cheese, lactose, whey and casein. There may be other words attached to the word milk…like milk solids, milk proteins, milk by-products. Eliminate them.
Do you like butter? Good, enjoy it. But, it’s a dairy product you say. That’s right, but it’s almost pure fat. There are 3 components to a milk product: sugar (lactose), protein and fat. Fat causes none of the problems that the milk sugars and proteins do. Enjoy it.
If you go out to eat, fast food presents an obvious problem with much of it containing cheese. It’s certainly possible to go anywhere and ask for no cheese, but there may be hidden milk in other parts of what you are ordering. Best rule is that if you don’t know EXACTLY what’s in it, don’t eat it!
If you go to a sit down restaurant, at least you have a sever to ask what is in your food. Tell them you can’t have dairy, but can have butter and could they help you with what you are ordering. If they don’t know, they will ask the cook.
O.K., that’s the lowdown on milk. It’s a 100% rule. If you only learn how to eliminate dairy products by about 85%, you might see no benefit at all. And, it’s just for now. You may very well be able to add dairy back in at a later time. You’ll be the judge of that. That’s how seriously you should take this information. I sometimes joke with my patients who feel it would be very hard to give dairy up (and it is), that if they only took one suggestion from this information and gave up all dairy products, 80% of them would see a positive benefit to their health. Usually the restoration of true health is somewhat more complex than that, but more than likely, they would see a difference.
One last comment on this subject, eggs are not dairy products. People consider them dairy products because they are found in the dairy section of your grocery store. They come from chickens, not cows (in case you didn’t already know that).
