I decided to continue my thoughts on diet after last week’s post on my discovery of the paleo diet 😃. I’m going a little deeper into each part of the diet that had the most effect on me, over the next few weeks starting with dairy.

Pretty much my whole life I said I had “a sensitive stomach” or “I have reflux” when the truth was a simple diet change corrected these issues for me! I don’t know why the doctors I saw over the years never suggested I may have a lactose intolerance. Until I simply tried cutting it out myself I didn’t know either (a lesson in taking control right there).

My acid levels were also all out of whack. It’s amazing to me now that I can eat anything I want without any heartburn at all. You’re talking about someone who was on Nexium and was still having issues. Not just cutting dairy, but my overall paleo diet corrected all of this for me. And no more over the counter medication which is even better. Looking back I can see now that a multitude of symptoms were coming from my consumption of dairy. Random rashes, stomach pain and gas, diarrhea, acne and allergies. I just do not get acne anymore. At all. Period. And my seasonal allergies are much, much less severe. Noticeably so. No more sinus infections or asthma. Such a better quality of life!!! Hooray!! How many people just live with being this uncomfortable and try taking over the counter meds that don’t really do the job? Too many is my guess.

You might be thinking I can’t give up cheese!! Well, you may not have any issues with diary and that’s fine. Take a look at the quality of the food you are consuming. Is it grass fed? Is it whole milk? Is it organic? I also suggest full fat milk vs 1%, 2% or fat free. These products are highly processed and are stripped of all the healthy fats. And as I said in my previous posts, healing a leaky gut is so important to our overall health and preventing chronic disease! How would you feel if you gave it a shot for a thirty days? Just to see what would happen. No harm there.

I still enjoy Ghee which is a clarified butter. I’m getting all the benefits of the healthy fats without the lactose. Alternatives for cream and milk are full fat coconut milk. The cream on top of the can is an excellent replacement for cream used in soups, sauces, etc.

Many people who can’t eat products with cow’s milk do just fine with goat’s milk. I will occasionally have a little goat cheese without any issues. Everyone is different! The key is to know your body and what works for you.

So this week think about eliminating dairy from your diet if you have any symptoms you may think could be stemming from dairy. Try the following.

1. Eliminate all forms of dairy for 30 days.
2. Replace butter with ghee.
3. Replace cream and milk with coconut milk or other nut milks (almond for example)
4. After 30 days reassess. How are you feeling? What’s different?
5. Comment below!

I can’t wait to hear your thought on this! Enjoy your week!