7 Reasons to Stop Eating Dairy

I know what you’re thinking. Why, oh why, would a person live without cheese?

First, let me say that it has not been easy for me. I considered breaking my addiction by locking myself in the bedroom and barricading the door for three days like Ewan McGregor  in Trainspotting.

Second, there’s a damn good reason to come off of the mucus producing animal excretion. You probably already know that I’ve been less than well for years. Almost 8.  Lyme has done some damage that I’m still trying to repair. Reducing inflammation (which reduces my pain) is essential to my recovery.

On the list of inflammatory foods, dairy is second only to my other favorite substance. Yep. The white stuff. Sugar.

Upon deeper research, it seems that there’s more than one damn good reason to go easy on the cheesy. There’s at least 7.

7 Reasons to Ban Dairy From Your Diet

1. Dairy provokes an inflammatory response in your gut which can effect how you digest and absorb all of your foods.
2. This inflammation, when chronic, can lead to “micro-preforations” or tiny holes in the intestinal lining allowing icky stuff (dairy proteins) to seep through to places you don’t want it to go (your blood stream).
3. THAT then causes an immune system response  and is linked to a variety of autoimmune diseases (such as lupus, arthritis, asthma).
4. Dairy causes insulin levels to spike.
5. Cheese has an acidifying effect on the body. For more information on why you don’t want this, read this article about ph balance in the body and the treatment of diseases.
6.  Milk doesn’t reduce fractures, according to this research. Contrary to popular belief, eating dairy products has never been shown to reduce fracture risk. According to the Nurses’ Health Study dairy may instead increase the risk of fractures by 50%. For real!
7. Although you have probably always believed that cheese is a healthy source of protein, that protein is mixed in with salt, fat, hormones and antibiotics.  I’m sorry. I know it hurts to hear this. You can get your protein else where. And I’m not talking about tofu.  Check out this list of protein sources for vegans. You WILL be surprised.

What is life like without cheese?

Life is full of color. Like this:

Lightly sauteed veggies over brown rice.

It’s tough at first. Sometimes I feel like diving face first into a pot of cheesy fondue. But I’ve been driven to this lifestyle by pain and eating this way is helping me feel better.

Learning to live a vegan lifestyle helps me feel like a gentler, more peaceful person. And I need that too.

“Animals are my friends…and I don’t eat my friends.” George Bernard Shaw