For the past few months, I kept coming across information concerning a dairy-free diet. The first few times I didn’t pay much attention to it. The idea intrigued me, but I felt my diet was restricted enough already since I don’t eat sugar, flour, wheat, caffeine, and a host of other things. As time has gone on, I’ve seen more and more references to a dairy-free way of life and it suddenly occurred to me that it wasn’t just a coincidence so I decided to educate myself.

I’m almost sorry I read everything I did because it was all so disturbing. The more I read about the effects of consuming dairy, the more I want to never ever consume another ounce of dairy in my life. This stuff is vile! It’s almost as bad as sugar, which is saying quite a lot.

As of today, I’m officially giving up dairy. I have 5 containers of my (formerly) beloved Greek yogurt in my refrigerator that need to find a home, because I will not be eating them. A few people have asked me why I’m making this change, and I get a little overwhelmed trying to explain because there are just so many reasons. I’m going to document them here, and hopefully this list will help me to answer people who are curious about my latest dietary change.

Here are some symptoms/ailments that have been linked to dairy consumption:

• Migraines
• Breast cancer
• Diabetes (both types)
• Obesity
• High Cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Irregular bowel movements
• Sinus/Allergy problems
• Colds/Sore Throats
• PMS/Emotional problems
• Acne/Problem skin

I suffer from more than 1/2 of the problems on that list. I want to see if giving up dairy changes that. Apparently, it only takes 7-10 days to start noticing a difference. I will be sure to report back to let you know how I’m feeling and if there are any changes to how I’m feeling.

Although all this dairy stuff has been disturbing, it didn’t cause me to lose my sense of humor. During my lunch hour today, I went to a local health food store, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods to find dairy replacements. Specifically I was looking for some unsweetened plain soy yogurt. I purchased quite a few things, and I had to laugh at myself as I was walking up the driveway with my grocery store bags in hand. Here I was replacing three basic food items on my food plan: milk, yogurt, and powdered milk. And in my hand were three full grocery bags of assorted items to take their place. Did I really need 6 boxes of assorted flavors of unsweetened soy milk? It’s apparent that this change is stirring up a little bit of fear and a need to control, as most change does for me. Still funny, though!

One other note - I wasn’t able to find a yogurt or powdered milk alternative, so I bought two types of soy cheese, tempeh and tofu as well. I don’t believe there is a soy yogurt alternative that has no sugar in it, so looks like I’m going to learn to live without it. I might try silken tofu blended with fruit to take its place, but I’m not sure. My diet now has a whole lot of soy in it, and I don’t want to go too far overboard in that direction, either.

In my travels studying the problems with dairy, I also read quite a few things about animal products in general. I have a feeling I might turn into a full-fledged vegan, but that is for another day. Today, I address the dairy.

Here are some more resources if you’re interested:

Not Milk
Go Dairy Free Challenge

The Dangers of Cow’s Milk
Say No to Milk
Milk Sucks

I’ve worn hearing aids since I was five years old. Well except for some periods where I went without them for various reasons. When I was a teenager, I decided to not wear them because I was self-conscious. Being dumb is apparently part of the teenage condition. These days I don’t care what anyone thinks or says about my aids, I can’t function well without them.

When I got my first set of hearing aids, they were the over the ear kind, because the in the ear models hadn’t been invented yet. I was so grateful when that kind came out so I could conceal the aid a bit more. Last year I had to replace my aids and the audiologist highly recommended I get the over the ear kind again because my hearing loss had significantly increased.

I’ve grown a lot since those teenage years because the only concerns I had about wearing the over the ear model this time had nothing to do with how it would look when wearing them. I was more concerned with the weight of the aids on my ears and the inability to use a Bluetooth wireless headset. However, when I got a taste of all the features these new digital hearing aids boasted, I soon forgot about the feared inconveniences. My hearing aids have mini computers inside each of them and they’re constantly talking to each other to stay in sync depending upon the noises in my environment. When I go in for a check up, they plug the aid into the computer and a program shows exactly how long I’ve worn the aids, and at what settings I’ve kept them on. The volume and other, detailed noise levels can all be set right on the computer. I’m so amazed by that.

I’m also so pleased with my new maturity about my looks is concerned. When the doctor saw my disappointment over having to get the over the ear models, he assumed I was worried about how I would look. It felt good to know that I no longer care what other people think about me, and that my looks was the last thing on my mind. Ironically, I look better today than I have in over a decade! Gotta love it.

After being prescribed one too many medications that have given me far more than one too many side effects, I decided to start researching alternative treatments for my sinus problems. For the past month, I’ve discontinued use of all prescription medication and gone with a more homeopathic approach to prevent the frequent sinus infections I’ve suffered with my entire life. So far, the methods have been working very well - and I haven’t gotten an infection yet. Time will tell if I’ll continue to be fortunate enough to avoid the sinus infections forever, but I’m not worried if I do get one because I just discovered a 100% natural sinus infection treatment.

Now I don’t have to fear getting sinus infections and going on course after course of antibiotics, hoping they’ll cure the infection because this treatment is made from a mineral that clinical studies have shown to eliminate hundreds of types of disease causing bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses. A big problem with antibiotics is they only treat bacterial infections and there are lots of other things that can give you an infection. In essence, you could be taking antibiotics until the cows come home, and still suffer from the symptoms of sinus infection, because your infection doesn’t get cured!

If this stuff works 1/2 as well as the other homeopathic remedies I’m using now, I’ll be sold. As far as I’m concerned, the less prescription medications I put in my body, the better. My body just doesn’t like them for some reason, and I suffer from nasty side effects almost every time. No more!

This obesity map I found on CNN just makes me sad. What will that map look like in 10 or 20 years from now? Completely red? I sure hope not. It scares me to think how unhealthy our nation is, as a whole. And I’m saddened thinking about how many untreated food addicts are out there, floundering around, trying to figure out what’s wrong with them. The dramatic increase in hydrogenated oils in our food supply in recent years plays a large part in this problem. Most people just buy what’s on the shelves in the stores without giving too much thought about the ingredients. That choice is proving to be fatal, as the food industry does not have our best interests at heart. There’s one thing on their minds and that is the almighty dollar. The more addictive they can make a food, the more it will sell. It’s like a group of people in the industry suddenly realized 20 years ago that there are certain foods that are highly addictive like sugar, white flour, and hydrogenated oils, and said, “Let’s load our foods up with these - we’ll sell more of them!” And they did. Now our country is paying the price for that greed, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to go back.

I know a lot of people have the misconception that eating Chinese food = healthy. I’ve known for a long time that isn’t the case, and I just assumed that the general populace knew this, too. Last week, though, CNN published an article about the “hidden” sodium and calories in Chinese food, so maybe people aren’t as aware as I thought. The food spotlighted in the article is General Tso’s Chicken, which just so happens to be my kids’ favorite dish. No surprise there, really. It used to be my favorite, as well.

Today when I order Chinese, I get steamed veggies and meat with brown rice on the side. Some places actually make a spicy brown sauce with no MSG, flour, or sugar, so I can request that occasionally. However, it’s safest to just order it plain and bring my own spices. Just one more reason why I’d rather eat at home than ordering out any where. It’s more nutritionally sound, tastes better, and costs a lot less.

Technorati Tags: nutrition, Chinese food