Category: No Dairy

How Sweet It Isn’t

A few weeks ago I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and took a scissor to some annoying hairs at the nape of the neck. Just to be safe, I clipped another small section of hair. I gathered the locks into an envelope, sealed it, and drove it right over to a mailbox to ensure it sent that day.

You might think it’s weird that I was excited to mail off pieces of my hair, but I promise there was an important reason why I did it. The hair was on its way to a lab in New York where some very smart scientists would test it to find out exactly what I’m allergic to.

Even as I write that, I realize that most people *still* wouldn’t be excited about it, but for me, it was huge. So huge, in fact, that in the moment I mailed the envelope was on par with massive life events like moving to a different country and getting my first real job.

Before you think I’m crazy and have too little excitement in my life, I started to get hives right after I turned 30. They weren’t just the occasional itchy spot, either. I’m talking full-body hives, uncomfortable swelling of hands and lips, and the constant need to take Benadryl to try to keep myself from scratching my skin off. I soon realized that dairy seemed to make the hives worse. I got hives almost every single day for five months straight.

Now do you see why I was so excited for this allergy test?

Anyway, after I gave up dairy, I noticed my sinuses were more congested than they should have been. Some quick research showed that an allergy to wheat could cause this issue.

Sigh, really? I had already sacrificed dairy and now I had to give up wheat, too? I begrudgingly eliminated wheat from my diet and my sinuses cleared up almost instantly. For the past three years or so, I lived a mostly dairy and wheat-free life. I noticed that I felt a lot better without those foods, but I was still having skin issues. And my body was not cooperating even after vigorous workouts.

Because I never had these “allergies” medically confirmed, though, I almost felt like a fraud claiming them. I tried to make simple substitutions in restaurants without being too annoying. But I never went as far as to ask whether or not something was cooked in butter or if it had any gluten in the sauce.

So back to this allergy test. I was really afraid to get it. Part of me was afraid the results would come back that I was allergic to literally everything. The other part of me was (maybe more) afraid that it would come back and say I was allergic to nothing.

About a week and a half after I sent off the envelope, the results showed up in my inbox. My hands shook as I downloaded the PDF. I scanned through the introductory section until I finally got the food intolerances page: anise bay leaf, castor bean, cow’s milk, red currant, sheep’s whey milk, veal, and wheat.

I took a few deep breaths and read the list over again. Okay, that didn’t seem too bad. There wasn’t anything on that list that I was eating in excess and I had already somewhat figured out wheat and dairy. I read through the non-food intolerances and one in particular caught my eye: sugar beet seed.

After a quick Google search, I realized that sugar beet seed is used to make most table sugar.

Wait, what? I’m allergic to sugar?

In case you didn’t know, wheat and dairy are in basically everything. And sugar is in most of the things that don’t have the other two ingredients.

I think a lot of people would have read these results and been very upset, but I almost felt relieved. It felt good to know I figured out my wheat and dairy sensitivities on my own. And since I’d already been living mostly without them, it didn’t seem overwhelming to remove them totally from my diet. The sugar thing seemed somewhat difficult, but it almost made me excited.

Is that weird?

For years I wondered if there were certain kinds of food I should or shouldn’t be eating. Could I decrease my PCOS symptoms by just avoiding certain foods? Now I have a real, tangible answer. Yes, it’ll be hard, but at least I know what I need to do now.

In just the two weeks since I got my allergy results and cut these things from my diet, I have not gotten any headaches, my sinuses are totally clear, and some scars I’ve had for years are getting so light that you can hardly even see them.

It might not be convenient avoiding wheat, dairy, and sugar, but it makes me feel so much better. And I’m excited to see what else changes with my body when they fully leave my system.

And, at least I can still have pho.

Thinking Healthy on Eating Healthy

Yesterday I had a cold and it was totally my fault.

I admit—I had a week of eating pretty badly. I ate pizza. I ate doughnuts. I ate breaded chicken. And I put (gasp) real milk in my tea. Normally I am a total advocate of having balance in your life. Unfortunately, I am sensitive to gluten and dairy and my immune system did not agree with this sentiment.

Gluten messes with my sinuses. If I have one piece of pizza in a week, my nose gets stuffy, but it usually clears up the next day. Dairy makes my skin feel tight and if I have too much of it, I get hives. When I eat it as frequently as I did last week, it also increases the congestion in my sinuses.

After one week of being lax about what I ate, I got a cold. Not only that, but I also felt like I had fluid in my left ear. Before I realized I was sensitive to gluten, I used to feel like that all the time. Now I can’t even handle feeling like that for a day.

Luckily, though, my immune system was able to rally quickly and my cold only lasted for a night. I had not gotten sick for months before this brief cold. The last time I still ate gluten regularly and I was sick for two weeks. So I will be grateful for this hit-it-and-quit-it-cold.

The idea of eating healthy can really mess with your mind. If you go into it thinking that you’re depriving yourself or the world will end if you eat something “bad,” you will eventually fall off the wagon. I really believe that.

If you have a more positive attitude about it, though, and think of healthier foods as rewards for your body, eating better food becomes a part of your lifestyle. I’m definitely not saying to purge your cabinets of unhealthy foods (unless that’s something you need to do for yourself), or to avoid going to restaurants, or to run away screaming if someone brings a box of pastries to work. I am still a big advocate for balance, but that means enjoying the occasional treat in moderation.

I’m not even mad at myself for eating so poorly last week. It is really hard to be so careful about what I eat all the time and sometimes I just need a mental break from it. I am kind of disappointed that I chose to eat so many things that disagree with my body, though. I can still indulge every now and then without eating bread. There are pizza places that have gluten-free crusts, for example. And there are plenty of “bad” foods that don’t have wheat.

This week really taught me that I don’t want to feel crappy anymore. And all I have to do to avoid feeling crappy is to stop eating certain foods. If I stop thinking of these no-no foods as “rewards” for watching what I eat the rest of the time, they will lose some of their appeal.

At least I hope they will!

That does not mean that I’m never going to eat another piece of real pizza again, though. I just have to do it when I haven’t also had a sandwich on regular bread, doughnuts, and breaded chicken nuggets.

Go with Your Gut

I did something pretty amazing. I think I cured my dairy sensitivity.

For the past few years, dairy has caused me swelling, hives, and a lot of discomfort. Because of that, I have been avoiding dairy products like kids avoid vegetables. And let me tell you, that has not been an easy feat.

Quinoa, sweet potatoes, and red onion is a delicious dairy-free meal.

Staying away from dairy is much more than asking for a sandwich without cheese or opting for soy milk instead of regular milk when ordering a latte. It means being diligent about checking labels on all food. Dairy has a tendency to sneak in when you least expect it. You want to enjoy some whole grain bread with your lunch? Too bad, there’s dairy in it. You want to have some candy? Well, your options are pretty limited to things like licorice or jelly beans because most things with chocolate have dairy in them.

It definitely was not easy to avoid dairy, but I found a system that seemed to be pretty effective for me. Every once in a while I would give in to temptation and allow myself to have a piece of pizza or some ranch dressing. Whenever I gave in to dairy, my eye or lips swelled up or I got hives.

Eggs have become a main staple of my diet since I’ve given up dairy.

Lately I’ve been studying nutrition and the way the body works for my own benefit. I find it really interesting to see how the different systems inside work together. During my research, I started to learn a lot about the small intestine, which many people refer to as the gut. What many people do not know about the gut, though, is that it contains a large portion of the immune system. This means if your gut is not healthy, the rest of your body is likely to be unhealthy as well.

Everyone has bacteria in the small intestine. There are plenty of good bacteria that not only improve your gut health, but they also improve your overall health. Bad bacteria, on the other hand, lead to a lot of issues.

Because the modern American diet consists largely of carbohydrates, sugar, and dairy,  people are much more likely to have intestinal health issues. These concerns combined with the stress of daily life affect you much more than you might realize.

In fact, there are a lot of people who have something called leaky gut syndrome without even realizing it. Basically, this means that small holes have developed along the intestinal lining. These holes make it hard for your body to absorb nutrients. It also makes it easy for large pieces of gluten, dairy, and other potentially problematic substances to get into your gut and into your bloodstream.

Researchers are starting to link leaky gut with a lot of illnesses and disorders. One of the biggest signs that you have leaky gut is the sudden development of food allergies…like a sensitivity to dairy.

I am not a doctor, but I researched leaky gut and how to improve intestinal health and started to make small changes to my daily routine. Luckily, avoiding dairy and gluten are two of the biggest ways to improve your gut health and I was already doing both. I also started taking a probiotic every day, using coconut milk regularly, and taking apple cider vinegar tablets.

Once again, I am not a medical professional, but this system has seemingly worked for me. I have had some dairy the last week (including cheese pizza on gluten-free crust) and I have not had ANY itching or swelling. Hooray!

I’m not planning to fully incorporate dairy back into my diet, especially not at home. But it makes my life soooo much easier being able to be a little more lenient with my menu options when I’m eating in the real world.

This cake was made with coconut flour, coconut milk, and coconut yogurt. I’m not going to lie, it was delicious.

Don’t Think

I have a problem. It is a problem that affects every area of my life. I think too much.

I’ll admit, in certain circumstances, this can be a good thing. I usually think through my route before I drive somewhere so I know where I’m going. I plan out my outfit in my mind before I even open my closet so I don’t have to try on eight different outfits (most days). In many other cases, though, this is a giant pain in my ass.

Thinking too much often makes me worry needlessly about things that do not need any attention. And might be why I have so many grey hairs on top of my head.

Anyway, one of the areas of my life that has gotten already way too much brainpower is my body. I’ve talked about my struggles with working out and eating healthy and not seeing any real results a few times in this blog, so I won’t bore you with the gory details on that one. Let’s just say, it was something that crossed my mind at least once a day.

But something amazing has happened recently. I stopped giving a shit about this stuff and I actually started to LOSE WEIGHT. Okay, that maybe simplifies it a little too much, but it kind of sums it up.

I got tired of working out so hard and not seeing anything happen to my body. In between bouts of frustration, I had a nagging feeling that I was eating something else that my body was not tolerating (I already had to give up dairy because it started giving me hives). I tried to quiet my mind and really listen to myself to decide what food was causing me problems and the answer I heard was: bread.

Like Oprah, I have always loved bread. Subconsciously I might have had an inkling that my body didn’t like it, but I never wanted to make the leap and fully give it up. And now that I have to live a dairy-free life, I didn’t want to become one of those obnoxious people who is dairy free and gluten free and literally can’t eat anything. Ever.

But my body had different ideas and literally a week after I gave up wheat, my sinuses instantly cleared up. I never realized just how stuffed they were on a daily basis until I no longer had a problem with them. I also felt like I had fluid in my left ear for years. YEARS. It was so bad that I had to sleep on my left side basically every night.

Isn’t it crazy the kinds of things we just put up with to avoid changing our daily habits?

As I was finally giving up wheat, I took a step back from my daily exercise routine of two hardcore workouts. Like a big break. I didn’t work out at all for a few weeks. And for the first time in a long time, I lost a noticeable amount of weight.

I know there were a lot of factors that went into finally being able to lose weight, but this whole situation taught me that I do not have to think everything to death. I can only do the best that I can do and make as much effort as I can make. Once I do that, thinking myself into a tizzy is not going to help me. With anything….except being able to use the word tizzy in a real sentence.

So, I could go on eating dairy and bread and build up another tolerance that allows me to kind of forget about the hives and the sinus problems. But I would rather feel good than just deal with feeling uncomfortable all the time. And that is something I do not have to think about for days to know is true.