3 Tips to Ditch Dairy!
I was a “dairy-aholic” for most of my life. From full-fat milk on my cereal to plenty of milkshakes and cheese as a kid. My childhood diet solidified my addiction to dairy. Later in life, cheese became an obsession of mine and I ate tons of it. All kinds! It wasn’t until I read the book Whitewash by Joseph Keon at the age of 52 that I figured out cow’s milk is not meant for human consumption. When I did finally give it up, which took about two years because of my cheese addiction, my overall health improved dramatically. No more adult acne, no more bloating and gas, and my weight dropped another few healthy pounds. Here is how I did it: 
- Understand the importance of eliminating cow’s milk from your diet. Our partners at PCRM have put together an excellent fact sheet on the dangers of dairy that I have attached to this blog. Please check it out!
- Commit to the change! The first few days can be the most difficult if you were a dairy-aholic like I was. Cow’s milk has a powerful protein called casomorphine which has a similar molecular structure to, you guessed it: morphine. Arm yourself with the substitutes listed below and dive in for good!
- Think plant-based substitutes when quitting baby cow food:
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- Ice-cream: The Yonanas banana ice cream maker is amazing. In go frozen bananas, out comes soft-serve quality and taste without the dairy.
- Milk for coffee/tea: There has never been a better time to try “motherless milks” in the form of soy, hemp, oat, and rice milks. Make sure there are just two ingredients like our favorite organic soy milk from Westsoy and NO ADDED SUGAR.
- Cheese: Try nutritional yeast as a tasty replacement for cheese in recipes like lasagna, or sprinkle over your salad instead of the saturated fat-laden parmesan. There are now several “artisanal” plant-based cheeses that now rival high-end gourmet cheese. Steer clear of any plant-based cheeses that have added oils, which is most of them in the grocery store. Added oils of any kind are simply unhealthy and should be avoided if possible.
If you can go 2-3 weeks without any dairy, I can almost guarantee you will not want to go back to eating it because you will have experienced a dramatic noticeable, an uptick in your overall health and wellbeing. That is what happened to me and after finally conquering my cheese addiction, I don’t even think about it anymore. Hope this helps!