After having no issues, allergies or intolerances with food growing up, my body decided it didn’t like dairy back in the early summer of 2020. This was a considerable shock as I was asking myself “why now?” and, “why dairy?”, but I also faced a huge life change. It felt like dairy was in everything. I’m still unsure as to why dairy was suddenly a no-go but it was clear to me that as soon as my body felt better after stopping consuming dairy, that dairy was the problem.
Within days I was stocking my fridge up with oat milk, spreading dairy-free butter on my toast and Googling dairy-free advent calendars. Read on for my discoveries whilst being on a dairy-free diet for the past 4 months in Dairy-Free Diet: My Personal Experience So Far…!
Less Bloating
Upon researching, I discovered that 65% of the world’s population actually has difficulty digesting milk. This is due to the fact that many people lack lactase, the enzyme needed to properly digest cow’s milk or moo juice, and if you cut out dairy, you may find that your digestion improves, making you feel less bloated.
I definitely found this effect to be the case personally. I would bloat less after meals, go to bed and also wake up less bloated.
Clearer Skin
I found that cutting out dairy improved my skin tremendously. I was removing a lot of classified “unhealthy” food out of my diet and therefore my skin was less likely to break out and overall just looked clearer.
In my research I found that cow’s milk often contains hormones, which may react to the hormones in your own body and lead to an increase in the production of sebum in your skin, responsible for clogging your pores.
Greater Energy (Feeling Less Sluggish)
It’s easy to fall into a habit of regularly eating unhealthy, dairy-rich foods such as creamy pasta, cheese and pizza. I found that when I gave up dairy, I had to reconsider a lot of the foods I was so used to consuming on a daily basis. For example, in order to combat the lack of calcium in my diet traditionally gained from consuming dairy, I will likely replace these with other calcium-rich foods.
Examples that I’ve personally favoured are spinach, kale and white beans. Eating vitamin-rich foods such as these have led me to having more energy during the day and I’ve also found they help prevent headaches too.
