Dairy is PAIN

Pain to avoid, pain to eat.  Ha!

    I learned I had issues with dairy after I eliminated it for my son.  I was (and still am) breastfeeding my son Nick, and realized that he was having awful sticky, mucus-y, diarhea-y and at times bloody stools.  He was always in a state of discomfort, and was my little obligate chest sleeper for most of his life.  He is just now at about 14 months really beginning to eat table food.  
    Dairy takes at least two weeks to clear from your system, so for the two of us to see true improvement from eliminating dairy it took us nearly a month.  And even then we had to eliminate more foods...and now even more.   
   It was the first food we eliminated, so it was the most difficult in terms of not knowing what to expect, or how to substitute it in recipes when I didn't really even know how to cook yet.  It was hard, it was uncomfortable, but in the end I felt a million times better.  I eliminated it because my son was showing symptoms, but I found that I actually had issues as well.
   The first few days it was hard in terms of changing habits.  No cream in my coffee, no milk in my cereal, no butter on my toast, no butter when cooking my eggs, no creamy salad dressing on my salads, no cream cheese, no cottage cheese or yogurt snacks...no CHEESE! I learned in those few days just how much dairy I actually ate.  And how many calories dairy actually contributed to my diet.  I think I lost 10 pounds in two weeks.  
   And not only did I eliminate the obvious dairy, I had to do the so-called "hidden" dairy, so anything with whey protein, lactose, or caesin (milk protein) in it.  So, a lot of processed or pre-made foods were out too.  Which isn't really a BAD thing, right?
   The next few days the withdrawals set in.  Seriously, it reminded me of when I quit smoking.  I had literally been addicted to dairy?! I was cranky, my nose was runny, I was congested, and my brain just felt weird.  This lasted some time.  Definitely the hardest part.
   Then all of a sudden, I got this crazy surge in energy, and I felt lighter.  Not just because I lost weight, but I genuinely felt GOOD.  And once I felt good, I found it fun to start experimenting with recipes.  It actually pushed me into cooking in a way that I totally didn't expect....and I liked it!
   At first, when I didn't just omit the dairy, I just used simple replacements.  I used olive oil instead of butter when I cooked, which wasn't a huge change for me, and I got some rice milk and almond milk to try.  Not bad, not great, but not bad.  But what about cream sauces, egg nog, ice cream, and if you REALLY need a butter fix? 
  It depends on the recipe, but I alternate mostly between almond milk and coconut milk for milk and cream replacements, and I use Earth Balance (dairy free, gluten free, soy free!!) fake butter spread.  (Which is oil, so really not good for you, but on occasion worth the indulgence IMO).  I like to stay away from soy because of the phyto estrogens, because the protein is actually similar to dairy (so we do react to it as well), and because it honestly gives me horrendous mood swings.  And headaches.  
   Anyway, dairy did all sorts of yucky things to us, but having been without it for about 6 months, I have been able to reintroduce small quantities (i.e. cooking with butter on occasion), but too much still makes both Nick and I sick.  I know if I push it, we will have to go off of it completely again, so I still try to stay away from it as much as possible.