Dairy, yes or no?

BeyondApril

I recently switched to Soy milk after reading that regular (cow) dairy is not that good for you and can cause bloating. I do not like the soy milk. Anyone out there with 1. facts about the true evil powers of dairy or 2. product recommendations for substitutes that won't make me gag?

I really miss my afternoon Greek yogurt, and my cheddar with crackers with my wine. :-) Thanks!

SherryTeach

Did you personally experience an adverse effect from the consumption of dairy? If not, go ahead. Most of what people hear turns out to be wrong. So unless you are lactose intolerant, dairy isn't a problem. People have been consuming dairy products for a long time.

EvgeniZyntx

If you miss it, eat it. Nothing wrong with it.

ki4eld

I react to the excess lactose in milk, so I drink Fairlife. It's milk, real moo cow milk. It's just been filtered.

GillianSmith2

If you like it, and don't have any bad reactions to it then just have it

cmill125

Unsweetened almond plus cashew is delicious and only about 30 kcal per cup. Alot of people do have allergies to proteins found in milk or reflux which can be worsened by dairy. Would definitely be a per person basis because milk is a great source of protein.

DeguelloTex

Do you like it? Do you have issues with it? Can you fit it in your goals? Would you stop eating peanut butter because it can kill people, even if you didn't have any problems with it?

sijomial

1. Fact - we are mammals. Is it really likely it's evil? More likely you have stumbled across some crackpot on the internet with an agenda.
2. Substitutes. Bleah.

Does it cause bloating to you? It certainly doesn't to me.

PS - if someone mentions "baby cows" I will scream!

shadowfax_c11

I have no problems wit dairy and enjoy full fat dairy products every day. Ice cream. cheese and whole milk are regular parts of my meal plan.

Some people have issues from dairy some don't. If you don't then don't worry about it. Enjoy your food.

Too much soy can also cause serious problems for some people.

Hornsby

I get milk straight out of the udder...so yes to dairy...:)

JShailen

I'm lactose intolerant. I can have small amounts of dairy (most cheese seems ok in moderation). I actually love the taste of the plant based milks so maybe not much help but I will say this about Soy milk, it seems to vary greatly from brand to brand. Also, I can't stand the taste of the unsweetened soy. Here in the UK they have Alpro original which is quite nice. In the US I remember liking a vanilla soy drink, think it was Silk...for unsweetened nut milks I go for Almond which is mild and quite good for cooking/baking.

For yogurt I recently discovered Alpro soya yogurt. My favorite is the coconut flavored one, it doesn't have the tang of greek yogurt and is quite subtle. Lovely for overnight oats!

scolaris

I love dairy. I do better with yogurt & cheeses. On the bloat stuff I say 'meh.' Maybe for some. Too much milk drinking seems to correlate with more sinus/allergy symptoms for me ... (I said correlation not causation; but it's so easy to limit it I really don't care to dig deeper.)
Team dairy!!

pondee629

Baby cows. just wanted to hear the scream ;-)

rainbowbow

Most people have some sort of issue as a result of eating dairy, usually bloating, some issues with lactose, excess mucus production, and even some skin issues.


HOWEVER, if you don't have any of these problems with dairy there is no reason to cut it out.

Alternatively, if it does cause problems for you and you want an alternative i would suggest almond milk. For yogurt, i agree Alpro Soya yogurt is delicious (i bought it thinking it was regular yogurt and kept raving about it before i even realized it was soy). There are many alternatives to cheese.

Again though, if you dont have any problems, why mess with a good thing?

lemurcat12

Dairy: if you like it and react well to it, eat and drink it. (This is me.)

If you don't like it, react poorly to it, or have ethical issues with it, don't eat or drink it.

Lactose intolerance is really common, so if you suspect you might have it, you can try cutting it out for a while, but the mere fact that some people (even many people) have issues with it doesn't mean you will.

For me it's a delicious and easy source of protein, especially low fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.

Also, just because I think it's interesting, there's unsurprisingly a link between geographic origins and ability to digest lactose as an adult. People from areas where dairy became a part of the diet earlier are typically not lactose intolerant: http://nutrigenomics.ucdavis.edu/?page=information/Concepts_in_Nutrigenomics/Lactose_Intolerance

yusaku02

Dairy is great, delicious and packed full of protein.

Liftng4Lis

I'm all about the cow.

richardgavel

Two suggestions for issues with dairy that have helped me. One is to go organic. I don't know why, but I have significantly less issues with organic milk vs normal milk. The other I go with is slowing the rate of absorption. For example, when eating out, I wait until I've started eating before I drink any of the milk.

siluridae

Raw milk is the best thing ever.

juliebowman4

I love my dairy, and I've never experienced issues....but hubby does. There are more alternatives that just soy milk. Almond milk (flavoured, plain, chocolate etc)
Cashew milk, sweetened or regular.
Rice milk, again....all flavours, even strawberry!

jgnatca

You have no ethical reasons to cut milk, and read somewhere it might cause bloating. Do you suffer from bloating? If not, and you have no ethical reasons, continue to drink your milk.

I often drink Kefir instead of milk, because I do find it helps my digestion.

I compared various milks and substitutes here. http://bit.ly/1NHiVW3 They are not equal. Soy milk is the closest comparator to what milk does for you.