Cutting dairy from diet? Your thoughts...

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  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
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    Unless you are allergic, I don't see the point. That goes for anything, not just dairy.
  • kouzzzz
    kouzzzz Posts: 540 Member
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    I cut most dairy out in my diet. I only have butter.
  • karleen
    karleen Posts: 260
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    it wont hurt to try for a month thats for sure! i was a vegetarian for a long long time but found cutting dairy realllllly hard. im considering now going vegan for health reasons.. cutting out dairy would def help me lose weight because it would stop me from eating my favorites, pizza and ice cream! nd cheese! i love diary. haha
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    I don't eat dairy.

    Since I have cut it out, I feel way better, have lost more weight, and don't have any tummy bloat.
  • akninsas
    akninsas Posts: 49 Member
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    The only time you need to cut out milk is if your body is allergic to it. If you're not showing signs of being allergic, then you dont need to cut it out. Milk has vitamins, protein, & calcium that your body needs. Just stick to skim/fat free milk.
  • Sp1nGoddess
    Sp1nGoddess Posts: 1,138 Member
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    Some people also claim that dairy causes or worsens seasonal allergies and acne. I tried to give up dairy but I really love cheese - I love trying new ones! I agree with the previous poster - cheese should be a condiment, if you look at the macro nutrients cheese is essentially a fat. However, you could do an experiment and get rid of the dairy for 2 weeks and see what happens, then if you want add it back and see how you feel. I plan to try that myself!

    As far as calcium goes, there is calcium in dark leafy greens, broccoli and in bone broths, sardines.

    http://www.healthhabits.ca/2011/11/04/top-13-non-dairy-calcium-rich-foods/
  • Runner_mick
    Runner_mick Posts: 115 Member
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    I eat a vegan diet as well. At first, It was difficult to make the switch from milk to soy or almond milk but I love it now. I think they taste great. Try Vanilla flavored. And Silk Soy chocolate milk is so good! Giving up animal products from my diet has made me feel 100 percent better. I have more energy and love the way my body is responding to it.
  • cmhickey616
    cmhickey616 Posts: 85 Member
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    I also recently became vegan after researching the effects of milk/dairy on the body and I definitely feel about 100x times better than I did when I ate dairy and meat. Dairy products also contain casein, a protein that breaks down into casomorphin, a naturally occurring opiate. This essentially causes us to be addicted to dairy (why I had cheese cravings hardcore for my first 3 weeks as a vegan). Cutting out dairy is not for everyone, but I can say from personal experience that I feel better and it has helped jump start my weight loss.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Well, the reason it was recommended to cut dairy wasn't necessarily for the calories. It was more for the fact of what it does to our body. She says that our bodies are not made to handle dairy, and that the majority of the world can not digest lactose well and don't even know it (I actually did read about that fact in college).

    Technically true, but misleading. Asians make up about 2/3 of the world population, and have a 95% incidence of lactose intolerance.

    Of the United States population, only around 10-15% are lactose intolerant.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    I also recently became vegan after researching the effects of milk/dairy on the body and I definitely feel about 100x times better than I did when I ate dairy and meat. Dairy products also contain casein, a protein that breaks down into casomorphin, a naturally occurring opiate. This essentially causes us to be addicted to dairy (why I had cheese cravings hardcore for my first 3 weeks as a vegan).

    Complete and utter bull****.
  • plagirl227
    plagirl227 Posts: 134
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    Quoting my dad here, "Milk is for baby cows. Humans are the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned."

    While some people may think it's stupid to not drink milk, I think people are brainwashed into thinking they NEED milk. Not so much...
  • HisPathDaily
    HisPathDaily Posts: 672 Member
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    Unless medically necessary, I really am cautious about any "diet program" that has you eliminating a complete food group. Make more healthy choices in that area, fine (low-fat) ... but I'd be really cautious about anything or anyone that tells you to eliminate something for reasons other than medical (or religious) reasons.

    ~Matt
  • Runner_mick
    Runner_mick Posts: 115 Member
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    Quoting my dad here, "Milk is for baby cows. Humans are the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned."

    While some people may think it's stupid to not drink milk, I think people are brainwashed into thinking they NEED milk. Not so much...
    I totally agree!! Our bodies were not designed to digest cows milk. Thats not BS, that is fact. Go ask a doctor about that one.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Quoting my dad here, "Milk is for baby cows. Humans are the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned."

    Quoting from someone who knows a lot more about nutrition than your dad:

    "I love it when I hear folks say that human adults weren’t meant to consume milk, much less the milk derived from a different animal species. Are you kidding me? So who gets to decide which parts of the cow we should consume? Let me get this straight–we can eat the cow’s muscles, but not the milk that laid the foundation for the growth of those same muscles? Huh? The logic is just too rock-solid for me. Folks who carry the torch against milk consumption typically will have some degree of allergy or digestive intolerance to it, and they take the liberty to project their personal problems onto the world around them." ~Alan Aragon.
  • HisPathDaily
    HisPathDaily Posts: 672 Member
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    :)
    I also recently became vegan after researching the effects of milk/dairy on the body and I definitely feel about 100x times better than I did when I ate dairy and meat. Dairy products also contain casein, a protein that breaks down into casomorphin, a naturally occurring opiate. This essentially causes us to be addicted to dairy (why I had cheese cravings hardcore for my first 3 weeks as a vegan).

    Complete and utter bull****.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
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    Dairy is unnecessary for a healthy human body - but still, don't think that just cutting dairy out will result in weight loss.

    There are some fantastic dairy substitutes out there - assorted plant milks, dairy-free cheese, etc., but it is still important to log calories and make sure you aren't replacing them with other calorie-dense foods. However, if you cut out dairy, you will be able to use those calories for a bigger quantity of whole, tasty, nutritious foods. :)
  • marctr
    marctr Posts: 1
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    I can't speak to the weight loss, but something you should keep in mind if you give it a try is watch your vitamin D. I went off milk for about six months and even though I try to eat healthy, I ended up with a vitamin D deficiency. All the other nutrients in milk you can get from other foods so if you are eating a balanced diet you should be ok giving up dairy. But vitamin D is in very few foods (mushrooms, egg yolks, a couple others) although there are foods enriched with vitamin D, like milk. Your body makes it from sunlight, too. If you want to try giving up dairy I would recommend studying up on where you can get enough vitamin D, or by taking a vitamin D + calcium supplement (calcium helps with vitamin D absorption) just to be safe. That is what I learned from my experience.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
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    Quoting from someone who knows a lot more about nutrition than your dad:

    "I love it when I hear folks say that human adults weren’t meant to consume milk, much less the milk derived from a different animal species. Are you kidding me? So who gets to decide which parts of the cow we should consume? Let me get this straight–we can eat the cow’s muscles, but not the milk that laid the foundation for the growth of those same muscles? Huh? The logic is just too rock-solid for me. Folks who carry the torch against milk consumption typically will have some degree of allergy or digestive intolerance to it, and they take the liberty to project their personal problems onto the world around them." ~Alan Aragon.

    Many of us who are against drinking the cow's milk are also against eating her muscles. Just saying.
  • RonSwanson66
    RonSwanson66 Posts: 1,150 Member
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    Quoting my dad here, "Milk is for baby cows. Humans are the only animal that continues to drink milk after being weaned."

    While some people may think it's stupid to not drink milk, I think people are brainwashed into thinking they NEED milk. Not so much...
    I totally agree!! Our bodies were not designed to digest cows milk. Thats not BS, that is fact. Go ask a doctor about that one.

    Our bodies weren't designed at all, they evolved. Go ask a scientist.

    And if you live in the United States, there's around an 85-90% chance that your ancestors evolved to drink milk.
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
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    losing weight requires a caloric deficit. whether your calories are from dairy products or not does not matter. If cutting dairy from your diet results in a new caloric deficit, you wil lose weight. If you take in other type calories to replace the dairy, you wont see a change. Your body gets benefits from the fat., so switching to nonfat dairy isnt always a benefit.

    This.

    Also, if you're going to remove an entire food group from your diet, be sure that you're getting the nutrients you would have gotten from them some other way. I'm lactose intolerant and still wouldn't cut dairy from my diet entirely because it's a good way to get calcium. I don't use a whole lot of dairy, but I quite enjoy my Greek yogurt because it makes my stomach feel good and is loaded with protein. Honestly, in all likelihood, dairy is not the culprit of weight gain.

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