Like all of you, I grew up thinking Milk basically was a superfood. It's what we were supposed to drink for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We had it given to us at schools, it was on the dinner table each night and it was shoved in our faces in constant advertisements on TV.
Turns out we were all being sold something that wasn't real.
After a few years of not feeling right and not having an answer I went to see a new doctor who suggested I give up dairy. She had me tested and I wasn't lactose intolerant, so I asked her why I should give it up. She just assured me that I should give it a try and see how I felt.
The result was nothing short of incredible. After I got through the initial withdrawal phase (cheese for example attaches to the same brain receptors as heroin) I started to see the changes. My breathing became better so I wasn't using my inhaler nearly as often. I went an entire week without using it. I can't even tell you another time when that happened in my life. My inflammation went way down. My cholesterol even went down without changing much else from my diet.
But if dairy is so good for us, why did all of these good things happen to my body when I gave it up? It's a good question. I started doing research on this and I came across Switch4Good. It's an organization that aims to educate people about the negative effects of dairy not only on our bodies but also the environment.
I know there are people out there that are going to have strong opinions about this. And it's their right to have an opinion. It's hard to change someone's opinion when they've been force-fed an idea for their entire lives. But ditching dairy was a change that I made in my life and the results have been nothing short of amazing. I encourage you to give it a shot.
Give it 21 days. That's it. Three weeks. If you don't like the changes, go back to it. It's your call. I'll bet you won't.
I'll say this...after I gave up dairy for a full month, I had a pizza. I felt so miserable after eating it. I thought a gremlin had crawled inside my intestine. All that cheese crushed me and made me realize I never wanted to go back to that.
If you're wondering how you'll survive without milk and other dairy products, trust me that you can. There are so many great products to use instead. I use coconut milk for my coffee. I have coconut spread for toast. There are a lot of vegan cheese options (some are much better than others).
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have. I also may have some helpful advice for you as you start your journey. I'll be sure to check back in with more info as we get through 21 days together. Let's start this up on Monday, August 3rd. New month, new challenge, right?