So, what’s the deal with dairy? I mean like most families I was raised with dairy inside my household. I ate eggs, yogurt, cheese, drank milk, cooked with butter, and as I got older used dairy creamer in my coffee. Dairy has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. That also meant that I was completely unaware of any alternatives that could potentially be better for my health.
As a result, I experienced a lot of stomach pains, was constantly constipated, often bloated, and after every dairy intake I would find myself immediately going to the bathroom. For the longest time I honestly thought nothing of it. I just thought this was the natural way my body was digesting dairy products and there was nothing I could do about it. This was also during a time in my life when I didn’t even understand what it meant to be lactose intolerant (when your body can’t properly digest sugar found in milk and milk products). So, for many years I just lived my life intaking a lot of dairy products and suffering the consequences as a result of it.
Then one day after eating ice cream (and I love ice cream so I ate it all the time) and having the worst stomach pains of my life the question started being asked to me if I was lactose intolerant. Now, remember I had never really heard this term before so I had no idea what that even meant. So of course, I said no! But I couldn’t get the term out of my head and wondering what it actually truly meant. So, as a naturally curious person, I began to do light research into what it meant to be lactose intolerant, what the signs and symptoms were, and how it impacted the body.
As a result, I ended up expanding my understanding of the way my body personally responds to dairy products, which ultimately explained why I constantly experienced all the symptoms I mentioned earlier. After years of suffering and thinking that I was the odd one out (cause none of my family members had this problem) I finally understood that my body did not digest dairy products of any kind properly. So, if I wanted to stop having these uncomfortable and unpleasant experiences, then I needed to remove dairy products from my diet. In other words, I needed to find dairy alternatives.
This was the first decision I ever made when starting my own wellness journey. I did my own research about dairy alternatives, specifically for milk because eating cereal every morning was my jam. The next time my mom went grocery shopping when she went to grab the gallon of milk, I went to grab a carton of Silk Almond Milk, and I’ll never forget the look of confusion my mother gave me in doing so. She didn’t question me at first, she let me be, and brought the milk for me. However, when other family members saw the carton of almond milk in the refrigerator that’s when the questions started to come in.
I won’t bore you with all the details so to make a long story short, I explained to my family my personal experience with dairy products and how I wanted to try something new to see if I would have a better experience. And I’m so happy to say that I did! I’ve been mostly dairy free for nearly 12 years now, mainly with milk and creamer alternatives (I still occasionally eat eggs, ice cream, and yogurt), and honestly this aspect of my health has never been better.
There are tons of dairy alternatives out there that you can try, and a quick search about specific dairy alternatives can help point you in the right direction. Before wrapping this up I just wanted to share with you a few of my favorite dairy alternative products. These products are constantly in rotation when I go grocery shopping, and are alternatives that I have been using for years.
Milk
I love Silk Almond Milk. It was the very first dairy alternative product that I tried over 10 years ago and still to this day I drink it religiously. In fact, I have been drinking it for so long now that I’ve got some of my family members drinking it every now and then. One of them I was able to convert entirely over to being dairy free from milk.
Oatmilk is something new that I have been drinking for a couple of months now. I do find the taste to be sweeter than almond milk, but I don’t enjoy it enough to completely replace it. However, if almond milk is not available to me for whatever reason, this is definitely my next favorite dairy alternative.
Coffee Creamer
I’ve never been a huge coffee drinker but in the last year it really has become something that I do enjoy drinking. Before finding a dairy alternative for my coffee creamer I would just drink whatever was in the household, which was often dairy. And you guessed it, those same symptoms that I was previously experiencing with dairy came right back. So, I quickly found an alternative to this. I’ve recently tried the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato with almond and oatmilk (and this is currently what my mom drinks). And the Planet Oat oatmilk is a gingerbread flavor that I wanted to give a try (yay for holiday dairy alternative flavors)! Both are really good but my go to for my coffee creamer is either the Silk Almond creamer or the Califia Farms Cinnamon Roll Oat creamer.
Since becoming mostly dairy free I no longer experience severe stomach pains after eating a bowl of cereal, I can drink coffee as often as I want to and not feel like I need to clear the room afterwards, and best of all I don’t find myself immediately running to the bathroom right after eating or drinking something that would normally contain dairy. Instead, I’m able to enjoy the foods and drinks that I have always loved knowing that my body is not going to pay the consequences as a result of it.
So, if you can relate to this story and you yourself experience any of these symptoms as a result of ingesting dairy products, something I would encourage you to try are dairy alternative products. They are easier on the digestive symptom, lower in fats, and lower in calories. Not that the latter two really matter all that much (unless these are important factors you want to consider) but mainly with dairy alternatives your body will be able to tolerate and digest it better than dairy products.
Plus, you won’t have to sacrifice taste for your health. You get the best of both worlds 😊!