To be honest, I never wanted to try a dairy free diet. I love cheese, I love ice cream, I love milk creamer in my coffee and I love whipped cream. So I didn’t want to give up those foods, but when I heard that dairy causes a lot of bloating and digestive issues, I really wanted to try going dairy free. What I didn’t realize was that there are so many more benefits to going dairy free.
Now, one thing you should know about me is that I believe in balance and moderation. I haven’t always been great at them, but I believe that we should eat in balance and in good moderation. So although I’m doing a dairy free diet right now, I don’t plan to cut all dairy forever. I mean, I couldn’t give up pizza and tacos forever. Where I want to eventually be is in a balance of living mostly dairy free with the occasional cheese or ice cream treat.
Some of the main known benefits of going dairy free
-
Less Boating
-
Clearer and Healthier Skin
-
Respiratory, Sinus and Congestion Relief
-
Better General Digestion
-
May Reduce Risk of Cancer
Personal Experience
I have already experienced 3 out of these 5 benefits after just 10 days of going dairy free! It’s pretty amazing. I felt and saw less bloating practically immediately – after just two days! The reason I even thought to try going dairy free was because I had been feeling extra bloated the last few months. I felt like I was eating clean and working out and was so confused why I was bloated all the time. I stopped eating dairy and poof, bloating was gone. I wasn’t expecting it to be that fast.
The second benefit I have experienced is the respiratory, sinus and congestion relief. As most of you know, I’m a worship leader and singer. I have read many articles about different singers’ diets and many of them say they don’t eat dairy because it clears their vocal chords from mucus. Every time I read that, I thought “Oh, thank goodness dairy doesn’t give me mucus, I couldn’t give it up”. But now that I have cut out dairy, I realized I was so wrong lol.
Cutting dairy can relieve cramps, gas, diarrhea and stomach pain. Like I said, I’ve cut dairy for the past 10 days, but I did eat yogurt a few times and every time I would eat yogurt, I would have digestive issues right after, as well as mucus. So I’m probably going to try to find a non-dairy yogurt alternative.
Overall, so far, I have already felt more energy, better digestion and less bloating! It’s been so great to feel like my better self. I am hoping to see some healthier skin benefits as my skin hasn’t been the most clear in the last month. I know that in the future, I will reintroduce a little bit of dairy into my diet because, well, pizza. But for now, I’m going to have fun learning dairy free recipes as alternatives to foods!
But I love cheese!!
I know! Haha. Me too! I will incorporate cheese back into my diet eventually and have it in moderate amount.
You can find coconut milk yogurt at the grocery store. It’s pretty yummy!
Oh nice!! I’ll have to try that out! Thanks!!