My journey to becoming dairy free and the challenges that I have encountered in the first six months
Becoming dairy free was not my first choice. In January 2020 one morning I awoke in horrific pain in my lower abdominal area. After months of daily unexplained pain (for which I know part of the reason why now). I decided that a change in diet might help me, after it was confirmed that I had IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Which was most likely adding to my discomfort.
I thought first to cut out dairy. I had been doing my own research into what products like milk and cheese does to the body. Spoiler alert, I consumed quite a large amount of milk weekly, due to drinking it in tea for the most part. Cheese, I never really ate as much of. I would go through phases of eating cream cheese if I was feeling under the weather. or because I was craving it.
The first thing that I noticed was the difference in price. One pint of milk in the UK costs about £0.50 depending on where you live in the country. For dairy free/vegan options you are looking at anywhere between £0.80 - to about £4.00 for one litre. This price would depend on brand, where you buy and whether it was “long life” or “fresh” and what type of “milk” it is.
My personal choice for drinking “milk” in tea is at the time of writing is oat milk. More specifically Oatly. However,when I move to the other side of the world my choice of “milk” type and brand might change.
You might ask - Elena why does the title say ‘Virtually’ dairy free? Well, the truth is that I have had some trouble adapting to this new way of living. I hate to call it a ‘diet’ because all I am doing is excluding one ingredient. It is not until you begin to exclude milk that you realise how many things contain dairy.
Lots of ‘processed’ foods contain dairy, things that you might buy at the supermarket or your local newsagents. Something as simple as a takeaway sandwich, will more than likely have butter in it. Unless it is specifically vegan, in which case it wouldn’t contain butter (more likely to be margerine).
Discovering the amount of dairy that is in every-day products created a tricky new landscape to navigate. I still eat meat but there is a distinct lack of products that exclude dairy that are not exclusively vegan.
Around October was particularly difficult. I became bitter at the number of Halloween chocolates I now had to avoid, and halloween themed snacks that had dairy in them.
Walking past the cheese isle has become easier over time. In the supermarkets and specialty food shops, they tend to have a separate section for vegan alternatives for cheese. I have enjoyed the process of trying vegan cheeses. Though the coconut oil content in most of what I have tried has been quite high. As such I have been trying to limit the amount I have, when I do have some.
There were times when I did lapse back into having regular dairy. Depending on what it was that I was eating would be different effects on my body at different speeds. I will spare you from the more uncomfortable details of what these were.
In short, I have been experiencing a lot less pain than I have been. From every 9/10 days in pain to roughly 1 or 2 of 10 days being in pain. Thus, cutting out dairy is without a shadow of a doubt helping improve my symptoms. To the point where I am able to enjoy life again.
There is still a long road ahead before I could call myself completely dairy free. I hope by June 2021 I will be able to say that I have succeeded in getting to this stage. I know I will continue to feel better with less relapses.
My main tip for someone who is considering going dairy-free is to take it one day at a time. Your body will take time to get used to new things that you are eating. You may not see instant results with your symptoms or general health. The more you stick to it the better that you will feel.
I’d also recommend telling your family and friends what you are doing, especially if you live with them. Hopefully, they will be supportive and encouraging. Especially if they understand that you are feeling better because of it. You never know, you might turn them to something new (my dad now likes vegan cheese).
Credits to the photographs on this page goes to Sandi Benedicta, Brett Jordan and Mollie Sivaram via Unsplash
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