People—particularly us in Wisconsin—seem to love dairy products: milk, cheese, cream, half & half, certain types of yogurt, whipped cream, cream puffs, ice cream, and on and on…
Can dairy make you fat?
As good as these things taste, we have seen clinically that they may cause or worsen many health problems including weight gain, digestive issues (such as acid reflux, abdominal gas, bloating, IBS, constipation and diarrhea), allergies, sinus problems, asthma, fatigue, and others.
Symptoms are sometimes delayed
People often don’t notice the connection of consuming dairy to these symptoms because it takes up to 24 hours for the symptoms to arise. For example, a child is given warm milk to help her sleep before bed. It helps her sleep; there are no sinus issues immediately. The next morning she wakes up with nasal congestion caused by the warm milk!! The delayed body reaction makes it difficult to link one’s diet to one’s health problems. In the above child’s case, the digestion system receives dairy and struggles to process it. To protect itself, the undigested part of the dairy is sent to the lungs, which, in turn, send this phlegm up the trachea (the tube connecting the lungs to the ear/nose/throat), which emerges as mucus in the sinuses.
Some people can handle dairy without issues
Ultimately, some individuals may have great digestive organ function and may be able to consume dairy products without symptoms. However, in most cases, even extraordinary digestive organ function will not protect the body from dairy!
The reason: dairy products are phlegm-producing because the molecular ratios of fats, sugars, proteins, and minerals are unusable to the human body. Calcium does exist in milk, but in that form, is not very useful to humans.
It is interesting to note that patients who simply discontinue sugar and dairy begin to lose weight within 2 weeks.
There ARE substitutes for many of your favorite dairy products:
- Good milk substitutes include oat milk, almond milk, rice milk or soy milk.
- There are some cheese substitutes, not many of which are completely dairy-free, however. Check at your local natural food store for “Casein-free” cheese substitutes.
- You can even find ice cream made of rice or soy!
Call if you have question or concerns, as always. (414) 332-8888
