Effects of Dairy on Health
 

I am addicted to cheese and other dairy. I think I eat a lot of cheese but its a difficult thing to measure because it is usually in small amounts like shredded cheese or slices of cheese. I also use a lot of cream in my coffee but again those are small amounts. But I think they add up throughout the day. What are the bad effects dairy can have on your health because I have always thought it was a pretty healthy food. Also what are good ways to measure the amount of dairy you are eating? Thanks

Kitchen scale. Measure in grams or ounces. Usually a standard slice is 1 oz.

Most animals wean -- humans are the only ones who carry on with the breastmilk of another species.

In other words, it isn't like you need dairy. Is it fun to eat? Sure. Do you NEED it? No. We can get our calcium needs met with other foods.

HTH!
A.

The big benefit that I found from cutting dairy was that, since I was eating lots of cheese, I immediately reduced my sodium intake and cholesterol intake. I get enough calcium and Otho nutrients from the vegetables and sardines that I eat.

Dairy is healthy....for baby cows.

I used to eat tons of dairy, cheeses, yogurts, bowls of cereal drenched in milk, even glasses of milk!!! When I joined Weight watchers I switched to low fat cheese, only milk one or two days a week, low fat yogurts, now when I try to eat proper dairy stuff (full fat) I get an upset tummy for days!!! I may have thought it was healthy once upon a time but I wouldn't go back to eating dairy full time now, I couldn't stand the physical side effects from attempting to eat it how I used to!!! Plus low fat versions are nicer than you'd think!! x

Thanks everyone for your advice! I will try to cut back!

I feel a lot better without dairy. My skin is clearer, my sinuses are clear and I no longer get rashes in weird places.

Lactose intolerance rates are surprisingly high, around 25% for Caucasians and anything up to 85% for other ethnic groups. If you're wondering about this, then completely give up dairy for a few weeks and see how you feel. I found that my skin became less painfully dry and my migraines were drastically reduced in pain intensity and frequency. Other people in my family have trouble with lactose as well. If you do turn out to have a problem with dairy, there will be various options you can try, including non-cow's milk/cheese or special milk with the lactose removed, but of course the most straightforward option is to go for plant milks. They can be pretty good, depending on personal taste and what you do with them. Non-dairy cheeses aren't that popular, though some people like them. Personally I make up a fake Parmesan from a recipe and that's about it, apart from flavouring white sauce with nutritional yeast and so forth to give it a sort of cheesy flavour. (Not that I can remember the last time I had white sauce, courtesy of the diet!) There are some reasonable non-dairy ice creams out there too.

Going back to lactose intolerance, it's common to crave foods which are actually bad for you. I craved cheese too, I think I was going through a chunk of mozzarella a week plus a Brie or a Camembert. A herbalist pretty much took one look at that plus my usual symptoms and suggested that I tried cutting out dairy. The results were so obvious that I never turned back, and since I was already vegetarian, I took the opportunity to turn vegan.

Dairy can be an excellent source of Calcium and vitamin D for your diet. People though rarely know that cheese is more fat than protein in it's regular form.

Try eating less from the hard full fat cheeses and more often the white skim cheeses. Drink 1,5% milk instead of full fat and try to stay between 3-4 potions of dairy a day.

If you have diagnosed lactose intollerance there are still dairy things you can eat. There exist special milks with very low lactose, low lactose cheese and generally things made of goat's milk are better than cow milk for lactose intollerance.

In the end though you can get calcium and vitamin d elsewhere. Just remember cutting out all dairy, eggs and meat will cause you to become vitamin b12 deficient unless you tackle that with supplements or specific herbs. :)

Anyway any change in your diet should be accompanied by your gp's blessing, not internet advise, imo

It's actually a myth that the only sources of B12 are in animal foods. It's definitely a nutrient to keep an eye on in a vegan diet, there aren't too many foods which have it in naturally, but as well as yeast products, sea vegetables and so forth you will also find that many foods are routinely fortified with B12 these days, including many plant milks. The rates of both iron-deficiency anaemia and B12-deficiency anaemia are no higher amongst vegans than amongst meat-eaters. There are always areas to keep an eye on in all diets, and almost always benefits that compensate too (e.g. vegetarians typically consume less iron but consume so much more Vitamin C that they are actually less likely to be anaemic than meat-eaters). Plus she's just talking about dairy, not veganism; apologies if I've ended up being misleading there.

I do agree that while this forum is useful, checking in with a doctor is the best way forward.

Veering slightly off-topic, the OP was talking about being "addicted" to dairy. You know how you can have cravings for foods which are the last thing you need (e.g. craving chocolate before your period is a bad idea for anyone prone to menstrual migraine), and foods which are actually just what you need (e.g. green leafy vegetables during your period - seriously, I get mad pak choi cravings at times)? How do you work out which is which? It's not always obvious whether it's a healthy craving or not.

I have a slight intolerance to lactose. But I do love my cheese! - and I do have an occasional need for milk (cereal, cooking, etc). I take a Lactaid (OTC med) before having any dairy & that prevents the upset tummy issues for me.

Altho I have no problem with fat, I need/want the protein of dairy. I prefer skim milk & 2% (sliced) cheese. I can't stand the taste of full-fat milk (it just tastes too ... I don't know... curdled? ick!) and I I like a cheese slice on my turkey burgers & so forth. I enjoy fat-free cottage cheese. Plus, a half cup of fat-free cottage cheese is only about 80 calories, and since I count calories, that's a check in the "yippee!" box for me. :D I love cottage cheese with a packet of Equal & some cinnamon sprinkled over it... it's like a dessert! YUM!!

Other than the lactose intolerance thing, I really don't see any health problems with consuming dairy. Altho the human body doesn't have to have it, it can be good for you, & it's tasty, & like most everything else: "all things in moderation." :D