I gave up dairy products but has it improved my health

For someone who was diagnosed 10+ years ago with IBS, and has always suffered with tummy aches, including when I was a child. I was never once advised that dairy could be a trigger for symptoms, so I went on my merry way, cutting back and avoiding, greasy/fried food, alcohol and spicy or garlicky food, continuing to eat dairy and still suffering painful symptoms that the many medications I had been prescribed never alleviated. 

So I decided to do my own research discovering that many people reported lactose, especially milk being a problem for them. Armed with this information I began to notice that whenever I had consumed a lot of milk, like on my cereal or in custard on a dessert the symptoms were worse. So I stopped milk and switched to a plant based version, and things seemed a lot better for a while at least, I mean I still got tummy aches just not as frequent. Then it became apparent that the lower in lactose yogurts and cheese I was consuming where now triggering the stomach cramps, so maybe it wasn't just high lactose milk, but in fact all dairy that was an issue, so I made the drastic decision to cut it out of my diet completely. I say drastic because I hadn't released just how many products that I ate contained dairy. Not only did I give up cheese, something I loved, but I could no longer eat, shop bought cakes, desserts, most biscuits, canned soups or even some crisps!! so many foods have milk in its unreal and quite possibly unnecessary. 

But on the positive side, I have learned a hell of a lot about what is in our food, and that we often consume ingredients that we just never thought would be in the products we are eating. For example in a multipack of crisps, I can normally only eat the plain or salt & vinegar, as the others contain milk, I mean I kinda guessed cheese & onion would be a no go, but bacon or chicken flavours, surely they should be ok? Nope they are not. But this also varies between brands, some bourbon biscuits are dairy free some are not, some brands add milk to soups and sauces some don't. It really can be a minefield. Oh and don't get me started on Pizza, you have no idea what a pain in the arse it is, to get pizza, as not every supermarket even stocks the limited number of brands that produce dairy free pizzas and there isn't a takeaway near me that offers it, unless I won't a cheeseless pizza, which I can confirm, NO I do not.

So has it been worth it?

Hell Yeah, I feel 100% better, no more bouts of stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea and feeling lousy. No more nights laying awake in pain, no more having to put up with my stomach bloating up making me look five months pregnant. For me the effects where instant as soon as I got super strict and checked every label, for that dreaded word MILK , I felt better. I now eat a far healthier diet, mainly because I can't eat the crap, and because it has forced me to seek alternative ingredients and make more things from scratch. 

So in essence giving up dairy has been the right thing to do for me, as it is for many other people, Now all we need is for brands, supermarkets, restaurants and food outlets, to wake up and see they are missing out on a huge market but not offering more or any dairy free choices.

Check here for other posts on this subject, including places to eat and recipes.

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