The break up of the year

Milk.  Yogurt.  Cheese.  Ice cream.  Sour cream.  Heavy cream.

Seriously, anything involving cream.  Oh...excuse me.  Drooling a bit.

Anyways, I've had a really hard time giving up dairy.  I really should have given it up when I first started the diet, but I adore cheese - I have an almost-empty pack of feta in my fridge, and I've been rationing it out the last week, because I know it's coming.

It's coming.

I plan on breaking up with dairy this month.  I just need some time, you know...to think things over.  I need to know that this is a relationship worth fighting for, and I need to know if it's compromising the lining of my intestines.  And if you think about dairy, it's actually kinda gross.

Eh?

I've been reading Robb Wolf's book, The Paleo Solution, and he talks about foods that can promote inflammation.  These include dairy, night shades (bell peppers, hot peppers, tomatoes), and a variety of other foods we'll probably get to later.

Now, ask yourself a question:  Is it natural to consume the "breast" milk of an animal?  Yeah, not so much.  I'm fairly sure our very ancient relatives didn't chase cows down and suckle at their teat.  Gross much?  I think so.

So we've nailed down that it's gross (seriously, it would make more sense to make ice cream, etc. out of human breast milk, even though that sounds even more disgusting).  Next, I want you to open up a window or tab in your browser, and search for "dairy causes inflammation."  Interesting, huh?

Of course, there are many people who don't have a problem ingesting dairy - their body doesn't have an  auto-immune response to it.  Quick thought:  Why would our bodies have an auto-immune response to dairy?  Quick answer:  Cause our bodies aren't meant to digest an animal's milk.  Just think on that for a bit.

I wish my relationship with dairy could last forever.  Maybe one day we can be together again, but for at least about a month (starting once my feta and creamer are gone), I will keep my distance from this delicious lovely.

-Sasha

p.s. Don't tell dairy, but I'll be seeing coconut products behind his back.  Hopefully he won't be too upset about it if we get back together next month.

Check out this delicious breakfast using organic coconut milk (vanilla flavored; $2.99 for a half gallon @ Fred Meyer), organic blackberries, organic banana chunks, and walnuts.  Fairly cheap and quick to make.

Mmm...might have to make another bowl.