Most of us have some sweet memories associated with milk and dairy products.
When I had a sore throat as a child, my mom would always make hot milk with butter for me. And my dad would make my favorite crepes (milk based recipe) and fill it with cottage cheese.
Honestly, when I think about my happiest childhood memories, when we were together as a family, it was always cooking or sharing breakfast together: crepes, grilled cheese, 'syrniki' (traditional Russian cottage cheese pancakes), omelet with cheese, porridge with milk and butter.
Dairy was always there.
That is why, when somebody was trying to tell me about not eating dairy, I would get seriously triggered. I felt like they were attacking something so dear to me.
Dairy is strongly associated with home, family, intimacy, and parents' love.
Interesting how it’s all intertwined, right?
Through our childhood, family traditions and culture we form such strong eating habits, they almost become an inalienable part of our identity.
But these emotional connections sometimes are not beneficial to us. Things we feel like we know sometimes are not the highest truth, and sometimes VERY far from it.
Here is what I learned as a medical intuitive healer about dairy despite my personal preferences: dairy is not good for us.
In fact, there are multiple reasons why dairy is not good for us.
Dairy doesn’t just get digested easily, it sticks to the walls of the intestinal tract. It slows down or blocks completely the absorption of other foods, that are critical for our bodies: minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals and other nutrients. Dairy allows pathogens like funguses, viruses, bacterias, and mold to thrive in our small intestinal tract and colon.
Dairy slows down the liver functions, making the liver stagnant and sluggish. This leads to mucus formation. When your body’s main filter becomes clogged, all of the toxins that escape the liver increase histamine compounds and form more mucus.
Another reason is the negative effect diary has on your lymphatic and immune systems. While your lymphatic vessels become clogged, it’s blocking the work of lymphocytes - essential workers of your immune system that are meant to find and destroy pathogens. Dairy products get in the way of your immune system allowing pathogens to thrive.
Dairy contains high levels of natural estrogen that was meant for calves. Consuming dairy increases your levels of estrogen, which in itself can lead to a variety of serious health problems.
Pathogens like Epstein-Barr viruses, or Streptococcus bacteria feed of the natural hormones and protein in dairy and release their own toxins. In other words, if you want to support your health, it is important to avoid dairy.
Now the question you might have: how is it our grandparents and great-grandparents were eating dairy and they were fine?
This is true. My grandmother was drinking kefir and eating butter over bread every day, and she lived a long life. The answer to that is in our environment. Previous generations haven’t been exposed to these extreme levels of toxins (in tap water, air, soil, fresh produce) and didn’t have to deal with rapidly mutating viruses and bacterias. So don’t compare yourself to your ancestors, they had a very different environment, and drop dairy as soon as you can.
I truly hope you do it as your own free will, out of love for your body, and not being forced by serious chronic conditions. But if you already find yourself suffering from multiple symptoms, the sooner you get rid of dairy, the sooner you will heal.