Crying Over Spilled Milk

I'm off dairy for 3 weeks for a food sensitivity test. I went to a naturopath who has recommended this because of some of my typical ailments, or symptoms that I just basically live with. Always feeling slightly congested - in particular this past winter, which I felt like I got through in a fog, sluggish muscles during aerobic activity, and general sluggishness.

Now, I'm not much of a milk drinker anyway, so you'd think it wouldn't be that much of an issue....but I'm amazed at how many things milk, in some form, is in.

I have to read labels and watch for words like whey, caseinate, lactalbumin, casein hydrolysate. I was eating this stuff? I can't even pronounce most of it. Its lurking in cereals, crackers, breads, crusts & pastries. Well there is a whole segment of processed foods off my 'OK to eat' list. I'm thinking thats a good thing anyway.

Then there is the obvious stuff. Cheese. Ice Cream. Cream sauces. Cheese. Butter. Cheese.

I'm on day 3 of this. Gosh I miss cheese. But otherwise, its forced me to be very aware of what I'm eating. Its forced me back to food in its natural, real form, which is very cool. I always felt that I ate relatively healthy, but going to organic and this test have made me realize just how much junk I was really eating! I made an absolutely superb quinoa pilaf yesterday with roasted sweet potatoes, chick peas, broccoli, peas, and raw sunflower seeds - all organic, of course. It will definitely become part of our regular menu.

Today I am making a slow cooker creamy kale soup, with the creaminess provided by pureed potatoes. It sounds yummy too. And snacks have been cut up veggies with hummus, or a beautiful sweet organic apple. I can still eat my homemade samosas - I checked the recipe and there is nothing off limits there. And I've started incorporating navy or kidney beans, homemade sprouts, nuts and homemade croutons into my salads - topped off of course with my super yummy homemade vinagrette which is dairy free as well. I even ate out yesterday morning at the market (not the one I'd previously written about. This is one in a neighboring city, which does have a couple of organic vendors) from an organic food vendor who made a killer organic dairy free breakfast bagel.

So, so far so good. I haven't noticed much of a change yet in how I feel. On a very subtle level, my head feels clearer, but that might just be my imagination. It'll be interesting to see how I feel after a couple of weeks of this. If it turns out that I am in fact sensitive to dairy, I think I could manage to eat this way without too much trouble.

But I'll still miss cheese. :(

~SS