Just in time for those New Year's resolutions, the Go Dairy Free Diet & Health Journal has been updated, and is now available as a FREE download via the Go Dairy Free Ebook & Downloads Page. The Journal was originally created a few years ago in conjunction with The Dairy Free Challenge, a simple 10-day dairy elimination "test" to help identify milk sensitivities and intolerances that may be leading to unwanted symptoms (digestive distress, acne, headaches, respiratory problems, fatigue, etc.). The challenge has proven successful for many Go Dairy Free viewers. However, for those of you who are already committed to a dairy-free diet, or who have other dietary concerns, such as weight loss, chronic disease, additional food sensitivities, or general health and disease prevention, this journal is a great way to track your diet and how you feel each day.

The journal includes 2 weeks (14 days) of full page entries.  Each page is divided into segments to help you track what you ate, how you felt each day (including a sizable list of symptoms with severity ratings), and any additional notes of importance. If you wish to track your diet for more than 2 weeks, the journal can be saved to your hard drive, reprinted or downloaded at any time for free. 

Various types of medical tests are available to help identify food allergies and intolerances, yet many doctors continue to recommend dietary tracking and elimination diets as the "gold standard" for identifying food sensitivities. Why? For starters, it is hard to argue with your own body.  Food allergy tests frequently produce both false positives and false negative, but monitoring your own symptoms in reaction to particular foods (keeping in mind that some symptoms may be delayed by as much as 48 hours) offers a more clear cut answer on the culprit.  Also, elimination diets are cheap; no pile up of medical testing bills. Nonetheless, you should always speak with a physician before undergoing any change in diet, especially when a severe food allergy may be of concern. 

See The Dairy Free Challenge for more information, or head straight over to download the free Diet & Health Journal.