Gary – I have been dairy free for a year now and have never felt better. Specifically, my sever reflux/heartburn that I have had for the last ten years is gone! Even more significant is that my asthma that I have had since I was an infant is so under control. My asthma is literally about 10% of what it used to be. I have never known what it is like not to be on some kind of medicine for the my asthma, including carrying around my inhaler all my life. Now, I don't even know where one is in the house right now 🙂 I am living a completely different life now! …
Why didn't my doctors ever even suggest that diary could have this much of an impact on my asthma. I grew up in Denver and spent much time at National Jewish Hospital (a premier research place for asthma). I even went to asthma camp as a kid, where they teach you how to manage my asthma. I guess they could've just not fed us dairy for that week and monitored our health.
To top is all off, I have lost 26 pounds in the last year. That is a huge accomplishment for me. The best part of it is that I have never looked at it as a diet. Rather, I look at it as a lifestyle change. I am motivated to stick with a non-dairy diet because if I eat dairy, that day and night, I suffer from heartburn and reflux, and my asthma symptoms start to kick back in. This only really happens when I eat out, and only by accident. I try my best not to get dairy in my meals.
I started my non-dairy diet abuot a year ago after talking to my 70 year old neighbor who has brittle bones. We talked while working in our gardens. He mentioned how his docter said that his bones are in bad shape mainly form the years and years of antacid medication he was on. This coupled with the fact that I had recently read in a health magazine something about dairy and heartburn, scared me into experimenting with my health. That is when I decided to try going without dairy for just one week. Funny thing is, I don't remember it even taking more than just a few days without dairy for me to feel my heartburn dissappear and for my athma to change so dramatically. I was converted.
My 4 year old son has a dairy allergy, but his is the kind that causes him to throw up and get rashes. not the same as mine. It was therefore easy to adjust to a non-dairy diet. My kind wife jsut started making more of the same food she was already making for our son.
before I close, I just want to say that there is absolutely no one on earth that can say they love ice cream or pizza more than me! I ate that stuff all the time. Once I felt the changes in my health from going non-dairy, I don't even feel the slightest temptation to eat that stuff anymore. I never would've considered giving up dairy.
Since this experience, I've decided that I am in charge of my health, not my doctort, or any big business (dairy industry telling you how good milk is for you). I must make my own decisions and experiment with my own health. I am happy to say that I am currently on no medication other than an occasional puff from my inhaler, but like I said, I don't even know where one is right now. Free at Last!!!
