Interestingly enough, I too have a dairy allergy/intolerance that I didn't even know about until now! Before Natalie's situation came about, I was not a huge dairy consumer, but I had milk with my cereal, occasional yogurt, cream cheese, other cheeses, cream-based sauces, etc. with no noticeable problem. I did notice that after I ate ice cream, I would sometimes get a belly ache. Nothing bad enough to really make note of, but definitely some discomfort.
Now after eliminating dairy from my diet, eating the littlest bit gives me a really bad belly ache! I guess I had built up a tolerance for it, and now that I don't eat it I have become sensitive to it. For example, the other day I had mashed potatoes that must have had a bit of milk or sour cream in them. I got a really bad stomach ache. If I eat milk chocolate, I get another stomach ache. If I have milk-based sauces/creams/condiments, I get a belly ache.
It's all making sense to me now that I think about it...my mom said when I was a baby I had really bad colic (probably as result of my dairy allergy). Then as a young kid in elementary school I remember always having tummy aches after lunch. Sometimes I would go lay down in the nurse's office until the pain passed. Think about what is served with every kid's school lunch....A CARTON OF MILK! I went to my doctor and they told my mom I probably had IBS and that was pretty much it. As I went in to middle school and high school I drank less and less milk, so I didn't seem to have as many stomach issues and never made the connection.
Needless to say, I am going to be doing a whole lot more research on dairy allergies and cooking. Supposedly kids typically outgrow their dairy allergy and milk can be re-introduced, but I am not sure I really want to do that. There are plenty of other sources of calcium, vitamin d, phosphorous, etc. I've been using Almond Milk as a substitute and it's not bad. I wouldn't enjoy drinking a big ole glass of it, but in cereal, recipes, smoothies, it's perfectly fine.Vegetables and leafy greens are a great source of a lot of these essentials nutrients.
There are lots of folks out there who believe that dairy is bad for you (especially for autistic kids, people with gluten allergies, and IBS, heart disease, obesity). I found this article on 6 reasons dairy is bad. (And yes, I admit, I did giggle a bit like a 12-year old school girl when I saw the last name of the author was 'Hyman' LOL).
I also found another great blog source for going dairy free: Alisa Cooks and GoDairyFree.org.
Cheers to no dairy :-)
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I was allergic to milk as a baby and was put on a soy formula, is what my mom says. I outgrew it... and then it came back when I was in elementary and middle school and I outgrew it in high school and haven't had any known problems since. So I do believe it is possible to outgrow. FYI, my brother in law is lactose intolerant (or a lactard... lol) and he uses Soy milk. I always buy it for him when he comes and visits and his trips are usually so short that he never finishes the carton so I usually drink it. It is pretty tasty. He also found soy ice cream and yogurt that he likes. I've cooked many a things with Soy milk for him... including soy pumpkin pies!
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