Cutting out (some) dairy

[jenn_unplugged]

I was recently reading a parenting book (Baby Matters) that presented a lot of research about how bad cows' milk consumption is, and it was really compelling. You can read about it here, if you're interested.

I've never been a milk drinker; I just never liked the taste of milk. I like cheese and the occasional yogurt, but the main source of milk consumption for me is coffee drinks. I like my frappuccinos and iced mochas, and I love half-n-half in my morning cup. But I was sufficiently freaked out by the stuff I'd read to start trying soy in my coffee instead.

It turns out that I really like the soy versions of Starbucks drinks! Soy milk has a sort of a nutty flavor that really complements coffee well. In fact, I think I like the drinks more with soy than milk! I bought some soy coffee creamer to use at home, and that's still growing on me. I'm not so sure I'm ready to give up my half-n-half.

But the really interesting thing is that I can tell a big difference in Carter since I cut out even the small amount of dairy I was consuming. He went from being incredibly gassy, as he's been for as long as I can remember, to being only minorly gassy. I've read that dairy in the mother's diet can affect the quality of breast milk (and many women avoid dairy while breastfeeding for that reason), but WOW. The difference is huge!

So I'll be sticking with the soy for a while, I think.

As an aside, cheese is apparently not the culprit that milk itself is. It has something to do with the way the proteins have been partially digested during the cheesemaking process, IIRC. (?)

Comments

[ias.livejournal.com]

Milk I can take or leave (I like the ocassional hot chocolate or latte but never drink it by itself) and drink my tea and coffee black. But cheese, you try and take my cheese away and you are a dead woman!

Luckily the garklet agrees and is a huge fan of cheese, the riper, tangier, bluer or stinkier the better so he turns his nose up at Babybel and mild brie but wolfs down mature cheddar, Roquefort, brie that can walk off the table by itself. He did complain with terrible wind when he was a few weeks old and I'd eaten nothing but cheese all day (it was Christmas) so I have since been less piggy and he's been fine.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

Mmm, cheese... I love cheese! How awesome that he likes the good stuff, too. :-D

[merrywandering.livejournal.com]

Just be aware that there are some concerns about boys and soy milk consumption. It has something to do with a form of estrogen that's in soy milk, but not in fermented stuff like soy sauce or tofu. And I don't think it applies if YOU drink the soy milk and Carter drinks your breastmilk. Just that you may want to read up on it a bit if you later consider having Carter drink soy milk.

I'm still not sure if cow milk impacts Sam's eczema. I took him off ALL dairy for about two weeks, and it didn't seem to make a whit of difference. He really, really loves milk, though and since a) he doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects from it, and b) with his sporadic eating habits these days, milk is the one thing I can count on him to consume, therefore I haven't eliminated milk from his diet. I will reexamine the situation once he hits two, but for those first two years they really need the fat, and since I don't BF Sam, the cow milk is an easy way to get him that fat.

[jenn-unplugged.livejournal.com]

Ah, interesting about soy. Neither Doug nor I drink milk, and since I'm planning to BF Carter as long as possible, I wasn't planning on introducing cow's milk as a beverage for quite a while.

Cheese, OTOH, is something I really look forward to introducing him to. Does Sam like cheese?

[merrywandering.livejournal.com]

It's hard to answer a question like that any more! It seems like Sam has given up food altogether these days. He's even stopped eating fruit. *SIGH* How in the world does he manage to get heavier when he is apparently eating nothing at all? Yesterday he ate two bites of sausage for breakfast, two french fries for lunch, and about seven pieces of pasta for dinner. I. Kid. You. Not.

He has liked cheese in the past, and I'm hopeful that when he decides to take up food again, he will like it once more. He also likes yogurt.

[hazelhawthorne.livejournal.com]

For the two years I nursed Amber, I had to cut dairy out of my diet entirely.

Luckily I was living in Santa Cruz so I was able to find soy options for almost everything.