jenn_unplugged | Cutting out (some) dairy

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. (?)