It has been an interesting few weeks for us here in the Wilhelmsen house. We have had some dietary revelations in regards to Jack & Mati. Jack has been put on a hypoallergenic formula (no dairy) and after a blood test has revealed a slight milk-allergy for Mati, the doctor asked us to put her on a dairy-free diet.
This has lead me to wonder if perhaps we all need to go dairy-free. And this has not been a fun thought, to say the least.
Perhaps Reagan needs to be on a dairy-free diet, although she's not having any physical symptoms. And Erik does already have a lactose aversion, which he controls with acid reducer pills.
Well, this has all lead a larger questions: Is cow's milk all that good for us? I admit that I drink a fair amount of cow's milk products. I use half & half in my coffee daily. I love cheese. I love butter. So, the idea of living a dairy-free lifestyle is incredibly scary to me. But I have also heard that we are the only mammals to drink another mammals milk. Is that wrong? I don't know if I believe that drinking cow's milk is wrong. But maybe we consume too much of it.
I think we'll probably end up somewhere in the middle. I don't think there is a suitable enough substitute for baking & I love me some cheese!
For the past couple of days I've been attempting to keep all dairy from Mati only to be foiled by Erik giving her things that no-doubt have some sort of dairy in them. So, I don't know if dairy-free is going to happen for us. Thankfully Mati isn't deathly allergic to milk so a muffin every now and then probably won't affect her.
I think the solution for us is going to be along the lines of what Chandra says here. More plants, less meat (including dairy), and if I don't think my great-grandmother would recognize the products in it, don't eat it.
3 comments:
I feel so torn on the whole milk thing too. I 'suspect' that my two youngers might be mildly allergic and have definitely cut back. But to give up cheese... I just can't do it. (or icecream for that matter.)
"...we are the only mammals to drink another mammals milk..." If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that.
I hope you can figure out some dietery arrangements that work for your family. I do think that if I had to give up butter and cheese, a little part of my soul would die.
But, maybe cutting back will do the trick. My (now grown) cousin had very severe dairy allergies when he was a kid. (And this was long before you could walk into a Trader Joe's and find every class of soy milk, etc.) But over the years, they just went away. He has no trace of food allergies at all anymore.
Post a Comment