Should you eliminate dairy from your diet?
If I had a penny for every time someone talked to me about giving up dairy, I would be a millionaire by now! Dairy-free, gluten-free, Paleo, Whole 30, this cleanse, that… There are so many options out there telling you what you should do about your diet. I’m glad you found your way here because that is something I will NOT do; you already have enough of that. What I will do is give you the information needed to make an educated decision about how to handle the rapidly changing dietary suggestions out there.
My nutrition background comes from my time in Chinese medicine/acupuncture school where we studied both Eastern and Western nutrition extensively. I love, love, love the way Chinese medicine views the human body and in particular how to nourish it. This way of thinking is not a fad, it’s not ever changing, and it’s not going to tell you to count your calories or never eat a carbohydrate ever again. This way of thinking is rooted in thousands of years of wisdom, coming out of countries in Asia that have a history of the longest living and healthiest people. Unfortunately, with the introduction of fast foods over the past few generations, life expectancy is indeed changing in some of these countries, but traditionally they were the homes of some of the healthiest individuals on the planet.
I love this medicine because it looks at people as just that: people. Individualized and brilliantly unique people, who all need different dietary recommendations and treatment modalities depending on their lifestyle and genetics. That said, if you take one thing to heart today, I hope it is this: You cannot look online and find one solution that worked for somebody once and expect it to work for you, too. The internet is a marvelous tool and it has opened so many doors for us, but I believe it can also harm us because of just this. Innately, people all want a quick fix. If someone knows how to market well and what words to use, they can hook you in and before you know it, you’ve sold your soul just to get “their answer” whatever that may be. I’m hoping to share some insight about how the body actually works and about how one thing is never entirely good or entirely bad for people.
Is dairy negatively affecting your health?
Today, our focus is on dairy. I already know this is going to end up being a two, maybe even a three-part post, and that’s okay… the need to understand is there. I’m asked the same questions almost every day. In order to fully know the answer to whether or not you should give up dairy, you need to understand something about an organ I like to call the Spleen. You must refer to this post first in order to understand the path I’m going to take you down next. Trust me, it’s worth it… it has to do with weight loss! (Ah ha, got you, didn’t I… now you’re hooked!)
Okay, I’m going to assume you at least skimmed that post. So now that you understand in simplified terms what the Spleen does and the role it plays in the body, I can add on another layer.
When the Spleen is deficient, many different imbalances can arise such as weight gain, fatigue, worry, OCD, phobias, and so on. Another pathological imbalance that can result is Dampness. Dampness is something we refer to in Chinese medicine as unhealthy fluid accumulation in the body. We all know that fluid in the body is important for such things as lubricating the joints, nourishing the organs, and creating supple muscles but too much pathological (unhealthy) fluid accumulation can become thick, heavy, turbid and can cause an even more severe level of Spleen Qi deficiency.
Dairy, you may have already guessed it, contributes to this Dampness. You can feel this when you drink a glass of milk, or eat a piece of cheese and you all of a sudden feel phlegm in your throat. Some people even experience post nasal drip, bloating, or a runny nose after they eat dairy. These are signs of an imbalance in the body, signs that the dairy is contributing to that person’s level of Dampness and Spleen Qi deficiency. This makes all those symptoms you read about worse and even initiates new imbalances such as headaches, cloudy thinking, numbness in the limbs, dizziness, etc.
Not one diet works for everyone.
But, before you go on thinking like the masses and throwing out all of your freshly bought dairy products, I encourage you to think outside of the box and to use your critical thinking cap. Does everyone suffer from these imbalances/symptoms? No. Does everyone have weight gain? No. Does everyone have chronic post nasal drip and a runny nose? No. Not everyone is the same. I will speak more to this in the subsequent post in this series. Don’t throw dairy out because the thought of these symptoms scares you; if you don’t have them, you might be consuming the amount your body needs/responds well to.
And before you go on saying, “Well, I’d like to lose weight so I’m going to give up dairy anyway even if I don’t have these symptoms,” I’m going to challenge you by saying that may actually harm the body and deliver undesirable results. Remember, everyone is unique and should be treated that way. Get off that bandwagon of tired old ways of thinking, my friend… you’re way better than that; you’re a smartie.
Consider if you have these symptoms of Dampness: unwanted weight gain, bloating, loose stools, fatigue, cloudy thinking, low energy (worse in the afternoon), phlegm in the throat/coughing up phlegm and/or post-nasal drip, yeast infections, headaches that feel like a heavy head or some people describe “a wet towel wrapped around their head”, joint inflammation, cystic acne (with pus), allergies, and sinus infections. These are some of the basics and they are some good jumping off points to start initiating your way of thinking about dampness. A lot of the time, people with pathological Dampness can be heavier, but not always! Poor diet, genetics, and lifestyle are big factors as to if someone will develop dampness.
To come full circle, I hope you are beginning to see that if you are someone who has a lot of Spleen Qi deficiency and Dampness signs, and if you are struggling with weight gain, then dairy may not be the best thing for you. My recommendation would be to eliminate dairy entirely (yes, I mean yogurt too) for at least 3 months and see how you feel, then honestly reevaluate. Unfortunately, dampness is stubborn. It is thick, sticky, and it occupies space in the body by causing stagnation… it takes a while to reverse but it is well worth it. Dampness and stagnation lead to many diseases such as obesity, numerous gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, diseases of inflammation, arthritis, and cancer.
The flip-side of Dampness is, you guessed it, Dryness... and while you might be thinking, “I’d much rather have Dryness as an issue,” that will not solve anything either, a state of homeostasis must be achieved by the body for optimal health. Tune in next week for a discussion on dryness and to learn about situations where dairy can actually be beneficial to certain types of people.
Remember that this is your initial step. If you are concerned with any of the points mentioned here, your best bet is it consult an acupuncturist who has had extensive nutrition training and who incorporates it into his/her treatment plan. If you’re not in my area, feel free to email me for referrals.
If you’d like to participate in our Spring reset program that factors in this approach, from Traditional Chinese Medicine & Ayurveda, click here!
Here’s to your health,
