Milk, you're no friend of mine!

Before anyone thinks that I'm going to say that milk is bad for everyone, and nobody should drink it, let me say this:  if you can tolerate it, I'm happy for you, and consume to your heart's content!  The statements I make here only apply to me!   

I made an appointment to see a naturopathic doctor in September because I just wasn't happy with the way I felt.  I was almost always tired and brain foggy.  One of the first things she had me do was a cleansing diet.  For three weeks, I ate no dairy, wheat, corn, or acidic foods.  I found that, while on the diet, my energy returned, and I felt a lot better than I had in a long time.  After the three weeks of cleanse, it was time to start introducing the dairy, wheat, corn and acidic foods back into my diet, one at a time, to see if I was sensitive to any of them. Since my love of cheese and yogurt came second only to my love of bread, the first thing I reintroduced was dairy.  Within the first day of eating dairy again, the fatigue and brain fog promptly returned.  That's when I started researching milk sensitivities and milk allergies.  I learned that you don't have to be born with lactose intolerance.  I drank milk for 30+ years with no ill effects.  It is only in the last few years that I have been plagued with the symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, and some of those nasty intestinal symptoms that I won't mention.  I learned that some adults can develop lactose intolerance in their 40's! 

As a result of reading this, I eliminated milk, cheese, and yogurt from my diet.  My fatigue and other symptoms subsided within 3-4 days.  On the occasions that I consumed ice cream, the symptoms returned, and stayed with me for 3-4 days.  I made the decision that, no matter how much I loved ice cream, it wasn't worth the way it made me feel, so I gave it up.  Instead of milk-based products, I started using soy, coconut and almond-based products to get my dairy-like fix.  I personally like Silk Vanilla Soy Milk, I consume it on a daily basis in my oatmeal, and I make fruit smoothies with it.  I also use Silk unflavored Soy milk in recipes as a substitute for regular milk with no bad results.  I started buying soy ice cream, and even coconut milk based ice cream, but at five dollars a pint, I knew that there had to be a homemade solution that would cost a lot less, and be a lot better for me.  Here's the Soy Ice Cream recipe I made this week:

• 1 cup powdered sugar - or 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 4 egg yolks (or 1/2 cup egg beaters) - I used egg beaters
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 cups soymilk - I also added fruit and pureed it in the blender
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Put the eggs yolks, sugar, and corn starch into a bowl; whisk the mixture together.

2. Heat the soy milk; slowly pour the hot soy milk into the mixture while continuing to beat.

3. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Gently heat the mixture until it thickens.

5. Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

6. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker; make ice cream following the instructions of the machine.  If you want to add fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, wait until the ice cream starts to thicken before adding them.   If you like your ice cream really soft, it's ready to eat.  If you prefer a harder texture, freeze it for several hours, and it will be more scoopable.

 It's not real ice cream, but it's pretty darned close!  Next batch I make will be chocolate!

Knowing what I know now, I'm disappointed that my regular doctor didn't even attempt to determine if I had milk sensitivity.  Instead, he just proscribed me antidepressants, which helped for a while, but I always felt like they were just a band-aid, not a solution to the underlying problem. 

So, if you're suffering some or all of the symptoms that I mentioned above, consider giving up dairy for a week, and see how you feel.  It made a world of difference for me!

Happy Eating everyone!

LT