Elimination diet

Sorry for the delay in posting. A lot of things were due in the past few weeks: Research paper, book report, and my nephew :)

As suggested by my herbalist, I went on a dairy elimination diet for a little over two weeks. Two weeks may not seem like much and it may not sound hard to give up something like dairy (especially if, like me you are lactose intolerant and do not like drinking cow's milk), but it was a lot harder than I thought.

I knew it would be hard to give up wheat, but dairy, I thought would not be so hard. And actually, when I was here, in my apartment, it wasn't. I usually cook with veggie oil anyway. But with recipes that called for butter, that was a little bit of a challenge. And, at Trader Joe's, I reached for the free coffee sample, put in the half-and-half...then threw it out when I remembered I was not having dairy.

THEN, I went home for a weekend and it was a lot more challenging. My mother cooked a lot of things with Ghee (clarified butter) so most of the leftovers were off limits. Then, at a friend's house, everything she had to offer contained dairy. One of her desserts, that I had been looking forward to having because she said she makes it really well, was ALL dairy! It was definitely challenging for me to say no and frustrating for the hostess because she had almost nothing to offer me (I ended up eating parts of her cheesecake brownies that had no cheesecake on them).

Eating out, going out with friends, all posed as challenges. Since dairy can hide in unexpected places, I checked the label of EVERYTHING, even the bisquick mix my friend was using to make chicken. I really wanted to stick to the elimination well enough so that I would be able to tell if it made a difference. I actually think it did. I noticed a usual symptom I have in the mornings was no longer present. However, on the days I had a sandwich from subway, I did wake up with this symptom. I wonder if Subway breads contain dairy....

This elimination "diet" taught me something, actually, a few things. One is that it is really hard to do an elimination diet of any kind. This will of course be important when, God willing, I am a clinician and suggest to a client that they eliminate a food group as I will be able to empathize how difficult it is (as with the bad-tasting medicine idea). Another valuable lesson, I think, is just how much dairy is out there, without even being a dairy product! Butter, cheese, milk are all found in many foods without our even thinking about it. I found that it makes you more aware of what you are eating. Before you are about to reach for those sour cream and onion chips, you think...oh wait, that has dairy.

I also found that it helped me empathize with those who HAVE to give up certain food groups, either because of allergies or autoimmune disorders. I CHOSE to give up dairy and I found it hard to do it for just TWO weeks. Imagine HAVING to give up a food group for your whole life. And what it really made me realize was that people, as a whole, whether in our houses or in restaurants, are not cognizant or sensitive to others' dietary restrictions. As someone who only eats certain meats, I know how difficult it is to eat a conventional restaurants to find vegetarian or seafood options. If I was not consuming wheat, dairy or sugar, I believe it would be several times harder to find something to eat outside. As hosts and hostesses, we often do not ask about people's dietary restrictions unless we know they are diabetic. Imagine if you had a vegan friend that you wanted to invite over. You may not agree with their personal lifestyle choice, but as a friend, it would be important to be able to cook something they would be able to eat and enjoy.

As a country that is so diverse, I believe it is time to start moving towards including people of all dietary needs. Unfortunately, only the "new age" type people and restaurants are doing this. But, who knows, maybe with more people becoming vegetarian, vegan, or with increasing number of peoplebeing diagnosed with celiac disease or wheat or gluten sensitivity, people will become more consciencious of other people's dietary requirements and restrictions.