Giving Up Dairy Products? Beware Of These 5 Body Effects
WORLD MILK DAY: What happens to the body when you stop dairy products?
World Milk Day 2022: Are you thinking about ditching milk, cheese, butter and all dairy products from your diet? Are you one of those who wish to go Vegan? Renouncing to consume any dairy product is not without consequences. The body can react differently from person to person concerning bone density, weight loss, skin problems, intolerance and bloating. Many people choose for health reasons when going vegan or to experience certain benefits associated with a dairy-free diet, such as weight loss or reduced acne problems. But the reaction to this change is not the same for each person. Shivani Sikri, Chief Nutritionist & Founder at Nutri4Verve, discusses some consequences you might notice when deciding to give up dairy products.
Lactose Intolerance
- You lack the lactase enzyme that generally breaks down milk sugar if you have lactose intolerance. This enzyme's production decreases in adulthood although it's present during childhood. You can suffer in the stomach area when digesting dairy products.
- As a general rule, it is necessary to favour dairy products that are less rich in lactose, to find means of substitution and, above all, to meet your calcium and protein needs through other dietary means. But, of course, each diet will be adapted according to the person's sensitivity and lactose tolerance threshold.
- If you don't eliminate all dairy from your diet but switch to one or two foods a day, symptoms should gradually decrease as the bacteria rebalance in the gut. But if you stop consuming dairy altogether, the intolerance is likely to worsen.
So always consult a good doctor or dietician to balance your lactose intolerances.
The Weight Loss
- Trying to lose weight by giving up dairy products? Many new trending diets like Vegan diets or Lactose-free diets hail to reduce or eliminate lactose, a type of sugar in milk. The enzyme lactase breaks down lactose in the small intestine.
- Unfortunately, many people cannot synthesize lactase in their body, leading to side effects like water retention, heaviness, stomach pain etc.
- Although foods like certain cheeses and ice cream are high in calories, many researchers have proven that milk promotes satiety and helps you stay in shape.
Hence the result in weight loss depends on the person's metabolism and how they replace dairy products in their diet.
The Skin
- Several studies have linked acne to milk, especially skimmed milk, but none have found a link to cheese or yoghurt. A reason behind stated is cows are nowadays treated with artificial hormones that increases their milk production.
- These hormones seemingly off balance one's body hormones when milk products are consumed, which could trigger acne. So you can prefer farm fresh A2 Organic milk, specifically from hormone injected free cows.
- Alternatively, since milk contains lactic acid, it helps wipe skin pores and eliminate acne-causing bacteria from the top of your skin.
Milk can help clean your skin, or fresh milk cream can be applied as a face mask to cure acne, and you can enjoy clear and radiant skin.
The Bones
- Milk products are full of calcium, protein, vitamin D and other minerals important for building strong bones.
- If you're on a milk-free diet, you'll need to find a way to replace those lost nutrients with green vegetables, almond milk, and broccoli, for example.
Milk contains calcium. Calcium is well known to enhance bone mineral density.
Bloating
- Do you tend to swell up like a balloon after eating a slice of four cheese pizza or drinking a glass of milk?
- One can surely relate lactose intolerance to bloating if it often begins within 30 minutes to 2 hours after consuming milk or foods with lactose.
If it is an intolerance, reducing its consumption or giving up dairy products can help you.
