Ten Weeks of Wellness - Week 9: Ditch the Dairy!
Hope everyone finds themselves with a...sunny...disposition following last weeks challenge! As we near the end of our Ten Weeks of Wellness, we think you're ready for the toughest challenge yet: giving up dairy!
Week 1 (Jan. 7): Posture Pod Exercises
Week 2 (Jan. 14): Sleep
Week 3 (Jan. 21): Affirmation
Week 4 (Jan. 28): Caffeine
Week 5 (Feb. 4): Walking
Week 6 (Feb. 11): Random Acts of Kindness
Week 7 (Feb. 18): Gluten Free
Week 8 (Feb. 25): Sunshine and Meditation
Week 9 (Mar. 4): Dairy Free
Week 10 (Mar. 11): Gratitude
Dairy has mistakenly become a major focus of the American diet. Many are under the false impression that dairy is the only dietary source of calcium available to them. But dark leafy greens are just as, if not more, effective at supplying the body with calcium than milk or cheese is. The problem with dairy is that it's proteins are highly inflammatory and stimulate the production of mucous. Casein, a milk protein, has been implicated in diabetes and heart disease, and acts on the brain as an opioid - effectively drugging the consumer, much like morphine! No wonder kids that switch to dairy when coming off of breast milk find themselves with more ear infections - and then still want milk while they're sick!
There are plenty of milk and dairy substitutes! Almond, soy, coconut, and rice milk are becoming increasingly common in grocery stores. There are also yogurts and cheeses made with these products, too, which should make exchanging most of the obvious dairy items fairly easy. What you need to be a little more careful about are dairy products within other foods. So much like you did with gluten, read your labels carefully. You can do it!
Stop by our facebook, leave a comment, or send an email to rubinchiropractic[at]gmail[com] and let us know how it's going!
Sources:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1061
http://www.naturalnews.com/002695_Robert_Cohen_cows_milk.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/488110-foods-containing-opioids/