Shocking Dairy Detox – This will blow your mind!
I am not a vegan… and not a vegetarian. I don’t have any strange eating habits .
But I have been a milk drinking, cheese eating dairy lover since I was a small child. I grew up drinking milk every single day in my breakfast cereal and as a snack after school and the drink served with dinner.
A while ago I cut out most of my milk drinking and replaced it with Soy milk. Of course now I am told that soy milk MIGHT be bad… mostly it’s one famous doctor who says soy milk is bad, and even though I have not seen any concrete evidence, the anti-soymilk campaign moves onward. That’s okay, because Almond milk tastes great and so does Oat milk… but I’m sure someone is already writing me an email to tell me the evils of these milks also.
*UPDATE: I am watching my carbs, so I now drink unsweetened Almond Milk. It’s yummy.
WARNING:
What I want to tell you is shocking…
I had no idea. Honestly. And I like to think that I am “in the know” about a lot of things.
Yes… I did know that dairy is loaded with fat and cholesterol. That is why I limited my intake of it, reasonably.
About a week ago my wife said she had been talking to a friend of her’s and that the two of them had decided to go a week off of dairy. They wanted to know if I would join them.
She had some printed pages that touted all the health benefits, but without a moment’s hesitation, I agreed to join them.
I grabbed the best dairy free cookbook I could find. (I needed the recipes to be easy to make, and Danielle Walker did just that) and I was ready to begin. Of course I ate a good deal of dairy on the weekend leading up to the Monday we began the 7 days of no dairy.
I wondered how great would I feel after a week of no dairy? Or perhaps nothing would seem different and 8 days later I would be enjoying a piece of cheese.
Mmmmm Cheese….
BOY WAS I WRONG
Giving up dairy was about as hard as I expected for the first couple of days. By the end of day two I was feeling pretty ill, which is out of the norm for me. Honestly, ever since I flipped my life upside down with the law of attraction I have become a high energy and healthy kind of guy. The kind of guy who always feels great.
Day three, instead of rolling out of bed with enthusiasm and excitement for the day ahead, I woke up feeling more tired than I was when I went to bed.
In fact, I felt groggy and brain foggy all day.
I’ll skip the day-to-day play-by-play, and tell you that for seven days straight I have felt terrible, in different ways. I can’t concentrate… I am experiencing headaches, which is something I never have.
I don’t have the deep down energy, and I tire easily. My stomach is bloated and I am retaining water.
My skin has broken out in three different kinds of rashes in three different places on my body. In general I am itchy… and honestly I am cranky. Strange emotions are coming up… anxiety and anger, which I have not felt in many… many years.
I am even late on the 11 cent sale I promised all of you…. because of this brain fog and lack of energy.
Long story short, going off dairy cold turkey causes the body to go into a detox. When I search online I find claims that going off dairy for one week will cause an entire gallon of mucus to exit your body. Obviously, things are not always pretty.
Today it is 10 days later, and I don’t have any desire to go back. Food tastes great without dairy. It seems that at the 10 day mark, for me at least, the cravings have mostly subsided.
Check out the HUGE list of Dairy Free Foods on Amazon. It’s crazy.
Seriously….
My body never went through this kind of hell when I quit smoking. Sure, I have cravings… and it was difficult… but I didn’t get bad breath, skin rashes, headaches, lack of energy, bloating, water retention, and a host of other not-so-pleasant physical problems.
The only craving I have is for cheese. I LOVED CHEESE. Now I know why…
THIS IS GOING TO BLOW YOU AWAY
Cheese is actually physically addictive… no kidding. I must have missed the Surgeon Generals Warning label on the block of cheese.
YOU WONT BELIEVE WHAT DRUG IS INSIDE CHEESE!!!
Check this out:
So here is an excerpt from an article in the Orlando Sentinel July 13 2003:
Of all the potentially addicting foods, cheese may be the most complex. In research studies using vegan and vegetarian diets to control cholesterol or reduce body weight, most participants soon forget the lure of ice cream, sour cream, and even burgers and chicken. But for many people, the taste for cheese lingers on and on. Yes, 70 percent of its calories may come from waist-augmenting fat, and, ounce for ounce, it may harbor more cholesterol than a steak. But that cheese habit is tough to break.Why is cheese so addicting? Certainly not because of its aroma, which is perilously close to old socks. The first hint of a biochemical explanation came in 1981, when scientists at Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, N.C., found a substance in dairy products that looked remarkably like morphine. After a complex series of tests, they determined that, surprisingly enough, it actually was morphine. By a fluke of nature, the enzymes that produce opiates are not confined to poppies — they also hide inside cows’ livers. So traces of morphine can pass into the animal’s bloodstream and end up in milk and milk products. The amounts are far too small to explain cheese’s appeal. But nonetheless, the discovery led scientists on their search for opiate compounds in dairy products.
And they found them. Opiates hide inside casein, the main dairy protein. As casein molecules are digested, they break apart to release tiny opiate molecules, called casomorphins. One of these compounds has about one-tenth the opiate strength of morphine. The especially addicting power of cheese may be due to the fact that the process of cheese-making removes water,lactose and whey proteins so that casein is concentrated. Scientists are now trying to tease out whether these opiate molecules work strictly within the digestive tract or whether they pass into the bloodstream and reach the brain directly.
(some paragraphs about chocolate addiction snipped)
The cheese industry is miles ahead of them, having gone to great lengths to identify people who are most vulnerable to addiction. It dubs them “cheese cravers,” and tracks their age, educational level and other demographics so as to target them with marketing strategies that are tough to ignore. With a $200 million annual research and marketing budget, the dairy industry is not content to have you just sprinkling a little mozzarella on your salad. It is looking for those Americans who will eat it straight out of the package, whatever the cost to their waistlines or cholesterol levels.
At a “Cheese Forum” held Dec. 5, 2000, Dick Cooper, the vice president of Cheese Marketing for Dairy Management Inc., laid out the industry’s scheme for identifying potential addicts and keeping them hooked. In his slide presentation, which was released to our organization under the Freedom of Information Act, he asked the question, “What do we want our marketing program to do?” and then gave the answer: “Trigger the cheese craving.” He described how, in a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the dairy industry launched Wendy’s Cheddar Lover’s Bacon Cheeseburger, which single-handedly pushed 2.25 million pounds of cheese during the promotion period. That works out to 380 tons of fat and 1.2 tons of pure cholesterol in the cheese alone. A similar promotion with Pizza Hut launched the “Ultimate Cheese Pizza,” which added an entire pound of cheese to a single pizza and sold five million pounds of it during a six-week promotion in 2000. The presentation concluded with a cartoon of a playground slide with a large spider web woven to trap children as they reached the bottom. The caption had one spider saying to another, “If we pull this off, we’ll eat like kings.”
I am sharing this with you because I care. I wish someone had told me how harsh detoxing could be.
I wish someone had told me how addictive Cheese can be. Or even mentioned the morphine compound found inside.
I’m the kind of guy who turns down pain pills, even after a surgery…
I never knew I was ingesting Morphine with my cheese and crackers.
So if you decide to clean your body up… and want to cleanse yourself without all the horrible side-effects that I have had… you really need to READ THIS NOW.
Overwhelmingly I support the Master Cleanser if you want to purify your body. (It’s just three bucks too!)
Me… I just made a split second decision to join my wife and her friend… I decided to make myself the subject of an experiment if you will…
For those of you wondering about my wife and her friend. YES… they had a rough ride also, including migraine headaches (much worse than mine), irritability, skin breakouts (body acne), and emotional instability (although don’t tell my wife I pointed that out… at least not until she is over the detoxing)
And that is what they cared to share… most people are not as forthcoming with their dirty details like I am. What can I say… I try to live my life like an open book… for all to see, observe and hopefully learn from my mistakes.
Oh yes… there has been a positive thing about this diary detox so far…. I have lost 5 pounds even though I feel like I am eating more than usual, and my wife has lost 4 pounds.. her friend didn’t offer up any weight related conversation.
SO… if you want to go off dairy please don’t let this scare you. Instead, just do it slowly. If I had known then what I know now, I would have simply cut my intake of dairy items down over a 2 – 3 week period and went off it slowly.
Knowing what I know now… I just can’t bring myself to ingest anything dairy.
Wishing you the best day,
The Audio Now!
Hi, today is day 6 for me going dairy free.. I also came on here to look up symptoms of going dairy free.. This artical has been a great help, as well as all the comments. I have a pancreas that doesn’t work & after 6 years of ill health decided to go vegan after my 16 yr old son said how much better he was feeling after going vegan a month ago.. I have developed a horrible cough but after reading this am not worried, I’ve not been sleeping well & have had a headache for 4 days.. I am not going to give up, there is light at the end of the tunnel.. can’t wait for a fitter, healthier, happier me.. 🙂 thanks John for posting this..
Hi, i just quit dairy as well, my identical twin sister suffered from a dairy intolerance (specifically Casein) after a stressful time in her life. I recently went through a lot of stress and become sick for the past 5 weeks. at first i went to the dr and was told it was stomach flu, so i tried to ride it out. I was still sick every day. by the end of week four i knew it had to be something else, i talked to my sister and realized that all of our symptoms were exactly the same (she has now been dairy free for about 4 years). I quit eating dairy completely about 3 days ago and have been feeling really weird, the worst being body aches and foggy head. I’m relieved to know other people experienced this as well! for everyone out there that misses cheese, my sister tried replacing cow dairy with goat cheese and sheep cheese. her body has no problems digesting those. they have different proteins than cow’s milk and we have discovered that trader joes and whole foods carry a very large selection, including goat and sheep cheddar thats very comparable to cow cheese!
It MUST be said that he in this article is speaking of COMMERCIAL (GOVT CONTROLLED) DAIRY – which is nothing more then a bunch of chemicals with all the good stuff removed in their pasteurization and homogenization that takes all the good benefits out and leaves you with just toxic junk.
Dairy is very good for you IF you ONLY use the raw milk of goats or cows and the cheese made from it. You will notice a boost in energy almost immediately from the REAL dairy. Same with eggs – never eat the store commercial eggs. Besides they are all nuked, they are cheap for a reason ! Only eat dairy and eggs form local family farmers – never eat anything that is “govt approved” – that is all poison – they want us dead remember. That is why they are attacking all the family farmers and raw milk and real farm eggs. They do not want you to be healthy. It is not surprising the govt has put drugs in foods in order to get us addicted to their govt poison GE foods. Anything govt touches is deadly. Anything govt touches fails. Look down through history and find just one thing that govt has made better ! You can’t.
If you eat dairy as God gave it, it is excellent food for you. But once govt touches anything – it is turned into poison. By the way natural fat is good for you and need by the body for proper digestion. Natural cholesterol is not bad for you. Only after govt interference butts in does it become bad for you. For example Natural farm eggs that are fertile (means roosters are in with the hens) turns any kind of bad cholesterol into good or eliminates it. It eliminates the bad things IF you do things God’s way as He intended. But govt has been trying to take God’s place all along and wants you to see them as God ! In so doing they are killing you !
It MUST be said that he in this article is speaking of COMMERCIAL (GOVT CONTROLLED) DAIRY – which is nothing more then a bunch of chemicals with all the good stuff removed in their pasteurization and homogenization processes that takes all the good benefits out and leaves you with just toxic junk.
Dairy is very good for you IF you ONLY use the raw milk of goats or cows and the cheese made from it.
God made our bodies and only HE knows what is best for it. You will notice a boost in energy almost immediately from the REAL dairy. Same with eggs – never eat the store commercial eggs. Besides they are all nuked (as is everything sold in stores), they are cheap for a reason ! Only eat dairy and eggs from local family farmers – never eat anything that is “govt approved” – that is all poison – they want us dead remember. That is why they are attacking all the family farmers and raw milk and real farm eggs. They do not want you to be healthy. It is not surprising the govt has put drugs in foods in order to get us addicted to their govt poison GE foods. Anything govt touches is deadly. Anything govt touches fails. Look down through history and find just one thing that govt has made better ! You can’t.
[…] If you would like to read the full article: http://johnderrick.com/miscellaneous/unusual-news/shocking-dairy-detox-this-will-blow-your-mind. […]
Hi
I am frantically searching for side effects of giving up dairy. I feel much better in terms of my aches and pains and energy level (after the first few days when all I wanted to do was sleep) but my stomach is still not happy. I wake up in the morning and after a few sips of black coffee have to run to the bathroom. Things settle down after that but I hope this stops soon. Do you think it could still be withdrawal?????
I have been gluten free for about four years now, but recently had a blood test for allergies….sad to find out that my body wasn’t reacting well to dairy, casien, eggs, nuts, celery, carrots….the list goes on/: So I decided that very same day I got the test results that I was going to go ‘cold turkey.’ OKAY, I will be honest, this was probably a bad idea for several reasons listed above! I didn’t have anything but positive reactions the first 2 weeks…clearand radiant skin! But week two I started having REALLY bad cramps and constipation. I WAS suggested to ear SAURCROUT(SPeLling?) And pepto dismal….the sourcraut has made such a difference with digestive enzymes (; I still feel like total CRAp and bloated, but my family is supporting me in this detox period. Thank u everyone for sharing, this has really helped me.
I have been off of dairy for four days now. I am nursing and my son is having tummy problems. I eat very healthy, no processed foods, organic dairy and raw organic cheese (when I was eating dairy). I have had the worst withdrawal symptoms; horrible body aches, literally everywhere in my body was hurting, and awful bloating. Today is day four and the pain has subsided. The entire time I haven’t had cravings. I will never eat dairy again. If symptoms are this bad…it can’t be good for me!
i wish my doctor had warned me of the withdrawal from going off dairy! But thanks to you and others who posted their stories so I know this is totally normal and im not actual as crazy as i thought.
My son was diagnosed with the highest level of celiac when he was 4 and a half (also diabetes type 1) I put him on herb cocktail from Avena (they’re in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada) and took him back after three months- no celiac! They have tested every yr, he’s 15 now, celiac free!!!
I, too, did a search on google for withdrawal symptoms from dairy. My weight “shot up” six pounds in two days, unlike those of you who dropped weight, which I am pretty confident is water retention. I do feel really bloated, but definitely not constipated. Other things that are described in previous posts are also happening, including skin rashes. Glad to know I am not alone. I needed to know it was connected to stopping dairy. I had numerous food allergies as a child.
Hey John, God bless you for this wonderful article ! I was taking allergy shots every week (2 or 3) for around 7 years, then every 2 weeks for 2 years. Found a new doctor who told me “no more dairy” I was used to slathering Smart Balance and butter all over things, and also cream cheese galore. Well, I have been on the detox for 6 days, and feel just awful, but am totally encouraged by these testimonies of healing (thanks everyone) I spent 6 hours sleeping on day 3 and 8 hours today, now I see why. Feel as if I have been a dope addict since birth, from all the morphine build-up. I KNOW there will be no going back to poisoning myself with cheese (I am no Masochist) I am going to turn 68 in September, so I guess that’s why I am suffering so terribly at this time, BUT I have no neuropathy in my feet, which has been a plague for decades !! I do hope all this truth about the ingredients in cheese become known to the general public. This is just another BAD diet people get hooked on. Thanks again !
I too wish someone had explained that I would have severe withdrawal symptoms. I decided to go on an elimination diet, because I had symptoms of metal poisoning and worried that it was MS. When I cut everything from my diet, I had such a bad few days that I began to panic because I thought I was getting worse! It felt like I was on a downward spiral! Then, a week later, I decided to break my diet and have a bowl of cereal, and it sent me to the hospital! My advice is, chart everything! And don’t make assumptions. Now, that last night I experienced withdrawal symptoms from just eliminating milk, I see that there are many resources on the web, that confirm my observation. Thanks, all.
Thanks for this article has put my mind to rest . On day 3 of dairy detox and have the headache from hell . At least now I know something must be working, cut out dairy eggs and yeast as a rest of intolerance tests which I had done at myself . Suffer from fibromyalgia bug a friend told me xbout trigger foods that might not help with this , was amazed when I got positive results of intolerance for all of these. Finding it a hard slog cutting out all these things but definatly going to hand in there after reading every ones comments , thanks for a great site , using almond milk sf the mo and whilst it’s not milk it’s pleasant enough and great on cereals 🙂
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Does anyone have achy body and sleepiness (tiredness) after cutting out fairy.?
YES! My symptoms exactly. I’m on day 5. So great to find this and hear about others feeling so sick with the detox. Who knew?
The first article I read about “5 symptoms of stopping dairy” were like 1). More energy. 2). Weight loss. And on like that. I was discouraged as that was NOT how I was feeling. Lol. This has fortified my resolve to continue. Thanks all!
I’m on day 11 and I feel miserable!! I’m going crazy, I sleep so often now yet I feel tired all the time. I haven’t been able to concentrate on homework and I can’t focus in class either. I’ve been drinking lots of water though but I still feel so drained and lousy, I just want to sleep forever.
I was wondering when the withdrawal ends? I heard 2 weeks? Is it going to be longer? Is it different for everyone? I just want this to end but at the same time I don’t want to eat diary either.
Thank you for this article. I am trying to get off dairy for a while now but experience headaches nearly everyday. How long will this persist? I do have a small cup of yogurt in the morning and some cheese occasionally.
I gave up dairy 5 days ago. I had been eating tons of frozen yogurt and greek yogurt. Plus the dairy in protein bars.
First couple days — not too bad.
Day 4 – headache from HELL and I never get headaches.
Today, day 5 — head still slightly achy. But I am getting more and more energy with each passing day. Danced around the house at night when I would have normally been exhausted.
Dairy is not good for humans!
its true!! I did a 30 vegan challenge and never looked back. although i still eat fish, I NEVER eat dairy! cant stand the smell of it anymore. dont have a taste for it. lost weight and have more energy. I go to the gym and ride my bike at least 50 miles a week . NEVER IN MY LIFE have I been this athletic. 3 month of detox…its worth it. it was more painful than quitting cigarettes!
I don’t know what day I’m on, probably around day 10 (not cold turkey, however) but I feel like crap. I had a really bad migraine five days ago, and I’ve been headache-y ever since. Other detox symptoms, I guess that’s what they are, are muscle cramps, irritability (my poor kids didn’t see this coming), fatigue, nausea, and anxiety. I suppose it’s different for everyone. I haven’t lost weight, probably because I’m eating more things without dairy that still have a lot of calories, salt, and sugar in them to try to help myself feel better. I gave up dairy when I was having stomach issues, and when I looked up the symptoms for lactose intolerance I had every single one of them. Some improvements I’m already seeing in my body are that my skin, so far, is clearer, my lips seem naturally pinker, and I can breathe better.
I googled dairy withdrawal and came across this article just like many of the comments above. I have been sugar free and gluten free, but not dairy free. I have been off of dairy for 2 days and I have felt like that I am losing my mind! I am so glad to find out that it is the detoxing! Everything has made me sad and I was wondering what the heck is wrong with me!
[…] Turns out that what I’ve been experiencing is much like blogger John Derrick and his wife, as explained in his blog here — waking up feeling exhausted, having on-and-off itchy skin, experiencing gastro issues […]
Im on day 8 and have also had many of the symptoms listed. For me the unbearable thing has been itchy skin and 3 rashes on different parts of my body. I’m so encouraged to see a light at the end of the tunnel and i think my fatigue is getting a little less each day so hopefully thats on its way out! Thanks for the article!
Just finished two weeks dairy free. My lifting days are good if not better but otherwise my energy level is pretty bad. My legs feel very heavy. I’ve had constant head pressure and brain fog for ten years and am trying this now. That might be from concussions but I’m giving this a try. Also hoping to lose the feeling of being full all the time.
Thank you for this article. I am currently in day 3 of giving up dairy and my head feels like it’s doubled in size, my legs ache all over and I can barely concentrate. I feel a lot more reassured that this is normal. Not long to go now!
Thanks, my family decided to do a 3 week elimination diet (eggs, dairy, gluten, soy), we are on week 2 and my husband has had a headache since day one. I was wondering if we should stop, I had only found info saying that people were having symptoms for a few days not weeks. But I guess normal is different for everyone.
Also my 4 yr old has several food allergies, and one of my girls has eczema from dairy, though she chooses to eat it (except for now of course because we are all doing this 3 week diet). We found out that by eliminating it from her diet in the past. I did not know that dairy could cause eczema. The doctors never offered that as a possible. I don’t even think the dermatologist said anything about it. So annoying, poor girl had is so bad it was around her eyes. Did not go completely away until I had her off for nearly a month. Completely off, no gold fish crackers at school or anything. It is in a lot of packaged foods, so read your labels. 🙂
[…] SOURCE: http://johnderrick.com/miscellaneous/unusual-news/shocking-dairy-detox-this-will-blow-your-mind/ […]
This is so interesting, I quit dairy last week. I didn’t feel I ate a lot of cheese but did drink gallons of milk in my constant tea drinking habit. I have felt awful, even applied for a different job yesterday even though I love self employment so much and do perfectly fine financially, also missed an event due to hangover like headaches. I hope this will be over soon! I certainly won’t have dairy again but to feel like this forever, ik. You give me hope 🙂
Thank you for posting/sharing. I cut dairy and wheat 8 days ago, and have been so tired, besides all the time spent in the bathroom, I have trouble concentrating. I don’t have any cravings except sleep. I think if I were to do it over, would reduce a bit more slowly, but at this point, I may as well just get through it.