Dairy consumption can lead to certain conditions in which a person is unable to digest either the sugar or proteins in the milk. They are called as dairy intolerance or lactose intolerance. Both these conditions cause undesirable symptoms such as abdominal bloating, diarrhea, gas, skin rashes, hives, acne, cramps, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, difficulty breathing, etc.
Dairy intolerance is considered to be mostly genetic where the genetic composition of a person is such that it leads to decreased production of an enzyme lactase that is responsible for the digestion of lactose (milk sugar). Milk is the only nutrition when a child is born, so lactase enzyme is found in abundance in children. However, when a child grows up the nutritional status of a child changes and there is less need for lactase to digest milk, thus the body naturally reduces the amount of lactase leading to lactase deficiency. This deficiency leads to gastrointestinal discomfort, which can be from mild to severe depending upon the tolerance and sensitivity of a person.
Due to these allergies caused by dairy consumption it is important to eliminate dairy products out of your system for a healthy body.
How Long Does It Take To Get Dairy Out Of Your System?
Elimination of dairy products from your diet at least for 2 to 3 weeks is enough to flush out dairy from your system. All products such as milk, cheese, yogurt from cows, buffalo’s or goat’s milk should be avoided. A person should be careful in taking packaged products, which might have hidden dairy ingredients in them.
Instead dairy substitutes should be consumed, which are comparatively low in lactose content or free of lactose. These include soy milk, almond, rice, coconut milk and yogurt and ice cream made with these substitutes instead of the ones made from regular milk.
During this period of detoxification one must also eat foods, which are light on stomach such as raw fruits and vegetables, steamed brown rice. Some fish or lean poultry can also be taken along with them, but red meat and chicken should be avoided as they may cause difficulty in digestion.
Drinking adequate amount of water is necessary to flush out toxins from your body. Drinking as much as 2 liters of water in a day is recommended to get dairy out of your system. This should be combined with moderate exercise to boost your digestive system that allows smoother intestinal activity. One should exercise for at least half hour each day.
After a period of 2 to 3 weeks most people see miraculous results in case of dairy and lactose intolerance. Some people can continue this dietary regime for 4 to 5 weeks if they do not see satisfactory results.
The next step includes slow introduction of specific products into your diet and monitoring for symptoms or reactions. This slow reintroduction of dairy products allows your digestive system to recover and adapt to the products bit by bit.
However, if your body still reacts to the dairy products you can observe your body’s reaction to the amount of food taken. Limitation of dairy products overtime will reduce your symptoms and intolerance.
The key approach is to pay attention to how you are feeling. Monitoring of your sleep, your mood patterns, energy levels, your digestion, bowel habits, etc. mostly improve when your digestive system is healthy and functioning well.
Even while reintroducing dairy products into your diet look for positive and negative reactions. The negative reactions can be fatigue, tiredness, nausea vomiting, skin breakouts or rashes, abdominal bloating, bowel changes, abdominal pain, brain fog, respiratory problems such as difficulty breathing.
Regular visits to a clinician for checkups and self monitoring of symptoms is useful to treat dairy intolerance. Since every individual has different sensitivity and tolerance level, some people show better response than others, while some people show decreased symptoms. It is best to identify your body’s tolerance and prepare a diet chart accordingly for better results.
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