Weaning Off Dairy...The SUPPORT Thread!

[Fyvel]

*bump*

I have margerine that is almost vegan. It does not have gelatin or whey but does have D3, which someone said is animal based. I cannot afford those teensy little $5 containers of vegan margarine so this will do for now. I also finally made my own pizza dough which is vegan and put the extra in the freezer. Then I bought frozen lasagna that has cheese in it. Why can't I find cheap vegan convenience meals?? I don't have time to cook every day, somtimes I'll go a week without cooking :(I keep slipping up, it's like 2 steps forward and 1 step back

If you don't have time to cook every day, just cook larger batches when you do have time. I'll cook about 2-3 pounds of dry beans on Sunday (along with a big batch of rice), and that makes enough for several meals. I'll freeze small batches and take them out as we want them. I usually have 2 or 3 different kinds of beans in the freezer. Makes for great lunches and it's an easy way to fix up protein for dinner: just add a veggie (or two) :)

This also works for chilis, soups, etc.

[Lydia]

Hmm... I just ate a piece of chocolate (dark) that had no dairy in it, but it was produced on the same equipment as the milk. "Trace ingredients" I suppose. Do you think that's okay, or should I try to refrain from this?

[BonoGrl]

Have any of you who stopped using dairy had anything like headaches or something of the sort? I have been getting them and I don't know if it is just coincidence or not...

[isowish]

Hmm... I just ate a piece of chocolate (dark) that had no dairy in it, but it was produced on the same equipment as the milk. "Trace ingredients" I suppose. Do you think that's okay, or should I try to refrain from this?

I do this all the time (well, not literally ALL the time) and consider myself vegan.

[Music Girl]

I don't steer clear of sweets that share machines with dairy ingredients, either, and I consider myself vegan. The products themselves are still dairy-free, they just have to post that warning because some people are deathly allergic to even the tiniest microscopic bit of dairy/nuts.

[theatregirl]

I so desperately want to be vegan, I just don't know if I can do it. How do people manage eating out?

[lunatilian]

i've been completely off dairy for a few months and haven't found eating out to be that much of a problem.

although i guess it depends on where you live because here i can just order a veg meal and ask for no cheese or whatever and they are fine with it.


and even if it would be difficult for you to eat vegan out you could always just start at home. personally i thought i could never give up cheese but after a week of two of not having it the thought of it makes me feel ill.

[Suki]

Recently, I read that dairy cows with Bovine Leukemia (BLV) can still produce milk for human consumption. I was truly shocked.

I emailed the National Dairy Council and received this as a response:

"Thanks for contacting the National Dairy Council with your question. Bovine Leukemia – known as BLV to veterinarians – is an animal health issue, not a human health concern. BLV is a viral disease of cattle that is not transmissible to humans and is destroyed in milk through pasteurization. "

(I also emailed two dairy companies, one being organic, and received similar replies)

Then, on the California Breast Cancer Research Program's site, I came across this study:
http://www.cbcrp.org/research/PageGr...p?grant_id=107

Here's an excerpt:

"This research has addressed the first aspect of the overall proposal, whether humans can become infected with BLV. Human breast tissues removed during surgery, breast tissue sections received from a pathologist, and cells from milk and blood were searched for evidence of different components of BLV using cellular and molecular techniques (immunocytochemistry, PCR, and in situ hybridization). Human blood was tested for antibodies to BLV. We detected evidence of BLV DNA in blood cells from 9 of 22 human volunteers and in surgically removed breast tissues from 10 of 23 patients. We found evidence of BLV proteins in breast tissues from 8 of 26 patients. Antibodies to BLV were found in the serum of over half of the 100 human volunteers tested. These preliminary results suggest that humans may be infected with BLV."

Maybe I shouldn't be interpreting scientific studies, but to me, it looks as if some components of BLV are transmissible to humans.

But don't take what I say as fact... do your own research, email your local dairy companies... see what you come up with.

[LionSpirit]

I found it really difficult, especially ith milk. I managed to do it by doing it really gradually - one less pint every few weeks. Took some time, but worked, and when I found some decent soya milk (different brands taste majorly different, and unsweetened tastes way different than sweetened... I dunno how people can drink unsweetened), it was much easier

[chryssiie718]

Since I never was a big milk drinker since adulthood (Lived on a dairy farm in my very young days), I found the switch to soy milk pretty easy. I think the soy milk actually tastes better than cow's milk. It seems to substitute well in most cooking and I never used butter anyway. I do miss ice cream and yogurt somewhat, but have found rice cream to be a very acceptable substitute and soy yogurt is ok though not quite as enjoyable. The only thing I really miss is chocolate though there are vegan varieties available but they cost more. We pretty much just decided to stop using dairy products and now read labels carefully for any sign of it.

[Fona]

I agree with chryssiie, the milk chocolate substitues just aren't up to scratch they're expensive and either taste cheap or for some queer reason of mint :confused:
I'm just doing it for 30 days to see if I can, I'm ok without cheese because I like the replacements better. I don't use normal milk but powdered forms of it are in everything I got all excited about getting a pot noodle yesterday then found out they've started putting milk powder in them :cry:

[vertfluo]

hi guys, did you try rice milk chocolate? it tastes amazing. it's a bit expensive, but not more than any high quality chocolate. and definitely worth it :up:

[Fona]

I don't think they have it in the UK, I haven't seen it. I won't like it if you can taste the medicine-y rice milk though :spew:

[ashlend]

I've only been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for about a month, so I'm not ready to go fully vegan any time soon. But I have learned a lot about the dairy industry, and I really am trying to reduce my dairy intake. Cows' milk totally grosses me out at this point, not just how it's obtained and how the animals are treated, but what it is. Another animal's breastmilk - ew! And there's blood and pus in it! So I don't drink milk anymore. I buy soymilk for home and use that on my cereal and with cookies and whatnot. I don't buy yogurt anymore either, cutting that out was easy.

What's hard for me is cheese. But I try to keep it down to 2 servings a day or fewer, and maybe sometime in the future I'll be able to cut it out completely.

[Fyvel]

I agree with chryssiie, the milk chocolate substitues just aren't up to scratch they're expensive and either taste cheap or for some queer reason of mint :confused:


Have you tried this brand (http://www.veganstore.com/index.html?stocknumber=774%20%20%20%20%20%20%20ALM OND)?

The rice milk chocolate kind (blue wrapper) is sooo good :drool:

[Fona]

Have you tried this brand (http://www.veganstore.com/index.html?stocknumber=774%20%20%20%20%20%20%20ALM OND)?

The rice milk chocolate kind (blue wrapper) is sooo good :drool:

I've never seen rice milk chocolate, I want the truffle one though :drool:

[Fyvel]

I've never seen rice milk chocolate, I want the truffle one though :drool:

We used to order this stuff online, but Whole Foods and Wild Oats now carry it (well I guess they're the same thing now...)

[Hag]

After being vegan for a couple months now I still crave cheese and yogurt, but have the inability to consume it. It's hard to explain but i get cravings for this stuff but i know that i couldn't bring myself to eat it. Long story short I dont have to dry the grease of my cheaseless pizzas, soy ice cream is amazing, soy milk is better, and i use dairy free margerine for all my cooking/baking needs.

[isowish]

I've never seen rice milk chocolate, I want the truffle one though :drool:

psst ... you HAVE :p

not that brand though :( looks nice

[TestingTheWater]

So, I began reading this thread.... 6 or 7 pages, really, before I realized that there were 90 pages of replies :O Are the original people even on here anymore?


Anyways, I think that story definitely relates! Currently I am 20 years old and have been off milk since at least 2003. I was allergic to milk when I was very young, but at some point it was somehow decided that I no longer was, and I began consuming dairy at a relatively high level. I loved milk, I loved cheese... I loved dairy! Starting around 5th grade or so I suddenly began having severe stomach cramps. Later, it was determined this was caused by a severe sinus infection draining into my stomach. We tryed every little home remedy that my mother could find, actually with some success, so that I wouldn't have to go through surgery. More than once my mother suggested that I should try not drinking milk for a while. I told her that she must be crazy. Dairy made up such a large part of my diet.

So, one day I was sick of being sick... so I gave up milk. :P Only in its liquid form, but it had an amazing affect. My sinus infection cleared right up, and I felt amazing. A little over a year ago I realized, while eating mediocre lazagna, that cheese was begininng to affect me as well. Since giving up milk, my body has become more and more sensative to dairy products until now dairy in most forms affects me, though not in any life threatening manner.

Even more recently I've decided to give up meat and eggs, due to a vegan friend's insistance. The eggs thing didn't last long, but I'm still doing alright on the meat end of things.

Of all dairy products, three things are hardest for me to give up. Cheese, milk chocolate, and ice cream. Liquid milk doesn't even taste good to me anymore. Meat really doesn't either, though I still crave it.

It's hard to give these things up, and weaning is the best was to do it. If you can compell yourself to go cold-turkey, that can work as well, if you're willing to stick with it. It's what I did with soda and caffeinne products (aside from chocolate).

Good luck to everyone here!

[frizzy_fairy]

I'm going to begin weening of dairy with a few rules (for now)
one. WHatevers in the fridge is ok for now (I just wont buy anymore)
two. If someone else feeds me it I eat it (but don't ask for it)
three. If theres no alternative I'll eat it

rules two and three will go once I hitnk I can stick to it. I hope I can do this.

[Punk_in_Drublic]

Good luck frizzy fairy!

[*AHIMSA*]

I'm going to begin weening of dairy with a few rules (for now)
one. WHatevers in the fridge is ok for now (I just wont buy anymore)
two. If someone else feeds me it I eat it (but don't ask for it)
three. If theres no alternative I'll eat it

rules two and three will go once I hitnk I can stick to it. I hope I can do this.

Sounds reasonable, low pressure and doable! :up: Good luck! If you WANT to do it, you will! :)

[Jon_Veggie]

You can do it frizzy_fairy!

I am sure you can look forward to increased health and vitality once you give up the white stuff :)

Here are a few links you might want to read for extra encouragement:

http://curezone.com/foods/milk.asp

http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/campaigns/whitelies/index.html/report01.html

http://www.milksucks.com/index2.asp

http://www.notmilk.com/

[Fona]

psst ... you HAVE :p



Oh, is that the orange one that I think I don't like because chocolate and orange seem a weird combination in my head but I actually do like it?