Two years ago, this month, my Dad passed away from a heart attack. One of my most treasured memories of him is having a little cheese sandwich and a small cup of tea in the middle of the night, before he’d head off for the bakery. This started when I was just two years old! Growing up in Denmark, I was surrounded with some of the finest (and tastiest) cheeses and dairy products you can buy in the world! For a while, my aunt even worked in a cheese store and would bring us free cheese! When I was nine years old, I vacationed in Italy with my mom and while she took a day trip to Venice I had these grilled cheese sandwiches back at the hotel, that were so delicious that I still think about them today! So, why would I, a cheese loving Dane, give it up? Why would I have a cow with dairy? Good question, but before I answer that, I wanted to give you this bit of background information, so that you can understand where I’m coming from and the fact that I have some pretty significant memories tied to dairy products. Yet, I have chosen to give it all up and if I can do it, so can you! No matter how strong that cheese hand has a hold of you!
Cheese Addiction Starts in Childhood
All right, to best answer the question, I have compiled all the posts that I have posted so far about cheese and dairy! I hope that you won’t need to have the same kind of “wake-up call” that I had to have in order to give it up!
Click on the title and it will take you directly to the post! Enjoy!
1. Milk…it does the body harm!
2. Got Milk? Six Reasons You Should Avoid It At All Costs
3. Avoid Dairy! Got Cancer? Heart Disease?
4. Ditch Dairy!
5. It’s a Dairy Disaster!
6. Think Before You Drink…
7. Sick From Dairy Products
8. Not Milk
9. Breast Cancer Survival & Dairy
10. Mark’s Vegan Nutrition Journey
If you read all ten and have a change of heart, I applaud you! If not, there’s not much more I can say! Now, you’ve been warned about the dangers of dairy! Give it up! There are so many delicious and healthy alternatives out there and yes, I do drink organic soy! My favorite ice cream is Soy Delicious ice cream made with coconut milk! I also eat a bit of Daiya cheese on occasion, when I’m craving a cheese pizza! Trust me, going vegan is one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life! So, dear unknown friend, don’t have a cow…just give it up!
I will read you past posts and hopefully it will be the final thing that gets the dairy monkey off my back. I have no excuse since I have not only read the China Study and all of Marilu Henner’s books, been to the McDougall 10 day program and have advanced degrees in pathology. I’ve just found it hard to take this last part of the Wisconsin out of this girl. Not a meat eater and can’t have gluten but I’ve never found a decent sub for cheese and it sings its siren song to me whenever I succumb to a decent gluten free pizza. I guess if a Dane can give up cheese I’ve run out of excuses.
Hi Ann,
Thank you so much for reading my past posts, but first have to tell you that your comment really made my day on Friday as I was headed out of town (therefore didn’t have time to comment)! Good for you for having read The China Study! I will have to check out Marilu Henner’s books! (Thanks for the tip!) I’m envious of your 10 day McDougall stay! I’m a huge fan of his!!! Well, I’m here to tell you that you can turn off the cheese siren call! I rarely do cheese substitutes and I don’t miss cheese like I thought I would. I love Rip Esselstyn’s description of the different dairy products: “liquid meat” (milk), “congealed meat” (cheese), “runny meat” (yogurt), “mottled meat” (cottage cheese), and “frozen meat” (ice cream). Think of this the next time you get a craving!
Thanks again, Nina
OMG! I had not seen Rip’s dairy descriptions before. I should embroider them on a pillow or something. I’ve seen him at the VegSource conf in the past. My hubby and I will be going again next month. Not sure if he’s on schedule again. Thanks so much for the visual with real staying power. Now if I could just get my hubby to quit dragging Swiss into the house for his sandwiches. Ann
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Thank you so much for sharing all these articles. My son was born with several allergies, and one of which was dairy. We first thought this was terrible news until we began researching. Now we have adopted a plant based diet, and we have never looked back! There is great research out there now that is showing the harmful affects of dairy, and I hope that it will begin to see the light of day.
Hi Luke,
You’re welcome! I’m glad to hear that your son is not consuming dairy! So many children have allergies these days, yet their parents seem clueless. I’m in no position to “preach” or teach where I work. My only hope is that these parents will search the internet and come to this information on their own…and like you said, “begin to see the light of day!” 🙂 Nina
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Well, it been awhile but I not only read all these posts but also watched a horrific video from my fav doc colleague ever that has 100% sworn me off the cheese monkey forever. If you haven’t seen this video by Dr. Gregor then here’s the link and thanks again for all your wonderful blog posts. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/cheese-mites-and-maggots/
Thank you, Ann! I haven’t seen this video but promise you that I will watch it later! 🙂 Yikes! Cheese Monkey or Monkey cheese…LOL!
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