Small amounts of dairy products = physical problems??

[Celestine]

Hi everyone

I would just like to know if anyone else has had this experience while changing to a vegan diet? I have am working towards being vegan at the moment. I no longer buy any dairy products or eggs, or fish (I haven't eaten meat more than a handful of times in the last three years). I have also over the last week stopped buying non-vegan snacks or things with animal products in. However, I am still just veggie when I go out anywhere. That's where I am with my transition. At least, it was .....

Yesterday we had a buffet lunch with friends and a meal out at night. During the course of the day I had a slice of pizza, a very very teeny portion of cheese sauce, one cheese straw, plus of course any eggs/dairy products in the cake and mince pie I had! I also had milk in coffee (this feels like a confession LOL but I want to convey the rough amount I ate!). My main course at night was vegan, but my starter had mayonaisse plus the aforementioned mince pie, so I'm thinking maybe eggs?

Anyway, we are slowly getting to the point of this post!!!! Today I feel AWFUL! Don't say it's my own fault LOL I know that! I feel really sick, my stomach is all crampy and really really bloated, I feel a bit hungover (I didn't drink), and just really off colour. My sinuses are blocked and my body aches like crazy. My husband, who is about where I am regarding veganism, feels just as bad. So I'm just wondering, is it because we haven't been eating animal products at home for a few weeks? Can such a small amount make us feel so bad? Maybe it's coincidence of course but we both felt fine till we did that!

Any comments or advice much appreciated

On the plus side, we are going on a retreat next week where veggie food is provided. I have this morning phoned and explained that we are vegan and do we need to bring our own food! Plus we are taking vegan food to our friend's house tonight and we will cook for her!

Thanks for listening

Celestine

[Seaside]

That actually sounds like quite a lot of dairy to me!
I am not surprised that you are feeling ill, the stuffy nose especially. Since all other animals are weaned off their mother's milk when still young, it is not natural for their bodies to keep producing the enzymes necessary to digest it. If you wean yourself off dairy, you will quickly lose the ability to produce those enzymes, mostly because your body shouldn't be expected to keep producing them past infancy anyway. Its funny to hear people call themselves lactose-intolerant as if it is a problem. All adults should be "lactose-intolerant", since all adults should be weaned! Intolerance to milk protein as well as milk sugar is what causes health problems, as well as the acidity produced by ingesting dairy.

People can, of course, exhaust their bodies' ability to keep producing negative reactions to substances they cannot tolerate. Their bodies adapt to whatever "poison" they have become habituated to, and symptoms will disappear, which leads the person to believe they no longer have a problem with the substance. This is why so many people can consume animal products, alcohol, cigarrettes, drugs, etc. and seem healthy for many years. But it catches up with them eventually.

Feel grateful that your body is able to tell you "no more dairy"!

[Korn]

Today I feel AWFUL!

Hi, and welcome! It could be a case of a beginning lactose intolerance/milk allergy... or maybe your digestive system is actally starting to work properly, and rejects food that isn't good for you. Maybe your body finally have understood that it's time to quit mother's milk

It could also be just a coincidence (something with the food at that place)...

Some lacto-vegetarians seem to develop a strong anti-reaction to dairy products, especially if they haven't been using good, plant based sources for protein and calsium during theyr time as lacto-veggies. If they haven't, they often stick to some sort of dairy everytime they feel some vague cravings for 'something', and the result is a dramatic over-consuption of dairy products, which of course isn't good for anyone and which may create counter-reactions from the body.

Some people claim that it's natural to eat meat (for humans), but I don't think that I've heard anyone claim that it's natural for humans to drink mother's milk from another species (throughout their lives). I guess it would be difficult to get any support for this idea, because if it is so natural, why are no other species doing it?

[Pob]

If your body aches like crazy, that usually means a temperature, which could just mean a cold

But, eating lots of veggies and fruit and going fully vegan will do wonders either way.

[Cherry]

Hi Celestine

I hope you're feeling slightly better now.

When I first went vegan I ran out of soya milk and had about 3 cups of tea with cow's milk. The next day I had a really noticeable lumpy red rash all down my left side!

That could just have been a coincidence too, but I'm sure it wasn't as it hasn't happened since. I think I was always slightly allergic to milk anyway, or maybe as Korn said it was just because the body was starting to work properly and reject the food it should have rejected anyway.

Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegan stuff and you should be feeling back to normal in no time

[Pilaf]

Nope. I went straight from omni to vegan in one day for moral reasons. It's different for some people but once my eyes were opened there was no transition.

[moochbabe]

i know that had i eaten even a little of the amount of dairy u had even a couple weeks after i went vegan, i would have been sick, and it sounds like what happens when the body begins to reject dairy. even a piece of pizza with cheese could have been enough to do it, so i can only imagine with the rest of it too...it sounds like ur body is about ready for u to go fully vegan, maybe you should do it a favor and listen to what it wants

[Geoff]

Today I feel AWFUL! Don't say it's my own fault LOL I know that! I feel really sick, my stomach is all crampy and really really bloated, I feel a bit hungover (I didn't drink), and just really off colour. My sinuses are blocked and my body aches like crazy.

IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT! (Someone had to say it)

[Celestine]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

To those who were lucky enough to go vegan overnight well done!

You all confirmed what I already suspected and made me feel that nope, I'm not crazy, I'm definitely embarking on the only right diet for me and my body knows it!

Yes I know it's my own fault but be gentle, there's a reason I'm on the "not currently a vegan forum" here LOL

I feel loads better today which kind of confirms it! Hubbie and I discussed it and we are going to resurrect our vegan food pyramid, pop it on the back of a cupboard, start following it and buy no more non-vegan food at all! Wish us luck

[puffin]

Good luck. It takes a while to get your shopping trip down to less than two hours at first but once you get the hang of it it is simple. Glad you feel better

[moochbabe]

heehee, u can get it down to less than 2 hours if u WANT, lol. i love shopping, but in a pinch i can get a week's worth done in about 20 minutes

[puffin]

heehee, u can get it down to less than 2 hours if u WANT, lol. i love shopping, but in a pinch i can get a week's worth done in about 20 minutes

Lol. It takes me about an hour now days but i do have to pick half of my shopping up of the floor after my 22 month son has thrown it out of the trolley

[kriz]

I went to Ikea the other day where I was actually able to eat a vegetarian "pytt i panna" (mixed fried veggies). Anyhow, I could not read the label on the margarine I put on my roll clearly and I doubt it was vegan. I got acute stomach pain which lasted only a few minutes. It was a strange experience, but I do think the little (almost microscopic!) amount of dairy caused it.

[moochbabe]

it wouldn't have affected u so quickly, it may have been a nocebo affect...

[Seaside]

Oh, it could, though, moochbabe, depending on how sensitive a person is.
There was a terrible story in the news last week about a young girl with a peanut allergy who died from kissing her boyfriend after he had eaten peanuts. She went into anaphylactic shock, and they couldn't help her.
Most food intolerances aren't that dangerous, thank goodness, but dairy is notorious for causing gastric irritation, and the longer you have been without it, the less it would take to cause tummy upset.

[moochbabe]

that's very true, thank u for pointing it out to me. i forgot about the peanut butter thing...i guess i was thinking it wouldn't have that kind of affect on the stomach becuase digestion takes a while and i was thinking more along the lines of food poisoning instead of a food allergy...

[kriz]

Nothing serious developed, just a few minutes of discomfort that's all. But I think I would have been feeling much worse If I had eaten a cheese pizza for example. I haven't had an ounce of dairy in two years.

[DianeVegan]

Celestine,

I had a similar experience after becoming vegan. The funny thing is that I was never lactose intolerant but I can now tell if there is the smallest amount of dairy in food. I get terrible cramps and gas. We have a vegetarian restaurant with vegan options nearby and I won't go there anymore as they are so poor at defining which dishes are vegan and which have dairy. I find out within hours when a mistake was made. As Seaside pointed out, you are now probably lactose intolerant and will feel like this whenever you eat dairy.

So you may as well become a full-fledged vegan now.

[rujoon]

Perhaps it may also be due to the event being a "buffet"... where we tend to stuff ourselves

[Celestine]

Thanks Diane and I have to say I agree with you on being a full-fledged vegan! My husband brought cakes today, and because he's such a sweetie and is also making the transition I felt able to say "sorry, I can't face it." He ate his and then said he actually thought it was horrible and perhaps if we fancy cakes we ought to make vegan versions from now on (especially as I have a very nice vegan chocolate cake recipe). I couldn't agree more!

We are definitely getting there with making the changes, and I feel a lot more confident than I did when I tried to be vegan a few years ago. Very exciting stuff!