I don’t know about you, but when I get really tired, I crave the very foods I know I shouldn’t have. I crave sugar most of all. A couple of days ago, I had one of those days. I had stayed up until 2am in the morning chatting to some guests, had to get up early the next day and had worked really hard all day. I was tired and weary and to be honest a little grumpy. I wanted something to perk me up. This generally involves chocolate… and so I reached for a chocolate milk. It was in a little bottle, which simply said you should shake it to make a frothy milkshake – sounds yummy don’t you think? To be honest, it could’ve had other ingredients in it besides chocolate and milk but at the time, I didn’t really think it through that much.
I really enjoyed drinking it. It was sweet and cold and had that frothy milkshake taste…..
Within a few minutes it started to turn nasty. It was fairly instant. I was driving, so this probably didn’t help but I started to feel instantly nauseous. It was that kind of nausea, I used to feel almost daily so many years ago. Oh well, I thought, I can cope with a little nausea…the milkshake was worth it!
Within a few hours, the bloating started. My stomach started to swell up and I got that crampy feeling all through my lower abdomen. I felt incredibly gassy and no matter how much I “let it out”, it didn’t seem to help matters.
Then it came…. that old familiar feeling. Pain. It was too traumatic but it was there. It was all through my lower abdominal area and it felt like a massive big brick was sitting in there, just wanting to come out. No amount of going to the toilet seemed to help either!
I got home, drank heaps of water with heaps of lemon in it and took some Bupleurum, had some soothing Chamomile tea and went to bed. The next morning I awoke with really runny stools and just felt groggy.
It has taken me a couple of days to get over that one chocolate milk. I know, totally hard to believe and I am annoyed with myself to even considering drinking milk!
Thing is, I haven’t had milk in over 2years. I have had the occasional cheese product here and there but not milk. Certainly not milk within a drink, that may have had other ingredients in it like Gluten or who knows what else.
Why does milk not agree with us?
The key thing about milk that many of us perhaps don’t consider is that it is often far from ideal. Much of the milk in the US, comes from cows which are fed on corn and soy products. They are not eating fresh green grass, as they are meant to! James (my partner) can testify to the difference in milks around the world as, being a chef, he notices how easily creams whip up. In Australia, it was never that creamy because the cows there just don’t have the green grass, like they do in New Zealand. The cows are also often mistreated. They are injected with anti-biotics and all sorts of steroids and things. Unfortunately, this is mostly the case in the US but it is important to recognise that all of this stuff lands up in the milk we drink.
Then, the next thing about milk is that it is not in it’s pure form anymore. If we drank milk directly from the cow – in it’s pure form, we would probably find it better for us. Milks are so processed and heated, that it actually resembles very little of what was originally milk. It has been homogonised, pasteurised and who knows what else… taking it further and further from the original pure milk from a cow. One of the key things I have recognised with milk is that it is all about our ability to digest it. Our bodies simply struggle to digest the milk in that form. I have heard of girls with endo, who are fine with pure, organic real milk, because all the enzymes are still within the milk. The other big consideration is the way that milk is typically prepared. If we add live cultures to the milk, it becomes a source of great immune boosting power for the body.
What is interesting about milk is discovering it’s history. Maybe it is simply not normal to drink milk?…. Check out this video from Daniel Vitalis for an interesting perspective:
To me, milk creates an instant inflammatory response in my body. I am weary of it. – especially now :) However, I am keen to explore the idea of adding live cultures to the milk as I believe this makes it completely digestible and actually really beneficial to us.
What are your experiences with milk? Have you noticed a change since cutting it out? Have you tried having it again and seen a reaction from it?
I developed problems with milk as i have got older. Similar reaction to you. Now in my thirties I can’t have it at all. I love milk so much. I tried rice milk but was not too keen, especially in tea. I have found something i can have though which i am so happy about. It’s lactose free milk (Liddells long life). Not sure why it doesn’t have an effect on me. Do you think this is still ok to have for endo?
Hi Ann Marie,
That is really interesting. I tried Lacteeze tablets and it didn’t seem to make a difference for me. I find it hard to know if something is having an effect on me until I have cut it out completely for a while. Maybe do a test on yourself and don’t have any kind of milk for a period of time – maybe a month or so and then try it again and see if your body reacts then. There are other things in milk that aren’t great for us endo girls.
I don’t really like milk, not much. As a kid I always had problems if I drank too much milk, even raw fresh milk. I avoid it. I have problems with cheese, and I love cheese, so it’s really hard to stop eating it. I try to stick to half a cup of milk a day, more than this I get all the symptons you described and it’s awful.
Hi Tais,
Personally I wouldn’t have any if I were you :) Also, maybe having it as a Kefir might help …
My experience is that I can tolerate fresh raw milk quite well. If I consume homogenized milk I have the exact symptoms you described. So perhaps its more the milk quality that affects some of us “endo sufferers” rather then the milk itself???
Really interesting :) Thanks for sharing Amy. Definitely think that could be the case.
Having experienced life as a dairy farmer in Australia, I can categorically say that anti-biotics are NOT present in the milk you buy from the supermarket because it is against the law for a dairy farmer to send milk contaminated with anti-biotics to the processing plant. There are HUGE fines imposed if the milk is contaminated. Farmers must adhere to strict protocols so that the bacteria count in their milk vats is kept to acceptably low levels.
Australian cows are fed huge quantities of fresh grass but in the winter when the grass isn’t growing their diet is supplemented with silage (grass which has been harvested and kept stored in a massive silage pit) but they can also be fed grains to increase the levels of protein & fat in their milk.
Also, I just want to clarify that in Australia, hormones are not injected to make cows produce milk longer or in greater quantities. It is a common misconception especially among animal rights activists that we inject our cows with hormones but it is illegal and the milk processing companies do test the milk samples rigorously.
Thanks for sharing Belinda. I am glad the milk is good to drink in Australia and New Zealand :) They do say it is the lucky country. Not so sure about other countries laws though – especially the states.
I react pretty strongly to cow’s milk – gas within the hour for sure, painful stomach – butter is particularly bad for me. I find goat milk/butter/cheese is ok, if I don’t have too much. I am avoiding both now that I know I have endo.
I would like to try raw grass-fed cow milk, but it is illegal here, very hard to get. I would also worry that the endo is secretly building up again and I don’t know about it?
Hi IF Me,
Yeah it is hard to get the real milk in many countries. I think your endo wouldn’t be very secret about building up as milk gives us many other warning signs. All the signs are in your monthly – as long as that is getting better, you are getting better :)
I’ve had issues with milk most of my life. I never thought much of a link to endometriosis, something I’ve known about for 15 years no. milk, especially a true milkshake I can whip up in my blender, is like an all-day pass to the bathroom. What you described has brought back memories, and now the fact I could drink all the milk I wanted in my second pregnancy with no problems makes sense. Thanks. This post sure helped clear up a muddled thought!
Pleasure Brenda. I will explore this a little further and really try and work out the source of our discomfort :)