Going dairy free - what are the pros and cons?

As milk is calcium, protein, and other nutrients oriented, it is a significant component to play a nutritional part. Due to the allergy, food sensitivities, or personal preferences, most people avoid drinking milk. They follow a dairy-free diet that may discontinue some essential nutrients, but a dairy-free intake can still be a healthy option with the correct alternatives.

Among young children, cow’s milk has become the most usual allergy which affects 2 to 3% of children under 3 years and ranks first on the list of eight most typical allergens. Most children but not all will suffer from this allergy. People with a milk allergy are allergic to the protein in milk.

Lactose intolerance is far more common than dairy allergy, affecting as many as 65% of people. They have difficulty digesting lactose, the sugar in milk, and experience symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and diarrhea if they consume it.

Aside from these two groups, there are many people who simply prefer to avoid dairy products in their diet. This could be due to cultural preferences, taste aversion, or a sense that they feel more healthy without it.

If you follow a dairy-free diet, it's important to know how to keep your diet healthy and balanced without milk and other dairy products such as yogurt and cheese. All the beneficial components of milk are found in various other common foods.

Pros

A dairy-free diet is not necessarily for everyone unless, of course, you have an allergy or intolerance. If you do, or just prefer to avoid dairy, the diet does have several benefits.

Necessity:

In the case of milk allergy, a dairy-free diet is essential to avoid exposure and possibly dangerous allergic reactions.

Helpfulness:

For those who have lactose intolerance or other sensitivity to dairy products, avoiding them can help ease uncomfortable and painful symptoms.

Safety:

A dairy-free diet is safe, as long as people who follow it make sure to get enough calcium and other nutrients typically found in dairy products.

Accessibility:

Milk substitutes and other dairy-free products are readily available in most supermarkets.

Flexibility:

Those who avoid dairy due to sensitivity or intolerance may be able to consume small amounts of dairy products. Levels of insensitivity and intolerance can vary greatly. Those with a milk allergy must carefully avoid all dairy products.

Sustainability:

As long as nutritional needs are met, this diet can be followed indefinitely (although many children do outgrow their milk allergy).

Cons

If you have an allergy or intolerance, you'll need to follow a dairy-free diet regardless of the drawbacks. But they are usually manageable.

Practicality:

Adopting a dairy-free diet demands some planning to make sure that you have access to foods that are safe for you (for example, when eating at a restaurant or friend's home). It also requires planning to ensure that your nutritional needs are being met with non-dairy sources of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and so on.

Cost:

Some milk alternatives and other dairy-free items are more expensive than their dairy counterparts.

Sustainability:

It is reasonably easy and straightforward to avoid milk and milk products, but eliminating dairy from your diet entirely can be challenging since many foods contain trace amounts of the proteins found in dairy.

What can you eat?

People on a dairy-free diet ignore everything or many foods involving milk, milk proteins, or milk sugar lactose. For people having a milk allergy, it’s crucial to ignore all cow’s milk and products that possibly have milk or milk proteins. For instance, further animal milk specifically goat milk should also be prohibited as it can be dangerous for people with cow’s milk allergies. 

If you are lactose-conscious, eating dairy products can result in hurtful symptoms, but commonly not injurious allergic reactions. People in this position can’t bear a variety of lactose (which is a quantity of sugar found in milk). Few may be able to consume foods that hold small amounts of lactose, such as butter, aged cheeses, and yogurt with live cultures.

Conclusion

Going dairy-free is challenging, sometimes as people are habitual to consume dairy products so it’s tough for them to avoid it. But lactose intolerant people have to avoid such dairy products to maintain their health conditions.