Milk: A Story of Intolerance
A very, very bad mistake I made when I sat in front of the wrong bowl
So the DOT project. Yeah, I mean, it was okay at first. Until I accidentally drank milk — I don’t even want to go into the details.
It was in the morning and I was getting ready for school. My dad usually just made me cereal with almond milk because I’m supposed to be vegan. He gave cereal with regular milk to my siblings and I sat in front of the wrong bowl. I didn’t even notice what I had done until I put my empty bowl into the sink. Literally two minutes later my stomach hurt so bad and, again, I will spare you the details.
My mom got so scared because she makes a big deal about it when one of her kids is sick. She thought I was becoming lactose intolerant or something. But I’m not so that’s good — or am I?
I ended up staying home and going to school late that day. I sat in bed most of the morning watching Narcos and just didn’t eat anything. My stomach felt horrible but I still wanted to go to school because I didn’t want a ton of work to do (that happened anyway). At school I just tried to ignore the pain and I managed to not throw up until I got home.
I knew I was sick because I drank regular milk. I thought maybe I just got so used to not having any dairy that my body wasn’t tolerating it anymore. After all, milk is a product that comes with a lot of problems. Humans are technically not even supposed to be drinking it.
Right now I’m doing research to find out why exactly I got sick and here’s what I found out: Basically the longer you stay on a plant-based diet, the more your body begins to reject dairy, meat, oil, etc.
Lactose intolerant means you can’t digest the sugar found in milk, lactose. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Lactase actually stops being produced at an early age. That’s why humans are not exactly supposed to have dairy after you’re about 2 to 5. Let alone another animal’s milk.
Lactose Intolerance is not an allergy or disease. That’s why scientists call it Lactase Persistence. It’s actually genetic and started maybe 7,500 years ago in Northwestern Europe among dairy farmers. It’s a gene found in people with European and African ancestors.
The article by Lindsay S. Nixon states that we were always lactose intolerant
I’ve worked with dozens, if not hundreds, of clients who after they cleaned up their diet, realized things they thought were “normal” actually weren’t. A common saying among them is ‘I had no idea how sick I was or how awful I really felt until I knew what it was like to feel well and thrive.’
Clearly my former diet was not acceptable for my body. Already about a week into being a vegan, my body will not tolerate any dairy, meat, or oil. I can personally tell you that the stomachache was not fun. The good thing about this is that I’m supposed to feel better physically if I continue this. I’m not sure I want to get sick every time I sit in front of the wrong bowl but from reading this article it seems like it’s worth it, so I think I might actually continue being a vegan after the DOT project is over (mainly because I’m scared of milk now).
