What is worse, dairy or grains? (for a vegetarian) page 2

[Megatron]

Hi there,

I'm giving up milk because it makes me feel a bit queasy/tired, and after drinking it the roof of my mouth will be a bit tender, so I'm guessing I have some intolerance to milk, but cheese doesn't seem to bother me.

In regards to grains I think I have a gluten intolerance. I don't eat grains all that often, mostly it's wholegrain rice with chickpeas or lentils, ghee, spices and paneer, very occasional pasta and yeast-free flatbread type breads.

What 'worse' is irrelevant because it appears you are allergic to both, so...why are you eating either?

[s-piper]

Well my first instinct would be to say grain, hands down.
Some people, myself included, don't give up dairy when going Primal. I don't have any problems with it though.

Since you do, I'd say aviod any dairy that bothers you. So if you can do paneer and ghee without problems, don't worry about it. If all dairy bothers you then ditch it all.

[JoanieL]

I like dairy. My people like dairy, and aged cheeses (actually even fresh cheeses) give me no problems. So I pick dairy as the one to include for a vegetarian. But if cheese (and yogurt) give you problems, you should stay away from them. If I understand ghee correctly, the milk solids are cooked out or separated from the final product.

I know in my brain that grain is stupid for me to eat, but it has never given me any major problems (I don't consider a little bit of flatulence to be a major problem). I allow myself a serving of wheat per week. I don't always eat it, but I allow it. But if tomorrow, my doctor said, "Girl, you have to stop eating wheat or die," I'd toss it like yesterday's garbage. I also don't think most grains have much nutritive value, where some dairy products really do.

[FromEnglandWithLove]

Thanks all for your quick and friendly replies (Must admit, I was expecting some 'just eat meat' jibes :P)

Did lots of reading up on Mark's blog posts.

- Going to dump the grains
- will keep up with whey protein shakes (think crossfit would be impossible for me without them :P )
- going to try tempeh, miso
- get back into eating Quinoa (its yummmm) and greek-style yogurt

thanks all!

(for anyone wondering why I want to loose weight on 8% bodyfat, rock climbing is a cruel mistress!)

[Forgotmylastusername]

They're kind of in the same category. Though "grains" are such a broad category it's stupid lumping them all together, it's almost as broad as saying "carbs" with no further info. People have a bias to dairy because it's high in fat and tastes delicious. Although dairy is much closer linked to health problems compared to most other foods but if you tolerate both fine I personally wouldn't worry about it.

[AMonkey]

It entirely depends on your tolerance to compounds like lactose, casein and gluten.

[alg2435]

I agree with everyone else - for a healthy diet, just eat what makes you feel best - strong, energetic, calm in your stomach. If it means taking out both grains and dairy, you'll probably find it worth it! If cheese makes you feel good, keep it. See where I'm going with this?

[glorth2]

Just eat meat.

[s-piper]

Thanks all for your quick and friendly replies (Must admit, I was expecting some 'just eat meat' jibes :P)

Did lots of reading up on Mark's blog posts.

- Going to dump the grains
- will keep up with whey protein shakes (think crossfit would be impossible for me without them :P )
- going to try tempeh, miso
- get back into eating Quinoa (its yummmm) and greek-style yogurt

thanks all!

(for anyone wondering why I want to loose weight on 8% bodyfat, rock climbing is a cruel mistress!)

Tempeh and miso are delicious, I actually love most soy foods except for the soy dairy products (I'll take my milk without a beany aftertaste, thanks :-)). However, even before learning about Paleo/Primal I was leery of making it a dietary staple because of its estrogen mimicking compounds.