No dairy, no eggs

[Big Bayou]

For the past few months my roommate and I have been testing out a theory. His dad is Afghani and has gone virtually his entire life without ever eating anything derived from cow milk or eggs.

He hasn't been sick in 30+ years.

Sometime around last fall, my roommate started to make a connection between his father's diet and apparent immunity to disease (whenever the other dairy-consuming members of the house were sick with the flu, he'd always be fine). When he brought the subject up with his mother (a biology professor, author of several textbooks), she found the idea very intriguing and encouraged him to test his hypothesis.

The reasoning has been explained to me only roughly: Hormones found in eggs and milks of all kinds are dealt with by the immune system as pathogens even though they pose no immediate threat to the body. This means that a regular intake of dairy and/or egg products always requires the immune system to be expending energies on "dealing with" these hormones, and presumably such a prolonged strain is detrimental to the body's overall ability to fight actual diseases.

Despite not being savvy with things like organic chemistry, biology, etc, this theory comes across to me as very interesting. I've never been a big drinker of milk anyways- the hormones in cow milk are intended for developing calves, just as the hormones in breast milk are intended for babies. Consuming the milk of any species after you've passed the stage of early development is unnatural, imo.

I grew up eating Greek islander/Cypriot style food, which in addition to being delicious also only really utilizes goat milk in any of the cooking (lower level of hormones). Needless to say the diet hasn't been too rough, and during these past few months I have sat by and watched while flu and cold epidemics rose and fell throughout campus and have not been sick ONCE. This has largely been true for my friend as well, although he is currently bedridden with some sort of cold that I attribute more to drinking 14 hours straight on Saturday than anything else.

This no-dairy, no-eggs diet also has had a pronounced effect on acne levels, and although I know that has something to do with the immune system the correlation is still hazy for me. I get a (small) pimple MAYBE every two weeks or so, and my friend's more formidable acne has dissipated almost entirely. I don't really have a grasp on the mechanics behind this but I'm certainly not complaining.

Any of you biologically-minded guys/gals have an opinion on the matter? I'm definitely no premed student, so any sort of scientific insight into this hypothesis/diet would be greatly appreciated. If you're feeling adventurous/sick, why not try it out yourselves?

 

[DM]

This is very intriguing, to say the least. There is so much we still don't know about our bodies; most over-the-counter medicine is guesswork at best, they take a bunch of chemicals they think will help your symptoms, manufact them into pills and give it to you. Even then, it's only reactionary: we have no idea how to PREVENT colds from spreading.

I would try this, but there's no way I could ever give up cheese.

 

[Synre]

This no-dairy, no-eggs diet also has had a pronounced effect on acne levels, and although I know that has something to do with the immune system the correlation is still hazy for me. I get a (small) pimple MAYBE every two weeks or so, and my friend's more formidable acne has dissipated almost entirely. I don't really have a grasp on the mechanics behind this but I'm certainly not complaining.

I don't have too much to add of value here, although I think it's worth noting that at least this part I have seen a few times before. While acne is largely genetic I know a lot of the acne care products (Proactiv, for instance) mention that dairy products(milk in particular) are big causes of acne, whereas a lot of stuff that people typically associate with acne(soda, candy, etc.) are not. Something to do with hormones as I recall.


Outside of that I don't have any real input here, it seems sort of unlikely that not consuming dairy products will somehow make you magically immune to diseases(30+ years without being sick at least sounds kind of ridiculous) but it'd be interesting to see if this has an effect or not. Either way much like DM I think I'd have a hard time going without cheese, although I mostly avoid other dairy products already anyway.

 

[Carl]

Cheese, milk chocolate, ice cream.. too much goodness in dairy to give up. And I do love eggs. This would be next to impossible for me to complete successfully. I don't have any major problems with illness right now and when I do it's usually after some hardcore drinking which makes perfect sense considering the effect alcohol has on the body's immune system as well. I avoid most medicine like the plague anyway so when I am deathly ill I can use them to great success lol.

 

[Viral7]

I find this study very interesting. In the past, I use to consume a lot dairy products like milk, ice cream, and so on, but when I turned 16 or 17, they started effecting me very badly. See, my mother is Lactose Intolerant, so she usually can't eat dairy products most of the time, but I never thought it was a condition that could get passed on. But I guess I was wrong. Over the last year or so, I've had to stop eating regular ice cream and drinking regular milk, which was hard at first, but I'm use to it now. I now have to use lactose ice cream and milk, but for someone reason, the lactose milk is starting to effect me now, which is confusing to me. I was too stubborn to get rid of cheese, sorry not going to happen. But ever since then, I haven't been sick and my face hasn't been breaking out as much. I sometimes get a pimple or blemish here and there, but rarely.

But I have a question. Has the father been taking or eating any kind of substance as a substitute for his daily calcium intake?

 

[Kira]

Well one of my friends had the opposite thing happen. She was a vegetarian, and lactose-intolerant.

She started a raw food diet meaning she could not eat anything cooked or processed. This is supposedly very healthy. However she was sick every other week, or so it seemed.

Still this seems interesting, though even if it did grant immunity to a handful of diseases I love dairy too much.

I could easily go without eggs seeing as I hate them with a passion.

 

[Darkflagrance]

I find this study very interesting. In the past, I use to consume a lot dairy products like milk, ice cream, and so on, but when I turned 16 or 17, they started effecting me very badly. See, my mother is Lactose Intolerant, so she usually can't eat dairy products most of the time, but I never thought it was a condition that could get passed on. But I guess I was wrong. Over the last year or so, I've had to stop eating regular ice cream and drinking regular milk, which was hard at first, but I'm use to it now. I now have to use lactose ice cream and milk, but for someone reason, the lactose milk is starting to effect me now, which is confusing to me. I was too stubborn to get rid of cheese, sorry not going to happen. But ever since then, I haven't been sick and my face hasn't been breaking out as much. I sometimes get a pimple or blemish here and there, but rarely.

But I have a question. Has the father been taking or eating any kind of substance as a substitute for his daily calcium intake?

There are plenty of vegetable products that are good sources of calcium, such as figs. That's probably where it comes from.

I'm sure that Afghani cuisine includes figs (I'm just guessing though).

 

[Thunda]

I don't eat any eggs, or many dairy products. I'll have yoghurt maybe three times a week. Don't eat cereal so milk has no use and cheese is dirty. I get ill a lot.

 

[Jackal]

I drink milk like absolute mad, both chocolate and normal. I also eat tons of cheese. I hate eggs.

I get sick at least 4 times a winter, never in summer. Also I have phases of pretty noticeable acne.

They acne thing was really what caught my attention as i really would like to get rid of it, it is cramping my style.

 

[Ambitions]

I haven't been I'll for 5 years and I'm vegan, how ever, I do have a wee bit of acne. My mom had quite a bit when she was my age thought.

There are a whole buch of crazy unbelievable yet true story's around about people adopting a animal free based diet ( I realize that Big Bayou is only talking about eggs and dairy ) and having and having illnesses reversed and profound health effects. Like the guy who adopted the Dean Ornish program after having two heart attacks and was barely able to stand for 5 minuets. He became vegan and went on to walk most of the Appalachian trail at the age of 82.

Further on the topic of dairy and eggs, if you obtain from consuming those (and meat as well) you are consuming no cholesterol at all, period, and much less fat. Milk also flushes the Calcium out of your body, looking for the facts in a medical book as I write this. I urge you all to adopt a dairy and egg free diet.

EDIT
Calcium absorption rates:
Brussels Sprouts 63.8%
Mustard Greens 57.8%
Broccoli 52.6%
Cow's Milk 32%

In other words, your body only retains 32% of the calcium the label tells you its does According to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and Health Canada's Nutritional Recommendations. The four countries that lead in milk consumption also lead the world in osteoporosis rates.

Cheese, milk chocolate, ice cream.. too much goodness in dairy to give up.

Try Tofuty ice cream, I have never met a person that thinks ice cream is better if not just as good.

 

[Raverist]

Ah this may be true, but some of us, such as myself, find the taste of sprouts, broccoli and greens equal to that of freshly churned buttloaf. How then do we obtain our necesary calcium deposits without getting rickets?

 

[cookie]

Interesting. I've heard milk can make acne worse so I've stopped drinking it for a while, and my eggs are from the garden and the chickens aren't fed any hormones or anything so it's fine to eat them. So far it's been a week apart from the cereal I ate this morning, which was a moment of weakness. But still, if not drinking milk does help even reducing my consumption should give some sort of improvement.

I typically drink a lot of milk and eat a lot of cheese/chocolate, get colds quite often and my acne flares up from time to time. If not drinking milk does help then I would gladly give it up.

 

[Hipmonlee]

Given that Dairy products have pretty much doubled in price the last year, maybe I will try this!

Or rather, I'll try eating less of this stuff, cause I love cheese so much.

Have a nice day.

 

[Articuno64]

My acne definitely reduced when I started drinking rice milk instead of cow's milk, years ago. Thumbs up to this idea.

 

[AJC]

i hardy ever drink milk at all and i only eat eggs like once or twice in a blue moon i only been down with major sickness (has in i feel so bad i can't do much without being in pain or throwing up apon attempting to ingesting solid food) like 5 or 6 times in my life

 

[Steeler]

interesting...i'll look into this. but damn do i love me my cereal. could eat that 3 times a day everyday. :s

 

[Articuno64]

interesting...i'll look into this. but damn do i love me my cereal. could eat that 3 times a day everyday. :s

me too. i tried soy milk but thought it was disgusting. however:

this is the solution

 

[Kumar]

I am not too fond of milk products in general. I do have the occasional chocolate or cheese or maybe even a glass of milk. But it's quite rare though.
Eggs on the other hand, I can't live without. I love eggs, in any form. I have atleast 2 everyday, and sometimes as many as 10.
I don't fall ill too often.

EDIT: I NEVER get acne.

 

[Judgement]

I rarely eat anything with egg-or-milk-based ingredients besides some yogurt every few days and I drink milk maybe once a month or so. Also, I rarely get sick and I don't have many acne issues, so this makes a lot of sense. It's a great find and it is really interesting.

 

[Wishy]

I love milk, and generally most dairy products. Eggs, every now and then on the weekend for breakfast, but not very much. And I don't really get severely ill at all, haven't been since I was 10 (6 years). Though before that, I got an ear-infection / flu every year... Maybe I've just developed an immunity? ?_?

But either way, this is pretty interesting...

 

[Miltonic]

do any of you know if skimmed is any different? because thats the only kind i drink.

 

[Vampy34]

Cheese, milk chocolate, ice cream.. too much goodness in dairy to give up. And I do love eggs. This would be next to impossible for me to complete successfully. I don't have any major problems with illness right now and when I do it's usually after some hardcore drinking which makes perfect sense considering the effect alcohol has on the body's immune system as well. I avoid most medicine like the plague anyway so when I am deathly ill I can use them to great success lol.

yea this is pretty much how i feel >_<

 

[Viral7]

me too. i tried soy milk but thought it was disgusting. however:

this is the solution

I might look into buying this. Seeing how regular milk and lactaid milk have not helped me . Hopefully this works for me, otherwise I will have to give up milk for good and find alternative ways to get my nutrition.

 

[moomoonerd]

I've heard milk can make acne worse so I've stopped drinking it for a while

I've found from experience that whenever I drink inorganic milk I get more acne.

The whole topic's really interesting though, but there's no way I could give up milk...

 

[Calciphoce]

I'm very, very rarely sick and now that I think about it I don't consume that much dairy. I hate eggs to death. Come to think of it, my father drinks milk quite a lot and he seems to be sick more than I do. My mother is lactose intolerant, and I haven't seen her sick in years. There might be some connection and if there was that would be amazing to say the least. Learning new facts about things that we 'use' everyday is quite fun.