Bronchitis and dairy foods

This is anecdotal - and I may have written about it before on this blog, but will mention it again - but there are some who've been able to moderate or prevent bronchitis and other respitory problems by completely eliminating dairy foods from their diet.

My sister, for one. After three bouts of bronchitis in one year, her doctor told her it had to stop - she needed to stay healthy. She had heard about the dairy idea, tried it - and has not had bronchitis since. It's been a few years, now.

It makes sense. I used to sing, and milk is not something any serious singer will consume before a performance.

Following my sister's lead, I gave up dairy pretty much myself. I'm not as rigorous about it as she, but then, I've never had bronchitis, either. For example, she will not use soy cheese, because it contains the milk protein casein, which affects my sister as much as regular milk. But I have noticed much positive change since I gave up dairy foods. For one thing, it's easier to control my weight. Soy products have a lot less fat than dairy! Second, I was always lactose intolerant, and those symptoms are, of course, gone - what a relief. And third, my cholesterol has dropped.

These days, with vitamin supplements and enriched soymilk, there's no need to use dairy foods. If you've been having upper respitory problems, consider a trial of no dairy anything for a week or two, and see if you notice a difference.

As always: I am not a doctor or nutritionist. Consult with yours.