Reintroducing Dairy: Here’s What Happened When I Added Back Hard Cheese

I went off dairy for four months to treat chronic congestion, and now I’m bringing it back one food at a time.

Photo by Agence Producteurs Locaux Damien Kühn on Unsplash

Sick of congestion and post-nasal drip, I gave up dairy for four months. Now I’m introducing it back, one week per dairy product, so I can see how much of a relationship there is between my mucus, phlegm, and nose crud and my love of yogurt, butter, and ice cream.

My Dairy Reintroduction Plan

The dairy reintroduction plan for children calls for all sorts of processed foods or “cooked dairy” ––cakes, cookies, processed snack cakes, and then real foods.

This isn’t the sort of dairy I eat (ice cream aside), so it didn’t make sense to follow that sort of allergen ladder.

Instead, I am focusing on adding back whole foods, moving from foods that have low milk fat and milk sugar to richer, creamier dairy products. I’m giving each food one week and having multiple small servings over the week to track any side effects.

Here’s the order in which I’m adding back dairy and how it’s going for me:

• butter
• hard cheese
• yogurt